The New York Knicks took a big risk.

Last season was the best for the franchise in a very long time, perhaps since the halcyon days of Patrick Ewing in the 1990s. Jalen Brunson was a legitimate MVP candidate, the team had an incredible identity and chemistry, and they were on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals before the vast majority of their rotation went down to injury.

However, instead of standing still, the Knicks continued to reshape the roster. They cashed in most of their trade assets in a summer deal for Mikal Bridges while watching Isaiah Hartenstein leave in free agency because he could earn more than the Knicks’ cap hit elsewhere -could offer.

The coup de grace for this offseason makeover, however, came on the eve of Training Camp, when Leon Rose and the front office traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. for Karl-Anthony Towns. The move increased New York’s offensive firepower and gave them a top-tier starting center to replace Isaiah Hartenstein.

At least, that was the point. Until now, however, the reality of cities has been far below the dream.

Historically, head coach Tom Thibodeau has loved his traditional centers — not that they aren’t skilled, but Thibs wants anchors who can protect the paint, rebound and finish inside. Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t exactly fit that criteria and was always going to be an outlier. At best, he’s a shaky interior defender, and if he was used as a primary rim protector, he was going to be stretched.

Towns is likely to improve defensively as he gets familiar with the system and learns to trust his teammates, but he would develop miraculously as a quarterback if he became a true blocking presence inside. His strength has never been in defense.

Instead, Towns made the difference as a shooter and scorer on offense. Deserving as a star player because of how dominant he was as an offensive engine. However, so far in New York, the shooting has gone by the wayside.

The Knicks have played three games so far, and Towns has taken a grand total of six 3-pointers, or just two long-range shots per game. That ranks just seventh on the list, which would seem reasonable for a center if Towns weren’t the self-proclaimed “greatest shooting big man in NBA history.”

Basketball Reference lists 15 centers with as many or more 3-point attempts per game like Karl-Anthony Towns, including players who aren’t considered to be big picks like Evan Mobley, Bam Adebayo and Domantas Sabonis. Jay Huff was both ways and racked up 4.3 attempts per game. Jusuf Nurkic averaged 2.8. Nikola Jokic leads the league with 6.7 attempts per contest.

Towns should lead the league in 3-point attempts, or at least be near the top. This is the value it brings; he’s not a rim protector, but he can stretch the defense and hit long-range shots before bigs unaccustomed to defending on the perimeter can handle to put up a proper contest. He hits hard on 66.7% of those shots; only he barely took any. He attempted 5.3 3-pointers per game last season and averaged up to 7.9 attempts per game heading into 2019-20. Only two long bombs per game is unacceptable for the type of player that Towns is.

Perimeter shooting isn’t the only way Towns can boost the Knicks’ offense; he can punish smaller players in the post to force opposing teams to defend him with a cross, or he can handle the ball from the elbow and hit cut-back teammates for assists. However, his 2-point attempts have dropped from 10.1 to 7.3 attempts per game, and he’s moving some of his 3-pointers to long midrange. He’s also averaging just two assists per game, down from three last season and 4.8 the year before.

This may only be a small sample, although it is still a worrying one. Only other time in the last five seasons Towns hit just six 3-point attempts or less in a three-game span in March 2022. His shooting accuracy will fluctuate from game to game, but his volume should have a manageable baseline and would must be greater than two each. game.

The Knicks could make some adjustments to the offensive scheme to get Towns more touches. Defenses can start to defend him differently, opening up more opportunities to pick up 3-pointers. Most likely, though, Towns will have to commit to taking more outside shots when he catches the ball on the perimeter.

If not, his offense won’t be enough to justify the defensive limitations he brings to the game. Moreover, as Julius Randle finds his groove in Minnesota and Donte DiVincenzo continues to bomb (25 3-point attempts in his three games), the trade the Knicks made to round out their roster shows from worse and worse. If this is the version cities are getting, this trade will be a disaster for the New York Knickerbockers.