The Minnesota Timberwolves shook the NBA when they agreed to trade away All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
The move came as a surprise as the Timberwolves seemed set with their roster after getting to the 2024 Western Conference Finals.
However, they instead decided to send Towns to a Knicks team that was in desperate need of a center after losing Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent while Mitchell Robinson continues to recover from an injury.
Towns’ fit in New York makes sense on paper, though for Minnesota it remains to be seen what Randle can do without as much floor spacing.
The Timberwolves are still considered a threat to win the Western Conference and get to the NBA Finals for the first time, though the timing of the move on the eve of training camp raises some questions.
NBA insider Jared Greenberg explained that the move was inevitable and likely financially motivated amid the Timberwolves’ ongoing ownership saga.
“Their ownership situation is a freakin’ mess right now,” Greenberg said, via SiriusXM NBA Radio. “How can anybody expect them to go this far into the tax … not knowing who’s going to be footing the bill?”
“How can anybody expect them to go this far into the tax…not knowing who’s going to be footing the bill?”@NBAonTNT reporter @JaredSGreenberg tells @BGeltzNBA and @SamMitchellNBA that the T-Wolves moving KAT was a matter of when, not if. pic.twitter.com/64kLJTPVz0
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 28, 2024
Current majority owner Glen Taylor has been locked in a dispute with minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez after announcing earlier this year that the team was no longer for sale.
Taylor argued that Lore and Rodriguez missed payment deadlines, though they dispute that claim.
With so much instability at the top of the organization, it may make sense for the Timberwolves to cut payroll, though it could come at the cost of the team’s on-court success.
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Insider Reveals How Julius Randle Fits On Timberwolves