Knicks Center Has Surprising Reaction to Karl-Anthony Towns Trade

With mere days remaining before the Oct. 1 start of training camp, the New York Knicks made quite a splash on Friday, reportedly trading to acquire four-time former Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns, a 7-foot floor-spacing big with an elite jumper.

Across 62 contests this year, the 28-year-old notched averages of 21.8 points while slashing .504/.416/.873, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per bout, while helping lead the club to a 56-26 record and a run to its first Western Conference Finals in 20 years.

His defensive issues came back to bite Minnesota in the playoffs, when the club struggled to contain Dallas Mavericks big men Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, or All-Star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on switches.

The capped-out Timberwolves, seeking to make some internal roster improvements, traded to acquire the draft rights to No. 8 overall pick Rob Dillingham and selected former Illinois shooting guard Terrence Shannon Jr. with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Minnesota also inked veteran Denver Nuggets point guard PJ Dozier to a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal to help shore up their bench.

Clearly, however, Minnesota wanted to break up its jumbo-sized frontcourt tandem of four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and Towns.

The Timberwolves accomplished that by moving Towns’ $49.2 million contract in exchange for three-time All-Star power forward Julius Randle, shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo, forward Ketia Bates-Diop, and a first-round pick. To make the money work, the Knicks are also slated to sign and trade deep-bench swingman DaQuan Jeffries and flip some future draft capital to the Charlotte Hornets.

Read more: Full Details of Three-Team Trade to Send Karl-Anthony Towns to Knicks

When New York starting center Isaiah Hartenstein departed for the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder on a three-year, $87 million free agent agreement, it seemed to temporarily make his backup, the frequently-hurt Mitchell Robinson, the club’s starter heading into the 2024-25 season.

Robinson, 28, is a solid rim-rolling big when healthy, but he’s rarely been able to survive a season intact. In a twist, this year he’s starting out the season riding pine. The 7-foot Western Kentucky product is still rehabilitating from a summer ankle surgery and is projected to come back midway through the season, potentially in December or even January.

Recently re-signed power forward/center Precious Achiuwa had been likely to take on the starting burden in Robinson’s absence.

Read more: Knicks Star Not Expected to Be Ready For Start of Regular Season

Now, however, Towns will solve that issue.

The deal offloading Randle effectively makes Robinson, selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, is longest-tenured New York player. Shockingly, he is also the only Knicks player still on the team since head coach Tom Thibodeau’s first year with the team, 2020-21. That season, with Randle taking an All-Star leap, New York nabbed a 41-31 record and returned to the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Robinson took to his Instagram to unpack the move, per ESPN. “Longest Knick,” Robinson wrote. “Risking my body to get the job done really paid off.”

Robinson has missed at least 23 games in three of his past four seasons, including 50 last year. When healthy, Robinson has been solid, if limited.

Across 320 career regular season contests (196 starts), the veteran big has logged averages of 8.0 points on 70.1 percent shooting from the foul line and 51.8 percent shooting from the charity stripe, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 0.9 steals and 0.6 dimes per bout.

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