According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Minnesota Timberwolves completed a trade with the New York Knicks, which would see Karl-Anthony Towns moving to the Big Apple in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a future first-rounder (via the Detroit Pistons).
Following this move, Karl-Anthony Towns took to social media with his shocked reaction, writing an ellipsis and nothing more via his X (formerly known as Twitter) account.
He probably was surprised because he never made a trade request throughout his stay with the Minnesota Timberwolves, despite their ups and downs.
In his nine years with the team, Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 22.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks on 52.4 percent shooting from the field and 39.8 percent from three-point range in 573 career appearances.
Towns was an integral cog in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ first Western Conference Finals appearance since 2004 last season, where they eventually lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games, averaging 19.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 47/36/86 shooting clips and forming a dynamic trio with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.
What does this trade mean for the Minnesota Timberwolves?
Julius Randle is expected to slot in as the team’s starting power forward alongside Rudy Gobert, and it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll play alongside one another, especially since Randle, a career 33.3 percent three-point shooter, is not an elite outside shooter like Towns.
Credit: Getty Images
Meanwhile, Donte DiVincenzo will bolster Minnesota’s bench production. The Villanova product is coming off a solid 2023-24 campaign, averaging 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 40.1 percent from the three-point line in 81 regular season games (63 starts).
Despite the questionable fit, the Minnesota Timberwolves gained flexibility from this move because they rid themselves of Karl-Anthony Towns’ mammoth $221 million contract, and they also received a lottery pick from the perpetually bad Detroit Pistons that they could benefit from soon.
