By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
In a surprising turn of events, the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a shocking trade deal after sending star center Karl Anthony-Towns to the New York Knicks announced on September 28, 2024.
Towns spent the first nine years in the NBA with the Timberwolves after getting selected first overall during the 2015 Rookie Draft.
Despite the early humps he faced, Minnesota decided to keep their big man and finally had a fruitful year last NBA season when he helped the Timberwolves reach the Western Conference finals.
Just when Towns was starting to impose his overall efficiency in the city of Minnesota, all plans eventually evaporated when he was traded to the Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
A three-team proposal completed the massive negotiation, with the Detroit Pistons loaning their first-round pick to Minnesota.
It was The Athletic’s Shams Charania who first posted the update and was then confirmed by both franchises as respective deals to all departing players took place.
Last season, Towns averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists for the Timberwolves, forming an exciting 1-2 punch with Anthony Edwards who is slowly becoming the face of the franchise.
Towns kicked off the 2023-2024 Playoffs on a high note after dominating the paint in the first round against the Phoenix Suns and elevated his level in the Western Conference semifinals when they faced Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
In that series, Towns played outside the perimeter, his comfort zone, and took out Jokic’s paint presence with his ability to spread the floor.
Towns’ level of performance then went down in the conference finals after struggling against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
On the other hand, Randle, a former lottery pick of the Los Angeles Lakers, missed his second straight post-season appearance for the Knicks after going down with a shoulder injury.
Despite the huge scoring numbers he put up for New York in the regular season, Randle failed to stay healthy and was absent during the Knicks’ playoff campaign.
New York will miss DiVincenzo’s insane shooting spree but the Eastern Conference squad added more firepower after signing versatile small forward Mikal Bridges.
Who won the trade? Thoughts?
