Hornets trade James Nnaji to Knicks, receive picks and players to facilitate Karl-Anthony Towns mega-deal

They say that it takes two to tango. In the case of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks deal to send Karl Anthony-Towns to the Big Apple, a third dance partner became necessary. Enter the Charlotte Hornets.

The Hornets have agreed in principle to be a third team in the NBA-shaking blockbuster in order to facilitate the deal between championship contenders. The Knicks and Wolves couldn’t match salaries due to each team being in the first salary apron (when a team’s payroll is over $178.1 million), and the nearly $50 million salary that Towns is owed in 2024-25 and beyond. Charlotte jumped in make the complicated salary math work.

The Knicks are sending three players to Charlotte to match salaries: DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown, and Duane Washington Jr.. To sweeten the pot, New York will send two second-round draft picks, and Minnesota will send one second-rounder to the Hornets. Charlotte had no obligation to join in the deal to strengthen their conference rival, so Jeff Peterson and crew did a fantastic job by extracting draft picks from New York in the trade.

The final piece of the trade is Charlotte sending James Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, to the Knicks. Nnaji currently plays for Girona (on loan from Barcelona) of the Spanish Liga ACB. He never appeared in a Charlotte Hornets uniform.

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