Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns: ‘I’m A Different Player’ Than Previous Run Under Tom Thibodeau

October 14, 2024

This isn’t Karl-Anthony Towns‘ first Tom Thibodeau rodeo. The Knicks star big man played for the coach before — when the two were with the Timberwolves.

But a blockbuster trade delivered Towns to New York, reuniting the star big man and his coach. The difference, according to Towns, is Towns.

“I’m a different player than I was when I was with Thibs the first time around,” Towns said, via Peter Botte of the New York Post. “Both of us are adjusting to each other, but we have a solid foundation built from before.”

Actually, the Knicks as a unit have a solid foundation — with the likes of Towns, fellow newcomer Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and all-everything point man Jalen Brunson. All of it is a big reason why people are considering them a championship contender.

Towns appears to agree with those people.

“We’ve got amazing wings as everyone knows with OG and Mikal, and (Josh Hart) and Jalen really doing a great job of putting pressure on ball handlers, as well,” Towns said.

“That’s gonna give us the wins, and we have a lot of goals in mind and for us to even come close to accomplishing that, it takes us to solidify the defense, our defensive game plan and identity. … Doing that here again is gonna be a key for us to do something special in the city.”

As for if Towns is a different player, Thibodeau indicated … well, sort of. He’s definitely a different player than Julius Randle, sent to Minnesota in the trade.

“I think they’re different players in some ways, but similar in others,” Thibodeau said. “I think Julius is more of a power forward, but a terrific player. When you look at what he did for us, the scoring, the passing, rebounding, but it’s at the power forward position.

“We had a great need obviously with Mitchell Robinson (injured) and (Isaiah Hartenstein) losing (him) in free agency. We needed a center. That was a big part of it, so I think the center position … when I look at Karl, I like his versatility and his size is important to us.”