Karl-Anthony Towns is going back to where his basketball journey began and took shape. He is finally a Knick.
After several years of courting and rumors, the four-time All-Star Towns and former No. 1 overall pick out of Kentucky, is being traded from the ‘Twin Cities’,
Minnesota Timberwolves to the ‘Big Apple’, New York Knicks, after a shocking blockbuster agreement, a source confirmed to The Post.
The Knicks are sending back a haul, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, DaQuan Jeffries and a lottery-protected, first-round pick from the Detroit Pistons, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed.
The Charlotte Hornets also are involved in the trade, which is complicated by the Knicks and Timberwolves going over the luxury tax apron. A high-ranking league source said the trade has been on the table “for a while.”
The stunning news comes as the Knicks desperately need a starting big man, having lost Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency and Mitchell Robinson until December at the earliest and probably longer, as he recovers from ankle surgery.
It is a high risk and expensive gamble on Towns, 28 years-of-age, who still is owed more than $200 million over the next four years.
The Knicks were intrigued with Towns’ upside for several notable reasons: He fits into a core of players all under the age of 30 and all committed to long-term contracts. Towns’ unique offensive skill set, which includes deadly 3-point shooting for a center, complement and enhances the defensive versatility of OG Anunoby, who got the highest contract in Knicks franchise history and Mikal Bridges, who came over from the Brookly Nets this offseason. He can clean the boards with the best of them. He fills the center need with All-Star capabilities.
His acquisition presents a projected starting lineup of Jalen Brunson, Bridges, Josh Hart, Anunoby and Towns, a formidable quintet to go toe-to-toe with the defending champion Boston Celtics for a title. However, even with everything he can do, Towns does not arrive without big concerns.
He has been bitten by the injury bug and missed significant chunks of time over the past five seasons, and criticized for being soft, which is a stigma no player wants to hear about themselves and took eight long years to get past the first round of the playoffs.
Towns will not come to New York without knowing the system, having played 2½ seasons under current Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota. The two clashed, but Towns told The Post last season that they “squashed” their beef in a conversation years ago.
“I got no problems with Thibs. We’ve been squashed that,” Towns said. “I still look at Thibs as one of the best Xs and Os coaches I’ve been able to play for. He breathes winning, and I got nothing but respect for him.”
Thibodeau reciprocated the respect.
Embed from Getty Images“Watching the progress he’s made throughout his career, he’s as gifted as they come,” Thibodeau said last season. “When you look at an offensive player, particularly a big, the skill set that he has, I think we all saw, to win the 3-point contest and stuff like that, there’s nothing he can’t do offensively. He has continued to get better, I think. He had some injuries to deal with. I watched him play in FIBA [the World Cup, for the Dominican Republic]. He played really well there. He’s really, really gifted.”
Towns has been linked to the Knicks ever since Leon Rose, his former agent, took over as president in March 2020. Towns remains a client of CAA, an agency with close ties to the Knicks.
With Randle, the Knicks are trading an All-Star and one of the players most responsible for the team’s resurgence over the past few seasons. He was a three-time All-Star selection with the Knicks as the starting power forward, a Most Improved Player winner and a two-time All-NBA player.
He represented the Knicks well up until the very end. Just Wednesday, Randle was part of the groundbreaking ceremony of a high school in the South Bronx. He had a court named after him. Now, he is being shipped out of town without a contract extension and possibly looking at free agency in the summer of 2025. Some officials in the Knicks organization viewed Randle as a poor fit next to Brunson as two players that needed the rock in their hands to be effective. Towns plays off the ball and spreads the floor to provide Brunson space to penetrate.
DiVincenzo was a breath of fresh air and a fan favorite last season, hitting the franchise’s biggest shot in years, a winning 3-pointer in Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
He would have most likely come off the bench for the Knicks this season, and his departure, along with Robinson’s delayed recovery, creates a glaring depth problem if there is an injury.
Towns, for example, missed at least 20 games in four of the past five seasons. He underwent surgery in March to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, then played 16 postseason games for the Timberwolves.
