The NBA is back.
Not just because training camps open across the league next week but more because it’s back to grabbing headlines with monster trades. This one came out of the blue and caught some of the principles off guard:
Karl Anthony Towns is headed to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in what ultimately is a three-team trade.
Let’s break down the winners and losers of this deal, but first here is the full trade:
New York receives: Karl-Anthony Towns
Minnesota receives: Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, 2025 first-round pick (via Detroit, top-13 protected)
Charlotte receives: DaQuan Jeffries, “draft compensation” (the details of the players and picks headed to the Hornets, to make the money all work, is not finalized as of this writing)
WINNER: New York Knicks
Ultimately, it’s this simple: The Knicks needed a center and just landed one of the best in the NBA.
Towns is an All-NBA level big man who makes this team better. New York had its eye on the New Jersey native for years and now, needing help at the five (Mitchell Robinson is out recovering from surgery until around Christmas, and Isaiah Hartenstein left for a bigger paycheck in Oklahoma City), the Knicks got one of the best in the game.
It’s not a hand-in-glove fit. There are questions.
At the top of the list is how well Towns can hold up as the rim-protecting defensive anchor of a Tom Thibodeau defense. Will the mercurial player bring it every night, as Thibs demands? What worked in Minnesota is that defensive role — and the rebounding that goes with it — fell to Rudy Gobert, allowing Towns to play the four and be hidden a little on defense. (To be fair, Towns had good defensive moments, most notably against Nikola Jokic when the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs last season.) Towns now has to assume that role full time, and do it until Robinson returns.
Thibodeau had his frustrations with Towns’ effort and game when he coached the Kentucky big man in Minnesota (during the Jimmy Butler era), but in recent years, he has said several times he was open to working with Towns again. He had nothing but positive things to say about Towns recently.
Losing DiVincenzo stings, he was a crucial part of their bench and a fan favorite, but it was the cost of getting the deal done, the well-connected Ian Begley of SNY.TV reported. Once the Knicks came around to accepting that and put him in the deal, it came together quickly. To get talent you have to give up talent. The Knicks did that.
And now they are better for it. It may take a little bit for this new lineup to mesh, but New York is in the big game now and a real threat to come out of the East.
POTENTIAL LOSER: Knicks’ depth
If one thing trips up the Knicks in the East — aside from Boston and Philadelphia both being very good — it will be depth.
The Knicks’ starting five can hang with anyone: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Towns.
The bench is… less impressive. To put it kindly. Miles “Deuce” McBride now has a lot on his shoulders, and once Robinson returns that will help. Some combination of Precious Achiuwa, Cameron Payne, Jericho Sims will get their chance. Or maybe Landry Shamet or Marcus Morris Sr., if the guys signed to training camp deals, make the final roster. None of that is blowing anyone away.
Tom Thibodeau is more than happy to run his starters into the ground with heavy minutes, but he — and the Knicks front office — will have to find some bench minutes over the marathon of 82 games to make this work.
WINNER: Timberwolves (in the short term)
Blame the luxury tax’s second apron if you want, it drove this trade. In front offices around the league it was considered a matter of when, not if, Minnesota would have to trade Towns for financial reasons. With Anthony Edwards’ new max extension kicking in this season on top of Gobert’s max deal, Towns’ max deal and high-priced role players — Jaden McDaniels making $23 million this season — something was going to have to give, and that was going to be KAT. This team was about to become too expensive for any owner — especially Glen Taylor but also the Alex Rodriguez/Marc Lore/Mike Bloomberg group — and changes were coming.
However, after last season’s run to the Western Conference Finals, it was expected Minnesota would keep its contending team — the one that used its size to beat defending champion Denver — together for at least another season to make a run at it.
Nope. However, this trade should keep the Timberwolves near the top of the West for at least another season. It also saves money, Randle and DiVincenzo combined make about $9 million less than Towns.
This can work on the court but it puts a lot of pressure on coach Chris Finch to get the most out of a roster where the pieces don’t really fit.
Randle knows how to get buckets, he’s a bully-ball player in the paint who averaged 24 points and 9.2 rebounds a game last season. He’s also a ball-stopper on offense who doesn’t space the floor, so pairing him with non-shooting Gobert will allow opposing teams to pack the paint and take away driving lanes for Edwards. That’s where DiVincenzo comes in — his shooting and secondary playmaking could be a good fit next to Edwards, and it takes some of the load off 37-year-old point guard Mike Conley.
This deal could mean more run for reigning Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid if Finch decides he needs to stagger the minutes of Randle and Edwards as much as he can. DiVincenzo’s arrival takes some pressure off rookie Rob Dillingham (and Terrence Shannon Jr.) to contribute on Day 1.
It’s an odd puzzle to fit together, but there’s a lot of talent on this roster and an entire season to figure out how to make it work. This could come together for the Timberwolves this season, they should still be near the top of the West and a postseason threat to come out of the West.
LOSER: Timberwolves long term
Loser may be too strong a term here, but times, they are a changin’ in Minnesota.
Remember, this trade was about saving money for Minnesota. Randle makes $28.9 million this season with a player option for $30.9 next season that he’s not expected to pick up. The way the Timberwolves ultimately save money here is to let Randle go — or find a trade for him (maybe a sign-and-trade) next offseason — and move on from his money.
With 37-year-old point guard Conley not the long-term answer at that position, this team is going to look different in a couple of years. Edwards is the ascendant superstar and the guy everything is built around. He is the face of the franchise. Gobert will be there in the paint, with McDaniels, DiVincenzo and Reid still around, but the roster will pivot in the coming years. The bottom line is Towns is an All-NBA level talent at center now playing in Manhattan and once Randle is gone, this will be a very different team. Probably one not quite as good, at least until Tim Connelly and the Minnesota front office figures out exactly what the team around Edwards should look like.
LOSER: ‘Nova Knicks
After the trade for Mikal Bridges this summer, there was excitement to see the ‘Nova Knicks — a core four Villanova players of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Bridges and DiVincenzo — who won big in college and now wanted to do it together in Madison Square Garden.
It came apart before the four even took the court together. Which kind of sucks. DiVincenzo was the price to get this trade made, and the Knicks were right to do it, but it’s still a little sad.
WINNER: Denver Nuggets
Tim Connelly was the front office mastermind who built a championship team in Denver, then he went to Minnesota and built the one team that had the size to beat them. The Timberwolves bounced the Nuggets in a hard-fought second-round series last May because they had the size to match up with Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon. Towns played the best defensive series of his career matchup up with Jokic, all that size to throw at the Serbian was the difference.
Now Minnesota is smaller and Jokic can see right over the top of Randle all the way to the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City may block that view (and the Nuggets are a lesser team without Kentavious Caldwell-Pope), but Minnesota just traded away its strength against Denver. That’s a win for Jokic and the Nuggets.
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