This story was originally published by Dead Spin
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The Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks worked out a trade late Friday evening to send big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte Divincenzo and a first-round draft selection from the Detroit Pistons.
The trade also includes the Knicks sending salary, DaQuan Jeffries and draft compensation to the Charlotte Hornets to complete the deal.
Here’s the thing. What in the world were the Minnesota Timberwolves thinking?
Minnesota captured the heart of America during their run to the Western Conference Finals just a few months ago. It was a coming-out party for Anthony Edwards, as the 23-year-old proved that he truly can become the face of the NBA.
But that run wasn’t possible without Towns, who masterfully spaced the floor for an explosive Edwards, and now will be heading to the Eastern Conference to support Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, who the Knicks just acquired via trade earlier this offseason.
Towns was surprised by this news and delivered a cryptic tweet of his own minutes before Shams Charania broke the news about his trade.
He never requested a trade away from the Timberwolves, according to reports. The 2015 No. 1 overall pick spent nine seasons in Minnesota and finally saw some success, just to be shipped away.
The return of Randle and Divincenzo should make the Timberwolves deeper. But a front court of Randle and Rudy Gobert feels like it will be congested and just does not make much sense on paper. The Wolves thrived when Towns, an NBA Three-Point Contest Champion, was spacing the floor. Randle and Gobert paired together just sounds unserious.
Knicks fans have wanted to see their team find a way to move on from Randle for the past two offseasons. No love lost there. New York losing Divincenzo breaks up the Villanova reunion, but it likely won’t be the end of the world, especially when the return gets you a star center.
The first round pick from the Pistons is a fun mystery box added to this move. It’s already being called the lucrative aspect of this trade.Â
But the Pistons should be better. They’ve spent years as bottom feeders and have hoarded some fun, young talent, including Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey and Ron Holland. They also just hired J.B. Bickerstaff straight after his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s known for turning loser franchises around. Nobody’s saying the Pistons will be in the NBA Playoffs, but it’s not a layup that they will be in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick.
And why would the Timberwolves want the No. 1 overall pick? You were just so close. You were closer than you’ve ever been before.Â
The five-game series against the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals was not fun, but it gave players like Edwards and Towns valuable experience about competing against a player like Luka Doncic.
Doncic would go on to be defeated against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. The Knicks have absolutely reloaded and will be one of the biggest forces in the Eastern Conference set to dethrone Boston.
And they’ll be doing so with Towns, who, on paper, they were able to pry away pretty easily.
