Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks have never had a shooting big. Now they have the greatest of all time.

New times, New York.

From Frazier to Ewing to Brunson, New York basketball has experienced a lot over the years. The ups. The downs. Jubilation. Heartbreak. You name it; the city has been through it all.

Well…. Not all. What is the last thing New York is looking to add to that list? A true stretch five.

The most threes ever by a bonafide center by the Knicks in a season belongs to the inventor of the most exciting Kontest in sports. That’s right, we’re looking at you, Luke Kornet.

The 7’1” sniper out of Vanderbilt played 66 games as a Knick, chucking up 4.1 attempts per game. He shot an impressive 36% on these attempts, too. Joe Mazzulla may not give him the green light now, but Kornet just won his first ring coming off the bench for the Boston Celtics, so he can’t really complain that much.

Also, apologies to Jerry Lucas, the OG stretch big. There might not have been a three point line yet, but Lucas’ shooting ability helped the Knicks out from 1971 to 1974, earning some jewelry in the process. A victim of his own era.

Anyways, even in today’s NBA, the New York front office has shied away from chasing bigs focused on shooting, preferring paint beasts that can protect the rim and hustle for rebounds. Just ask Mitchell Robinson. Or Nerlens Noel. Taj Gibson, Jericho Sims, and Isaiah Hartenstein will all be happy to chime in. I’ll play all my cards here, actually. Norvel Pelle.

All of these guys were talented centers in their own right; all of them were also focused more on rebounding and rim protection rather than expanding their offensive games.

It goes without saying that Karl-Anthony Towns is here to change that.

KAT is probably the best shooting big man in NBA history. History.

7’0” tall with a 7’4” wingspan, Towns gives the Knicks their first offensively-minded big of the Thibodeau era. Last year, he put up 21.8 points per game on 50/41/87 splits. Those numbers are absurd when you consider he averaged 8.3 rebounds per game on top of that.

Some of this is just ridiculous.

Towns has spent the past two years playing as a stretch forward rather than center alongside Rudy Gobert. When he was a center, though, he averaged 1.4 blocks per game across seven seasons. He shot 52% from the field and 40% from three over that massive time span. This is no fluke, folks.

All of this to say, the Knicks offense will look dramatically different this season compared to years past. New York will have unprecedented floor spacing in the Thibs era, and fans will be excited to see how lineups and rotations are managed as the season moves on. A possible lineup of Brunson/McBride/Bridges/Anunoby/KAT would give Brunson more room to work with than he has ever had in his career, and it would surround him with four marksmen that will make you pay if you leave them open. That may be one of the best five-out lineups the NBA has to offer.

Of course, fans will still have Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson manning the paint as the season moves along. The need for a lob threat is abundantly clear, given that Brunson takes (and makes) the most floaters in the league by a wide margin.

But what the Knicks sacrifice in lob threat, they more than make up for in room to operate. Help defense will be almost non-existent with traditional bigs helping out on KAT at the three point line instead of clogging the paint. Jalen Brunson is a master at scoring in one on one in isolation.

This is not your Jalen-Brunson-and-Julius-Randle-hero-ball offense of years past. All five starters for the Knicks will be there to get buckets. And Karl-Anthony Towns offers up the perfect skillset alongside the rest of the team to help win games. Just win, baby.