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

Further details have emerged on the trade that has potentially bolstered two fringe championship contenders just three days ahead of most NBA team training camps.

According to Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ deal to send four-time All-Star center/power forward Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks is now a three-team trade.

Read more: Knicks Trading for Karl-Anthony Towns in Shocking Blockbuster Deal

In exchange for Towns, New York is sending Minnesota a future first round pick via the Detroit Pistons, three-time All-Star power forward Julius Randle, and swingman Donte DiVincenzo. The team is also offloading additional player contracts to accommodate Towns’ epic $49 million contract for 2024-25, including wing DaQuan Jeffries and unspecified future draft compensation, to the rebuilding Charlotte Hornets.

Now Towns, a two-time All-NBA big man, joins a revamped New York squad hungry for its first title since 1973. Led by All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson and Randle, New York went 50-32 last year, but due to injuries collapsed in a seven-game semifinal series to the lower-seeded Indiana Pacers. The team responded this offseason by trading to acquire All-Defensive swingman Mikal Bridges, and locking up Brunson, forward OG Anunoby, and head coach Tom Thibodeau long-term.

Towns, who seemed stunned by the news, will make them a bit of a wildcard defensively, but the club could be otherworldly on offense.

Towns departs Minnesota after helping guide the team to its most successful season since 2004. The Timberwolves went 56-26 and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they were knocked out by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving’s Dallas Mavericks in five games. Towns and shooting guard Anthony Edwards were named All-Stars, center Rudy Gobert was honored as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert and Jaden McDaniels made All-Defensive Teams, and reserve Naz Reid was named the NBA‘s Sixth Man of the Year.

In Randle, the Timberwolves are getting a more traditional power forward who, if not a plus defender, will at least be more capable of keeping up with his defensive charges. Randle is a better playmaker and a quicker scorer than Towns, and at least theoretically should help take off some of the ballhandling pressure from Edwards and veteran point guard Mike Conley. DiVincenzo gives Minnesota yet another switchy two-way wing, essentially bolstering their depth. It feels like a home run play from the Timberwolves, should Randle and DiVincenzo’s health hold through the postseason.

Read more: Tom Thibodeau Unpacks Julius Randle’s Future in New York

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