The best offensive basketball gamers know the place their photographs are coming from. Some even have it right down to a science. Seven factors 1 / 4, for instance, was Michael Jordan’s math to twenty-eight straightforward factors per recreation, an equation Carmelo Anthony later copied to common the identical quantity thrice in his Corridor of Fame NBA profession.
But as we method the halfway level of the Knicks inaugural season beneath new head coach Mike Brown, there isn’t a rhyme, cause, or rhythm to how Karl-Anthony Cities is getting his photographs — in the event that they ever come.
Friday’s 112-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns was a chief instance: Cities gained’t complain about shot makes an attempt, and Brown prioritizes ball and physique motion over shot distribution, however the Knicks’ star 7-footer shot simply 5-for-11 from the sphere for 15 factors, 12 rebounds and 5 assists on the evening in opposition to Mark Williams, a high quality defensive heart Phoenix acquired from the Charlotte Hornets however not, by any accounts, a game-changer on the heart spot.
Cities took one shot every in each the second and fourth quarters on Friday. It’s a development that’s performed out since Brown assumed the function as head coach.
Cities might have been hidden inside Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks offense final season, however he was nonetheless getting quantity in first rate doses. He’s now averaging 2.5 fewer discipline aim makes an attempt per recreation year-over-year. For context, Jalen Brunson is taking three extra photographs an evening in comparison with final season (although the development has shifted in latest video games). Miles McBride’s discipline aim makes an attempt are additionally up, whereas each Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby have seen shot dips, too.
“I’m going to keep shooting and keep making space for my teammates. I’m gonna keep trying to be as impactful for winning as possible and be the best in the role as possible,” Cities mentioned after the loss. “Getting my teammates involved and moving the ball and making the defense shift and giving the whole team space to operate my passing gravity. I am trying to do my best in my role and impact the winning. Tonight, it is unfortunate we did not do enough to win. I thought we did a great job to put ourselves in the position to win, so it’s more disappointing.”
But no participant on the Knicks is extra adorned than Cities, a five-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA Third-Workforce member, the 2016 Rookie of the Yr and 2022 3-Level Champion (the one heart ever to win the All-Star Weekend occasion). And no participant has seen an offensive function discount as drastic as Cities in Brown’s offense that leans closely towards guard play.
The Knicks can’t win like that. Not with $53 million dedicated to Cities this season, $57 million for the 2026-27 season, plus a $61 million participant possibility for 2027-28.
And listed here are some extra damning numbers Brown can present his staff throughout follow: Cities ranks seventh on the Knicks in first-quarter discipline aim makes an attempt over the staff’s final 10 video games at fewer than three photographs (2.8) within the opening interval. For reference, rookie Mohamed Diawara is averaging three shot makes an attempt within the first quarter, Bridges and Anunoby are averaging a hair over three photographs, McBride is at 3.5 and Brunson is at 7.2.
Cities took one shot within the first quarter of the loss to the 76ers, no discipline targets in each the primary and fourth quarters of the loss to the Detroit Pistons, and two discipline targets every in each the second and third quarters in opposition to the San Antonio Spurs and quarters two by means of 4 in opposition to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Perhaps there’s a straightforward resolution hiding in plain sight: Put Cities on a shot weight-reduction plan and power feed him the ball. 4 photographs 1 / 4 will get Cities to his profession common of 16 discipline aim makes an attempt per recreation. Cities has tried 16 or extra discipline targets in simply 13 of the 35 video games he’s appeared on this season.
Which implies the Knicks are losing away their funding in among the finest scoring huge males of all-time, the participant they traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to accumulate in a deal imagined to each increase this staff’s offensive ceiling and alleviate the scoring stress from Brunson’s shoulders.
Cities, in fact, shouldn’t be with out blame. Shaquille O’Neal, in spite of everything, would remove his teammates and play one-on-five earlier than letting them freeze him out of the offense. Cities, quite the opposite, typically disappears on the scoring facet. He lets an absence of foul calls shake him out of his recreation. And he additionally has not transformed on open threes at a charge worthy of his self-proclaimed title as one of the best taking pictures huge man in NBA historical past. He’s beneath 35% from deep for the primary time since his rookie season and is taking pictures 9.1% from deep (3-of-16) within the new calendar yr.
It’s onerous to get a rhythm once you don’t know the place your photographs are coming from, once you’re a footnote, an afterthought in an offense designed to get photographs up sooner and extra frequent than ever earlier than.
Which implies it’s time for the Knicks to determine some order. It’s time for the Knicks to reap the benefits of their highest-paid participant. As a result of why are you shelling out all that cash for Cities to be as woefully underutilized as he’s been this season?
