Bold Reactions Emerge After Knicks Finalize Blockbuster Trade for Karl-Anthony Towns, What’s Next? .giang

Late September is supposed to be the quiet part of the NBA offseason, but the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves had other ideas.

Late Friday, news broke of a three-team trade sending Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks, as well as Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the T’Wolves.

So far, we’ve graded the deals from all sides, courtesy of B/R’s Andy Bailey. Bailey also re-ranked every NBA starting lineup after the deal. And then he proposed the next wave of Randle trades if the ‘Wolves aren’t done dealing.

And yet, this story is still developing.

Late Tuesday, the deal became official with final details trickling out.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the completed trade, and now that the deal is done, it’s time to start slinging some takes.

*Hit the comments to share your hottest take from the Karl-Anthony Towns-Julius Randle trade between the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks.

The further we get from the original reports on this deal, the more it feels like one of the driving considerations for Minnesota was unloading KAT’s contract.

His deal runs through 2027-28, when he has a $61 million player option. Having it on the books, along with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert, would’ve made Minnesota almost prohibitively expensive for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, Randle’s deal could be over after this season (he has a $30.9 million player option for 2025-26). That alone could bring some flexibility, but Randle’s contract should also be more tradable than KAT’s. And given how wonky his fit is in Minnesota, there’s a good chance the front office does indeed flip him elsewhere.

Randle is an on-ball (and ball-dominant) playmaker who’s been good at creating shots for himself and others. But giving possessions to him naturally means taking some from Ant. His shaky jumper could make him tough to play alongside Gobert, too.

Ultimately, the ideal supporting players around an Edwards-Gobert two-man game might just be a trio of three-and-D wings and forwards. Randle’s contract might be able to help them acquire more such players.

—Andy Bailey

The Minnesota Timberwolves shedding Karl-Anthony Town’s significant contract (despite a 2024 run to the Western Conference) shows that the franchise understands the impact of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement.

While still high in the short term, the payroll was out of control.

Big men Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle may be important to Minnesota for now, but the future will be built around Anthony Edwards (obviously), Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid (whom the team is in a much better position to retain). It’s also now about Donte DiVincenzo and, ideally, Rob Dillingham (who, as a rookie, will need to gradually prove his value).

Gobert and Randle may stay beyond this season (they have player options). But in reality, that may not be the priority at this early stage post-trade.

—Eric Pincus

Here is a bold take: With Karl-Anthony Towns, the New York Knicks will have a top-five offense this season.

Towns comes in and immediately transforms the offense into a five-out system. Playing the pick-and-pop game with Jalen Brunson should, in theory, pull the opposing big man away from the rim, giving Brunson more opportunities at the rim. Should they stay attached to the rim, Towns shot 42.8 percent on catch-and-shoot threes last season.

The addition of Towns and Mikal Bridges should also help the Knicks launch more threes. New York attempted 31.8 threes per game last year. Adding Towns’ 5.2 attempts and Bridges’ 7.2 from last season should help them in the math game that has become so crucial in NBA basketball these days.

Two of the top three offenses in the NBA played five-out basketball, Boston and Oklahoma City. If New York can be successful in that playing style, it should finish as a top-five offense in the NBA.

—Mo Dakhil

Churning out a top-10 defense shouldn’t be a spicy proposition for the Knicks. They finished 10th in points allowed per possession last year and added Mikal Bridges without forking over regular rotation players.

But the center rotation has since undergone a massive facelift. Isaiah Hartenstein is gone, Karl-Anthony Towns will (presumably) start in the middle, and Mitchell Robinson will not anchor the bench or dual-big setups until, probably, early 2025—if that.

Building a top-10 defense around Towns at 5 has historically been a non-starter. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau knows this firsthand. The Minnesota Timberwolves ranked 26th and 23rd, respectively, in points allowed per possession during his two full seasons at the helm (2016-17 and 2017-18)—years in which Towns played all 82 games.

Still, time has a way of fomenting improvement. And whatever you think of KAT, he has improved.

The Timberwolves allowed under 1.10 points per possession with him at center last year, a mark that rated in the 91st percentile. And for those “Well, actually-ing” by invoking Naz Reid’s name, Minnesota’s defense held serve during Towns’ lone-big minutes, too (99th percentile).

This is not to say the 28-year-old is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate hiding in plain sight. The Timberwolves defense fell below average when he played without Rudy Gobert in 2022-23. Towns has only allowed sub-60 percent shooting at the rim while appearing in more than half of Minnesota’s games once (2018-19).

Putting him in a stark drop is a potential recipe for disaster. But Towns has significantly boosted his overall defensive aggression. He is better and more consistent at his off-ball rotations, and while he’ll never have the quickest lateral movements, his floor navigation in space and traffic has improved, too. If Thibs is willing to bring him up higher, let him pressure the ball/opposing centers and employ more switching, New York can make it work. Though teams will still attack him, KAT’s scram-switching has also gotten better, so the Knicks have the personnel with Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart to bail him out of sticky situations.

Preventing rival offenses from spamming pick-and-rolls involving both Towns and Jalen Brunson will likely be a chore. But again, that’s where it helps to have Hart, Anunoby and Bridges. New York can shape-shift its matchups to prohibit or at least limit the number of times opposing teams attack that combo.

And let’s not forget, Robinson should return at some point. Between him, Precious Achiuwa and Deuce McBride, the Knicks will have pesky defenders coming off the bench. Even if they must rely on offense to get by with the starting five, their full-strength rotation should be able to balance it all out over the course of 48 minutes.

—Dan Favale

Despite his reputation as an all-time floor-spacing big man, Karl-Anthony Towns has seldom bombed away in conventional terms.

His career high in three-point attempts per game is 7.9. That’s pretty high. But it came all the way back in 2019-20—across a 35-game sample.

Since then, Towns has averaged six or more long-range attempts per game just once. And overall, he’s placed inside the top 50 in average three-point tries just twice. He peaked at 17th in 2019-20 and then placed 50th in 2020-21.

So, yeah. Finishing in the top 10 of three-pointers per game would absolutely be a surface-of-the-sun development.

Going off last year’s numbers, this will require KAT to jack around nine triples each night. That’s a tall order given not only his previous career high but 2023-24 volume (5.3). Hitting this benchmark, though, may also be a necessity.

New York just lost one of the NBA’s highest-volume snipers in Donte DiVincenzo, who ranked seventh in three-point attempts per game. The Knicks will replace his and Julius Randle’s volume by committee, most notably with both Towns and Mikal Bridges.

But matching last year’s outside totals shouldn’t be considered the bare minimum. New York is getting ready to play five-out–to stretch defenses beyond function. Towns is perhaps more critical to opening up the floor than anyone else. He must let ‘er rip to yank opposing bigs out of the paint. (So, too, does Josh Hart, lest defenses be inclined to stash their centers on him.)

I fully recognize the risk of this prediction. It may amount to wishful thinking—not just because head coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t used to having his 5s fire away, but because the Knicks’ offensive pecking order may necessitate using KAT as an offensive hub inside the arc. Even so, I’m riding with it. In order to actualize the most dangerous version of themselves, these Knicks will need Towns to uncork triples at personally unexplored clips.

—Dan Favale

Even with Karl-Anthony Towns, one of the league’s all-time great shooting bigs, on last season’s roster, the Timberwolves had trouble cranking up their three-point volume. Despite posting the Association’s third-best splash rate (38.7 percent), the Wolves landed just 15th in made threes (12.6) due to ranking 23rd in average attempts (32.7).

What does this have to do with Donte DiVincenzo? In short, it should all but ensure he gets a neon-green light to fire at will once the season starts.

Minnesota, which saw its offensive spacing squeezed upon switching out Towns (a career 39.8 percent perimeter shooter) with Julius Randle (33.3), needs DiVincenzo to do everything he can to keep opposing defenses honest. It’s not just about winning the math of basketball—three points are greater than two—it’s about widening attack lanes for Anthony Edwards and Randle.

DiVincenzo just proved he can go toe-to-toe with basketball’s best sharpshooters. Last season, the 27-year-old averaged the fourth-most threes in the league (3.5) while also netting a career-best percentage of his long-range looks (40.1). It was, by any measure, a true breakout effort.

And yet, it’s fair to imagine he has even more tricks up his sleeve.

When the Knicks were battered by the injury bug in the campaign’s second half, they upped his involvement, and he absolutely answered the bell. After the All-Star break, he pumped in 19.3 points per outing while converting 38.4 percent of his 11.5 three-point shots per contest. For context, Stephen Curry and James Harden are the only players to ever average at least 11.5 three-point attempts over a season.

Between Minnesota’s nagging need for spacing and the likelihood it will need DiVincenzo’s secondary playmaking—soon-to-be 37-year-old point guard Mike Conley is backed up by a rookie (Rob Dillingham)—the stage is set for DiVincenzo to make it back-to-back breakout seasons.

—Andy Bailey

Given the fact that FanDuel’s sportsbook currently gives the Knicks the second shortest odds to finish first in the East, this take may not feel terribly hot. But if we assume the Boston Celtics have the best record in the conference for the second year in a row, the competition for that next spot should be fierce.

The Philadelphia 76ers added Paul George to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. As long as Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy and in his prime, the Milwaukee Bucks should be in the mix. And the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers are all teams that could reasonably be described as on the rise.

But the healthy Celtics are the only team that has a better on-paper starting five than New York. Brunson performed like an MVP-caliber playmaker last season. He now has one of the best shooting bigs of all time space the floor for him. And the three players between those lineup bookends—Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby—bring plenty of shooting and defensive switchability.

There are concerns about injuries (particularly with Anunoby) and depth, but coach Tom Thibodeau has always pushed for every regular-season win. And that means New York will finish second or better.

—Andy Bailey

There are reasons to like the Karl-Anthony Towns trade for both teams, although history will show that the Minnesota Timberwolves will ultimately win this deal.

Towns is an All-Star-caliber big. Buy he was never going to live up to his massive four-year, $220.4 million contract as a No. 2 option with the Wolves, one that will ultimately see him make over $61 million during the 2027-28 season.

Julius Randle doesn’t bring the same caliber of three-point shooting to Minnesota, although he was a fellow 2024 All-Star who’s set to make about $20 million less than Towns this season. The Wolves also improved their depth with Donte DiVincenzo (15.5 points, 40.1 percent from three) and added a first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons, an important move considering Minnesota wasn’t eligible to trade a pick until the 2033 draft.

Towns is a great player. The Wolves, however, went 14-6 without him last year and will still put together an elite defense and continue to have Anthony Edwards running the offense.

This franchise at least has a chance to dodge the second tax apron next season and should have a better opportunity at re-signing Naz Reid as well.

This wasn’t a bad trade for the Knicks by any means, but this was a great move by the ‘Wolves for a number of reasons.