NBA rumors: What Timberwolves told Karl-Anthony Towns about a possible trade in 2023
09/30/2024 12:11 PM
On Friday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves sent shockwaves around the NBA when reports came out that they had traded away longtime face of the franchise Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a heavily-protected first-round pick.
The Timberwolves were going to enter the 2024-25 season as an inner-circle title-contending team with Towns in the fray, but they have introduced a ton of risk into the equation by dealing away one of the greatest shooting big men in league history for a power forward, who, while rather talented, may not be the best fit, spacing-wise, alongside Rudy Gobert.
However, it’s not as though the Timberwolves’ decision to trade Towns away was something that was unforeseen. There have been plenty of rumors over the past year or so that Minnesota could trade away the first overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft as they had an impending financial crunch to navigate. And it’s not like president of basketball operations Tim Connelly completely ruled out a Towns trade, as per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“Tim came out to his house [in the summer of 2023] and they had dinner and they sat around and Karl was just like, 'Hey are you gonna trade me?' And Tim said a bunch of things. ‘We don't want to trade you', 'we think you're a great fit here', 'we're building this team around you and Ant' and all these things, but at the end of the conversation Tim couldn't say to him 'I'm not going to trade you,'” Windhorst revealed on The Hoop Collective.
Towns was already feeling as if the writing was on the wall with regards to his future as a Timberwolves player following the team’s shocking move for Gobert in September 2022. The only thing Towns wanted from the organization was for them to prompt him and his camp if a trade were to come. It’s safe to say that, according to reports, Towns did not receive the heads-up that he would have preferred to get.
If anything, the new CBA is to blame for the Timberwolves’ decision to trade Towns, and, in turn, give up on the core that led them to their most successful season yet. Anger from the fanbase towards the ownership may be warranted, but it would have been difficult for them to build a sustainable contending team given their financial obligations in the coming years. Trading Towns to the Knicks may leave a bad taste in the mouth, but it seems to be rather necessary move so as to rip the band-aid off.
Timberwolves look towards the future
There may be many memes on social media poking fun at the impending spacing disaster that will come with trotting out a frontcourt partnership of Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle, but the Timberwolves did as well as they could considering the new financial landscape brought forth by the new CBA.
Randle may not be the shooter that Towns is, but he can create his own offense, do damage from the post, and soak up some pressure from Anthony Edwards. He is a two-time All-Star for a reason. He was instrumental in the Knicks’ success over the past few years, and he should help keep Minnesota competitive — at nearly half the cost of Towns.
Donte DiVincenzo should also give the Timberwolves more options in the backcourt; he emerged as one of the best marksmen in the league last season, and he’s going to make an average of $11.9 million over the next three years — a pittance compared to his contributions on the court.
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