In a franchise-altering trade, the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to send four-time All-Star Karl Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks. In return, the Timberwolves will receive All-Star forward Julius Randle, guard Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round draft pick, according to sources familiar with the deal. Although the trade is not yet official, reports suggest the agreement is in its final stages.
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Towns, who has been with the Timberwolves since they selected him first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, has been a central figure for the franchise for nearly a decade. Despite Minnesota’s ups and downs, including several challenging seasons before last year’s run to the Western Conference Finals, Towns never publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the team. His leadership both on and off the court, particularly his involvement in the Twin Cities community, earned him widespread respect.
Karl Anthony Towns will work again with Tom Thibodeau as Minnesota Timberwolves are finalizing a three-team trade with New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets in order to make the trade possible. Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo will be sent to Minnesota.
We have a first shocking trade in era without Adrian Wojnarowski.
Karl Anthony Towns
| Position: | C |
| Age: | 28 |
| Height: | 213 cm |
| Weight: | 112 kg |
| Birth place: | New Jersey, United States of America |
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As Shams Charania of The Athletic reported, the Minnesota Timberwolves are nearing a deal with the New York Knicks based around Karl Anthony Towns.
Charlotte Hornets will be the third team in the deal in order to make salaries work and finalise the trade.
In return, the New York Knicks will receive Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a future first round pick via the Detroit Pistons.
Knicks will also send DaQuan Jeffries to the Charlotte Hornets as a salary dump move.
Towns already worked with Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota from 2016-2019, even though their relationship wasn’t so great during that time, Towns publicly stated multiple times that they are good with each other and that nothing between them is strained.
According to Charania, Towns was stunned by this move, and that can be also seen in his post on X platform after news were released:
This move comes just days before the start of training camp, a surprise for many, including Towns himself, who had comfortably transitioned into a power forward role since the acquisition of Rudy Gobert in 2022. However, this trade brings him back to the East Coast, where he grew up in New Jersey.
For the Timberwolves, the acquisition of Julius Randle provides them with a dynamic power forward. Randle, coming off a strong season with the Knicks, adds scoring and rebounding to the Wolves’ lineup. In addition, sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo brings extra perimeter firepower after a career-best season, and the first-round pick offers valuable future flexibility.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has shown he’s not afraid of bold moves, evidenced by last year’s Gobert trade. This latest deal may have even bigger implications for Minnesota, as they aim to push further in the competitive Western Conference.
The Timberwolves are positioning themselves for another deep playoff run, while the Knicks, in acquiring Towns, hope to solidify their place among the Eastern Conference’s elite.
Knicks: A
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After losing Isaiah Hartenstein to free agency and Mitchell Robinson (at least for the start of the season) to injury, the Knicks were in dire need of a center. Unclogging a forward rotation that includes Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby would be nice, too.
Friday, New York checked both those boxes, while adding an All-Star in the process.
Towns feels like a near perfect No. 2 option alongside Jalen Brunson. The diminutive guard thrives in getting through tight spaces and into the paint, and Towns’ shooting will make that even easier for him.
The self-proclaimed best shooting big of all time really is a dynamic weapon from beyond the arc. Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, he’s hit 40.4 percent of his threes, while attempting 5.1 per game. Opposing centers are forced to follow him to the perimeter, or he’ll pour in points from the outside. That, of course, will leave the paint exposed for Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby and Josh Hart to attack.
Randle is better than Towns at creating offense from scratch. Losing one-fourth of the ‘Nova Knicks in DiVincenzo is tough on a sentimental level and also hurts New York’s depth. Towns certainly isn’t the kind of rim protector the Knicks had with Hartenstein or Robinson.
But KAT will supercharge an already strong offense. Miles McBride is ready for a bigger role in DiVincenzo’s absence. And New York has two of the league’s best three-and-D forwards in Bridges and Anunoby to make Towns’ job easier on defense.
Timberwolves: C
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This is a tougher deal to read from Minnesota’s perspective.
Yes, there were early fit issues with KAT and Rudy Gobert, but those had subsided during the 2023-24 campaign. Last regular and postseason, Minnesota dominated when both were on the floor.
That was largely due to Towns’ shooting, which Randle simply cannot reproduce. He’s a career 33.3 percent three-point shooter who will undoubtedly be dared to chuck away by playoff defenses. That will make things more cramped for a Timberwolves starting five that includes Gobert and Anthony Edwards. The latter is developing as a three-point threat, but it’d sure be nice to keep the middle of the floor open for his slashing, too.
Towns was no Dikembe Mutombo, but he and Gobert made up a massive front line that caused real problems for the 2022-23 champion Denver Nuggets. Naz Reid can replicate that to a degree, but there’s no doubt Minnesota is now slightly less equipped to bother the league’s best player, Nikola Jokić.
Still, the Wolves don’t get a failing grade here. Randle can take some pressure off Mike Conley and Edwards as a playmaker. DiVincenzo is one of the league’s best rebounding guards, a pesky defender and might even be a sneaky Sixth Man of the Year candidate in this role.
There are reasons for cautious optimism, but Minnesota should have Edwards at the heart of their thinking on every move. And the often ball-dominant Randle, with his shaky jump shot, doesn’t seem like the kind of player who’ll maximize what’s happening with Ant.
Hornets: A
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This is exactly the kind of move a rebuilding team should be trying to jump in on.
All we know about Charlotte’s return, for now, is that Jeffries and draft compensation is headed its way, but it’s safe to assume the Hornets aren’t giving up a ton to facilitate this.
Under the collective bargaining agreement, the primary teams in a trade sometimes need a dumping ground. For now, Charlotte is exactly that kind of dumping ground.
If Jeffries, a 27-year-old wing with a career average of 3.0 points and a 28.1 three-point percentage, proves better than expected or the future pick turns into a rotation player, wonderful.
