NBA analyst Brian Windhorst believes that Karl-Anthony Towns is the third-best center in the Eastern Conference.
Towns spent the first nine seasons of his NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference, where he developed into one of the best big men in the league.
But he was traded to the New York Knicks last week in a deal that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in the other direction.
He is seen as the final piece of the jigsaw for the Knicks, who are looking to overtake the Boston Celtics as the top team in the East.
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Two Eastern Conference centers better than Karl-Anthony Towns
Windhorst ranked the best centers in the Eastern Conference, with Towns coming in behind two of his rivals.
“I’ve got Towns [at number three],” Windhorst said on NBA Today. “If we talk about this again in a couple of months, I’m not going to have him third. This is obviously an All-NBA player.
“Let’s see how he does playing in the East. I think he’s going to get challenged defensively, as he has been throughout his career. He’s got the potential to be an Eastern Conference All-Star but I’m going to put him third.”
Windhorst went on to say that the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo is better than Towns because of his defensive prowess.
“[Bam Adebayo] gets underrated most of the time so if I’m guilty of overrating him, so be it. His most important value is that he can guard one through five on the defensive end of the floor.
“I voted for him for Defensive Player of the Year a couple of years ago and he finally made the NBA All-Defensive First Team last year. He’s actually rounded out his offensive game, he shot some threes at the Olympics.”
Finally, Windhorst named the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid as the best center in the East. “Number one is the MVP, Joel Embiid. We know that when he is healthy he is unstoppable.
“Last year, before that freak injury in Denver, he was averaging more than a point per minute. We hadn’t seen that since Wilt Chamberlain. If he is healthy, he is devastating and dominant.”
What to expect from Karl-Anthony Towns on the New York Knicks
Towns averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for the Timberwolves in the 2023/24 regular season.
His career high in points per game is 26.5 (2019/20) but that decreased in recent years due to the emergence of Anthony Edwards.
The Knicks also have a ball-dominant guard – Jalen Brunson – as well as Mikal Bridges, so the center is likely to average around 20 in the upcoming season.
