The Minnesota Timberwolves are nearing a deal with the New York Knicks that would send Karl-Anthony Towns to the Big Apple for a package including Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, according to The Athletic. The Timberwolves would also get a protected first-round pick from the Knicks that originally belonged to the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks are also reportedly sending salary to the Charlotte Hornets, including DaQuan Jeffries, in order to abide by the restrictions created by the respective luxury tax aprons impacting New York and Minnesota.
This would mark the second major acquisition for New York this offseason after their mega deal to acquire Mikal Bridges in June. The Knicks lost starting center Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency and their other key center, Mitchell Robinson, will miss the beginning of the season due to injury. Now, in Towns, the Knicks have found a franchise center, but a very different sort of player from the ones they are missing. Hartenstein and Robinson operate primarily near the basket. Towns is arguably the best big man shooter in NBA history, and he will give the Knicks an entirely new dimension offensively.
The Timberwolves are coming off of the best season in their franchise’s history. Towns was an integral part of their second-round upset over the defending champion Denver Nuggets, but he is also early in a super max contract that would have grown prohibitive for Minnesota with time. With Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels both starting hefty new contracts this season, the Timberwolves seemingly decided they needed to move quickly on a deal.
In Randle, they have effectively turned a $50 million offense-first center into a $30 million offense-first center, and in the process, they’ve added one of the NBA’s best shooters. Sacrificing Towns’ shooting at power forward will sting, but his offensive value was muted playing next to another big man in Rudy Gobert. Randle’s secondary creation will go a long way for Minnesota, especially with the bench lineups that struggled when Edwards rested last season.
Towns has been a rumored Knicks target for quite some time. He is represented by Jessica Holtz of CAA. Knicks president Leon Rose was once notably the head of CAA’s basketball division, and the Knicks have long fostered a reputation for acquiring CAA clients. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby are all represented by CAA.
Blockbuster trades are very rare in September, and the restrictions introduced by the new CBA pushed the odds even further against a deal of this magnitude. But the NBA rarely disappoints when it comes to offseason surprises, and it just gave us a big one with perhaps the most significant move of the offseason coming months after the free agency dust settled.
