2024-09-28 12:35:03
By Shams Charania, Jon Krawczynski, Fred Katz and Mark Puleo
The New York Knicks have acquired four-time All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves, league sources tell The Athletic. The Knicks will send the Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, guard Donte DiVincenzo and a future first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons.
Towns, 28, has spent his entire nine-year career with the Timberwolves since being drafted No. 1 in the 2015 NBA Draft. He averaged 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in 2023-24, returning to All-Star form after missing much of the 2022-23 season with a knee injury.
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— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) September 28, 2024
Towns was “stunned” by the trade, according to a league source. He was working out at the Timberwolves’ practice facility this week in preparation for one of the most anticipated seasons in Timberwolves history. The Wolves were coming off an appearance in the Western Conference finals, and Towns believed he was a major part of the franchise’s plans to go one step further this season.
In Towns, the Knicks acquired the player they’ve pursued for years. They contacted the Timberwolves about Towns a couple of years ago, last year and again after that, according to league sources. Their eyes have wandered since team president Leon Rose took over in 2020 after leaving the basketball division at CAA, the agency that represents Towns. Now, Rose finally has his guy.
After winning 50 games last season, their most in a decade, the Knicks have made significant moves to upgrade a roster built around 28-year-old point guard Jalen Brunson. Beyond Towns, the team acquired wing Mikal Bridges in an early-summer trade with the Brooklyn Nets and re-signed forward OG Anunoby, whose addition in December proved key to the Knicks’ ascension to the No. 2 seed in the East.
Towns grew up a Knicks fan while living in New Jersey. He played for current Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau when Thibs coached the Wolves from 2016-18. That relationship was strained during Thibodeau’s tenure and after his exit, but Towns said a few years ago that he has moved on and harbored no ill feelings toward his former — and now current — coach.
The Wolves reshuffle their cap sheet with this trade. Towns was set to begin a four-year, $220 million max extension that will pay him more than $49 million this season. They essentially turned that into two players with Randle making $29 million this season and DiVincenzo earning $11.5 million.
The Wolves have long coveted the 27-year-old DiVincenzo, going hard after him during the 2023 free-agency period. His shooting and defense will fit into the best defensive team in the NBA.
Donte DiVincenzo (left) and Julius Randle will be playing together for Minnesota this season. (Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
Randle, 29, is coming off a shoulder injury that required surgery in April. The three-time All-Star provides half-court scoring that could help a Timberwolves team that struggled to generate offense against the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals. Randle can become a free agent this summer by opting out of his $30.3 million option for 2025-26.
The draft pick via the Pistons is top 13 protected in 2025, top 11 in 2026 and top nine in 2027. If it does not convey by then, it turns into a second-round pick.
As part of the deal, the Knicks also will send DaQuan Jeffries and future draft compensation to the Charlotte Hornets, league sources tell The Athletic.
After the Timberwolves were eliminated in the conference finals, Towns was asked about his future in Minnesota.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m confident I’ll be able to be here with my brothers and continue what I love to do here at home. So that’s the plan, nothing’s changed on my side. I love this city. I love this organization. I love this city. It’s given me my life, me and my family.”
What does this mean for the Knicks?
Towns brings a couple of elements the Knicks desperately need, especially with Mitchell Robinson targeting a December return at the earliest following offseason ankle surgery. There aren’t many 7-footers in NBA history with Towns’ shooting touch.
And the Knicks, who otherwise only have Precious Achiuwa and Jericho Sims as their two healthy centers, now have help on the boards, an area Thibodeau wants to control as much as any coach in the league. — Fred Katz, national NBA writer
What is Towns’ legacy in Minnesota?
This is the end of an era in Minnesota. Towns has been a pillar of the Wolves franchise since he was picked No. 1 overall in the 2015 draft. He won NBA Rookie of the Year honors, was named to four All-Star teams and earned two All-NBA selections. He was a standup member in the community, organizing a drive that got thousands of winter coats to young people in need and hosting disadvantaged kids for movie screenings and Christmas giveaways. He performed random acts of kindness, including buying a car for a fan who posted a GoFundMe on Twitter when theirs was stolen.
Towns suffered through many losses early in his career and experienced constant organizational turnover. He had five coaches and seven general managers in his first seven years and a host of would-be co-stars, including Andrew Wiggins, Jimmy Butler and D’Angelo Russell. Then, Anthony Edwards arrived and proved to be the kind of star who could complement and co-exist with Towns.
In an era of players asking out at the drop of a hat, Towns lived through all of the turmoil — particularly Butler’s boorish antics — and never asked for a trade. He remained loyal to the Wolves, often professing his desire to spend his whole career in Minnesota and see his jersey hung in the rafters. — Jon Krawczynski, Timberwolves beat writer
How this changes Minnesota’s trajectory
The Wolves will have a hard time replacing Towns’ shooting and, perhaps surprisingly, his defense on Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić. The team feels like it is better suited to contend for the long haul with the flexibility this deal provides.
Still, it’s a shocking move coming off arguably the best season in the franchise’s 36-year history. Towns was integral to Minnesota’s run to the Western Conference finals, playing superb defense against Jokić in the second round and giving the Wolves a needed offensive boost in their first-round sweep of Phoenix. He was the best shooter on the roster, big man or otherwise.
This trade changes the focus of the Wolves’ roster completely. It is Edwards’ team going forward, with Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid as the team’s core and veterans Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, DiVincenzo, Randle and Nickeil Alexander-Walker there to supplement it.
The Wolves made the deal to maximize Edwards’ window for the long haul, team sources told The Athletic. The Wolves wanted to make sure Edwards could be on a competitive playoff team for much longer than just the next two years and believe the flexibility this move provides will aid that pursuit. Dealing Towns also could help them retain Reid, a wildly popular player in Minnesota who could be a free agent next summer. — Krawczynski
How do the Knicks make up for the Randle and DiVincenzo losses?
The Knicks don’t make this four-year return to competence without Randle, who signed with the franchise in the summer of 2019 and helped renovate its image over the past half-decade. He’s slid onto three All-Star and two All-NBA teams since his arrival in New York. He provided a consistent 20 points and 10 boards per game and made passes no one else on the team could even attempt thanks to his size and strength. He gave the Knicks a unique element in the post.
Of course, Towns can do the same — and does it as a 7-footer with an endless array of down-low moves.
DiVincenzo’s departure means the end of the “Nova Knicks” that never were. He just broke the franchise record for 3-point makes in a season, but Towns, a 40 percent long-range shooter, will make up for the spacing the Knicks lost by dealing last season’s top sniper.
The Knicks are not as deep now. Before the trade, DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and Miles McBride were all expected to come off the bench. Now, DiVincenzo is gone, Hart appears to be the favorite to enter the starting lineup and McBride appears to have an increased role awaiting him.
In a moment, this team’s identity just shifted once again. — Katz
Required reading
(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)
