Karl-Anthony Towns has settled in nicely as a member of the New York Knicks after being acquired in a late offseason trade, but his defense has been the subject of debate to start the season.

One scout who recently saw the Knicks play told ESPN's Tim Bontemps that Towns' defense has been better than it's given credit for.

"I think KAT is playing better defense than people give him credit for," the scout said. "At least he's playing with effort."

ESPN's Brian Windhorst noted in the same article that scouts believe Towns can be an "effective" piece in a defensive scheme because we just saw it last season when he was on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"The Wolves had the No. 1 defense with Towns playing big minutes last year," a Western Conference scout told Windhorst. "They gave the Knicks the answers to the test already."

Bontemps noted that Second Spectrum tracking showed that Towns allowed opponents to shoot 32-of-35 in the restricted area this season going into Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

There has also been a noticeable decline in the Knicks' defensive performance this season with Towns as the primary center instead of Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein. They are 19th in defensive rating through 11 games after ranking 10th last season.

It is encouraging that despite Towns' struggles on that end of the court, the Knicks haven't completely bottomed out. They need to be better defensively to be a title contender, but help is coming in January when Robinson is expected to return from having surgery on both ankles.

Robinson isn't exactly a Rudy Gobert-level defender in the paint, but he is regarded as one of the best rim protectors in the NBA when healthy. We know Towns can play and be effective with another big on the floor because of his work with Gobert in Minnesota.

Despite the defensive deficiencies, Towns' offensive production has been nothing short of incredible to start the season. He is averaging 26.5 points on 50.8 percent three-point shooting and 12.2 rebounds per game in 11 starts.

Towns has scored at least 30 points in four of his last five games, including a season-high 46 in Wednesday's 124-123 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

The Knicks (5-6) can afford to be patient while figuring out their new lineup because the rest of the Eastern Conference has been a disappointment. They are still fourth in the conference standings despite being under .500 going into Friday's NBA Cup game against the Brooklyn Nets.