In a surprising blockbuster deal Friday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves are sending their star big, Karl Anthony-Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a 2025 first-round pick. Due to both franchises being unable to take back more salary than they’re sending out, the Charlotte Hornets will be involved finalize the deal.
Minnesota is coming fresh off its first WCF appearance in 20 years, led by both Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns which has made many fans wonder whether it was the right decision to break up this unit. To keep it simple, Minnesota has one of the most expensive rosters in the league and Naz Reid is set for a big payday soon. It was best to move KAT and get some sort of value for him, while also staying relatively competitive in the wild west. Reid is coming off an impressive year seeing improvements in nearly every major statistical category. Minnesota reloading and investing in a younger, cheaper talent puts them in a better position financially for the future. The big question though is whether they continue to bring Reid off the bench with the addition of Julius Randle. Does the acquisition of Randle hinder the development of Reid if he is still splitting game reps? What does the spacing look like with a Randle-Gobert frontcourt? Some of this concern does decrease once DiVicenzo is inserted in these lineups by providing much needed floor spacing and shooting. Julius provides post-scoring and gives Minnesota supplemental rebounding presence, but in terms of team fit, Reid compliments Edwards, McDaniels, and Gobert with his more consistent outside shooting much better than Randle.
During the summer, Jalen Brunson decided to take a major pay cut, which led to the Knicks being able to retain OG Anunoby, trade for Mikal Bridges, and now bring in Karl Anthony-Towns. Contrary to Minnesota, it appears New York is going all in on Brunson and Co. By pairing him with one of the best shooting bigs in the league, alongside the length and athleticism the Knicks already have, they will be tough to beat in a 7 game series. New York has been severely limited offensively in the big department, lacking in outside shooting and overall shot creation. Not only does KAT fill in both those categories, but Brunson now has another star to comfortably go to when he is garnering most of the opposing defenses’ attention. The Knicks have a very well-balanced roster when it comes to shooting, perimeter defense, rim protection, rebounding, and shot creation. It will be interesting to see how head coach Tom Thibodeau utilizes KAT on both sides of the ball. Will they place him at the 5 or pair him with Mitchell Robinson in the starting unit to provide more interior defense and rebounding? What kind of offensive schemes and sets will be used to keep guys like Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby involved within the offense without disrupting the two stars’ rhythm? I am a huge fan of teams going all in and letting the chips fall where they may, and the Knicks have had an A+ off-season by surrounding complimentary pieces around their franchise star.