As Tom Thibodeau attempts to integrate Karl-Anthony Towns into his lineup for New York Knicks, his biggest test lies ahead.

After making a massive deal to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks are fully focused on winning championships. Yet making such an enormous trade increases pressure both internally and externally; that puts Towns under more strain to fit in seamlessly while placing extra strain on both Towns himself and front office decision-makers to see that trade through. Tom Thibodeau will arguably shoulder most of the responsibility in making all this work for New York. Thibodeau will face his most significant test since joining the Knicks as coach in 2020. After leading them to two playoff series wins and an 175-143 record after four seasons, he signed a three-year extension keeping him with New York until at least the 2027-28 campaign. Thibodeau has led the Knicks to their greatest level of success since 1996. Over four years, their fortunes have transitioned from happy playoff qualifiers to genuine contenders – raising both expectations and stakes for success in 2017. New York has attracted attention since their signings of Towns and Mikal Bridges. The Knicks may enter their season with higher expectations since the turn of this century. Acquiring Towns is a significant talent upgrade that also pushes Thibodeau outside his comfort zone as a coach. Thibodeau has enjoyed great success during his four-year run as coach by fielding a low-usage center who prioritizes offensive rebounding and rim protection. Since 2020-21 season, no Knicks starting center has averaged more than 8.5 points on an annual basis. Towns stands out with his career average of 22.9 in nine years – an extremely dangerous offensive weapon who creates havoc for opposing defenses outside and inside. Thibodeau must find ways for Towns to play his most useful role and ensure his partnership with Jalen Brunson works smoothly in pick-and-roll play.Acknowledging new personnelTowns’ three-point shooting abilities provide great offense but may limit how effectively his team dominates on the offensive glass. Over the last four seasons, The Knicks have consistently been one of the premier offensive rebounding teams in the NBA. According to NBA Stats, they finished first both during regular season play as well as post-season contests for second chance points per 100 possessions per NBA Stats. Teams rarely dominate the offensive glass when their 7-foot center spots up from deep. But these caroms and low turnover-rate have led them to achieve top-10 rankings in offensive efficiency, even while being an underachieving shooting efficiency team. New York finished 20th in true shooting percentage last season. Towns has proven himself as an acceptable offensive rebounder since being converted from center to power forward alongside Rudy Gobert in Minnesota – though nowhere near Mitchell Robinson or Isaiah Hartenstein in terms of impactful offensive rebounding abilities. New York should benefit from adding Towns to their lineup in terms of perimeter shooting and spacing on the court; how well they perform on offensive boards will be important throughout the season. Defensively, however, Towns may not match up well to what Thibodeau-era Knicks rosters like Robinson Hartenstein or Nerlens Noel had on defense as physical threats. Not having an obvious rim protector on the floor could force Thibodeau to get creative when devising defensive strategies for New York, which has traditionally employed one of the more conservative approaches in NBA defense. Perhaps they’ll switch up more actions defensively? Bridges, Anunoby and Hart make for an impressive trio that can defend multiple positions effectively on offense or defense. Overall, New York appears to have gone all in with this team. At this point, only an asset left from New York’s previous haul remains; that being a heavily protected Washington Wizards first-round draft pick and several second-round selections; additionally, their payroll has significantly expanded since. Given their higher price tags, expensive teams come with increased expectations from fans and media alike. Thibodeau will feel an additional level of pressure with this club as his decisions regarding rotation changes and in-game adjustments will come under close scrutiny. As injuries increase, discussions of running players into the ground will only intensify further. Under pressure can sometimes turn stones into diamonds; for the Knicks, their hope should be that those diamonds end up on championship rings instead.