The Knicks are reportedly trading for Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns

The New York Knicks dropped a bombshell on Friday evening with a trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the All-Star star was acquired from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports confirmed that the deal is going through.

Per ESPN’s Tim BontempsThe Charlotte Hornets will serve as the needed third team in the trade, as both the Knicks and Timberwolves are above the first frontcourt and are not allowed to accept more money in a trade.

Cities apparently reacted to the news X minutes before it reached the public. He didn’t seem happy.

The move reunites Towns with his old coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached him for three seasons in Minnesota before being fired in 2019. It’s also something of a homecoming for the New Jersey native.

The trade comes as a shock to more people than Towns, both because the Timberwolves are moving on from a player who has served as the face of the franchise since they took him first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, and because the Knicks make it somehow That hasn’t happened yet this offseason.

Why did the Knicks acquire Karl-Anthony Towns?

The Knicks were already considered NBA title favorites after a transformative offseason in which they relied heavily on small sample sizes and the power of friendship.

The team signed OG Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million contract and then traded almost every possible first-round draft pick for Mikal Bridges. In Anunoby they got a player who went 26-6 when he was healthy. With Bridges they got a player who fit the team’s identity perfectly and who also played in college at Villanova with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and DiVincenzo.

This quartet of former Villanova players is now a trio, and the reason is the team’s situation at the center.

Last season, New York featured a big man tandem of Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson. Hartenstein moved to the Oklahoma City Thunder on a three-year, $87 million deal, while Robinson is out at least until December with an ankle injury.

Without a move, the Knicks were on track to have a combination of Jericho Sims, Precious Achiuwa, Randle and others at center. They chose a four-time All-Star instead.

The fit may not be perfect, but the Knicks now have a talent level that fits a culture that many viewed as one of the best in the league. They are at 100% this season, with a projected starting lineup of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunoby and Towns.

From a personnel perspective, the cost was significant, but not prohibitive considering Towns had already signed a four-year, $228 million supermax extension. Randle was a three-time All-Star during his time in New York, but his fit with the team after the Bridges transfer was questionable. DiVincenzo is a quality bench player, but Towns could be a quality starter.

Why did the Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns?

The Timberwolves posted a 56-26 record last season and reached the Western Conference finals. Teams at this position don’t often trade a player like Towns.

So the team may not have been as happy with the composition of its roster as some speculated, namely that it paid two big stars, Towns and Rudy Gobert, a combined total of more than $90 million to share the roster. With the team embroiled in an ownership dispute, the Timberwolves may also want to cut payroll.

Sure, Towns and Gobert are very different players. Gobert is a defensive monster who can knock down almost any shot near the basket while being a limited threat on offense and lacking much of a perimeter shooting game. Towns is talented enough to carry an offense and score from anywhere on the court, but his defensive impact has always been less than what you would expect from a 7-footer.

There was also the presence of Sixth Man of the Year winner Naz Reid. That’s a lot of minutes to manage, even if they are all good players.

Towns’ offensive impact would have been more important had Anthony Edwards not replaced him as Minnesota’s best option on offense. That made him expendable, and the Timberwolves decided to void his contract in exchange for players who might be a better fit for their Edwards-Gobert tandem.

It’s still a gamble, on both sides. Teams competing at the top of their conference rarely make spontaneous adjustments in this way, and it’s even rarer for them to do so among themselves.