Knicks Landing Karl-Anthony Towns In Blockbuster Trade With Timberwolves

With less than a week to go before training camp, the Knicks and Timberwolves have agreed to a trade that will send Minnesota star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to New York, per Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

In return, the Timberwolves will receive forward Julius Randle, guard Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round draft pick (via the Pistons).

Reports surfaced in July that the Knicks had a strong interest in Towns, who played for New York coach Tom Thibodeau when Thibodeau coached the Timberwolves. Also, Knicks president Leon Rose used to be Towns’ agent when Rose ran CAA.

Towns and Anthony Edwards have massive extensions kicking in next season and Rudy Gobert is slated to make max money as well. It was widely believed that Towns or Gobert needed to be traded for the Timberwolves to avoid paying a huge luxury tax bill under the new CBA.

Towns averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.7 blocks last season, shooting 50.4% from the field, 41.6% from on 3-pointers and 87.3% from the free-throw line.

A four-time All-Star, he carries career averages of 22.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.3 blocks. 

Towns, who has made two All-NBA teams, signed a four-year, $221 million extension in July 2022. He will make $49.4 million this season. 

New York, of course, already made one major move this offseason, acquiring Mikal Bridges from the Nets. Now they have made another and the incoming player is even bigger.

(Ashish Mathur contributed to this report.)