NBA rumors: Knicks' real reason for Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster trade
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The New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves caused a major shakeup in the NBA on Friday when Minnesota flipped Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick.
Shortly after the deal was done, reports began to leak out around the motivations for each team doing the deal. The Knicks were after Towns in the trade in order to address the center position and add some star power at a position of need, according to Ian Begley of SNY.
“Knicks, per league sources in touch with team, feel they had a great opportunity to address their biggest need at C in trading for a 4 time All Star & 2-time All NBA player in Karl Anthony Towns,” Begley reported on X, formerly Twitter. “They see Towns, 28, as a great fit with their other high-end talent and someone who complements the rest of the core well, those league sources say.”
Towns’ combination of size and shooting will certainly bolster a Knicks offense that lacked some punch from beyond the arc last season. The Knicks will be sad to break up their core “Villanova Knicks”, but this is a move they had to make to take another leap forward in the Eastern Conference.
How will Julius Randle fit in with the Timberwolves?
The Timberwolves clearly wanted to shake things up with the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, and they did a good job to add shooting and depth with the addition of Donte DiVincenzo.
The Julius Randle addition is a curious one, only because of the fit with the rest of the team. It’s hard to envision Randle playing next to Rudy Gobert without killing the spacing for Minnesota’s offense. Where will the driving lanes be for Anthony Edwards if Gobert and Randle are both clogging the paint, or if defenders are willing to sag off of Randle? Randle’s iso-heavy style may not blend with Edwards either.
You could play Randle with Naz Reid, but both of them are undersized for a center and the unit would suffer defensively unless the perimeter defenders were absolutely hounding ball handlers.
Randle’s contract is also an important factor here, and one that may drive him to perform well. Randle will play out this season and then has a player option on his deal for 2025-26 that is worth about $31 million. However, if he plays some of his best basketball this year, he can opt out and try to get more money either from the Timberwolves or someone else.
Randle has shown the ability to be an All-NBA player in the past. If he can bring that level of play to Minnesota, he can earn himself a new deal and help the Timberwolves compete for a championship.
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