"It was hell of a Friday night, I guess."
Karl-Anthony Towns got pretty frank with now-New York teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart regarding the shocking trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Earlier this month, KAT was dealt to the Knicks in a three-way trade. New York also received draft rights to James Nnaji via the Charlotte Hornets.
In turn, the Minnesota Timberwolves got Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, and a future first round pick from the Knicks.
The Hornets then get Charlie Brown, DaQuan Jeffries, Duane Washington Jr., and two future second-round picks from the Knicks, along with a 2025 second-round pick from the Timberwolves.
Brunson and Josh Hart, hosting The Roommates Show podcast, asked Towns how soon he learned that he was being traded before now-ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news.
"Four minutes," Towns answered. "By the time the shock wore off, Shams had already tweeted."
But what impressed all of them is that Towns didn't learn of the trade via tweet or via call.
"Tim told me to my face that I was traded," Towns said of Tim Connelly, president of basketball operations of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"Respect," Brunson acknowledged.
"It was gangster."
"Honestly, it's a tough situation regardless what would have happened. But the fact that it happened that way, I got to give him respect," Towns noted. "It was me, three of my closest friends, and my Pop. So shout out to him, he came to a house by himself with five dudes there who could have just started spazzing out and crashed out."
"So I gotta give him respect for that."
The 28-year-old center-forward from Kentucky spent eight seasons in Minnesota, believing he was going to retire there. He averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in his last season with the T-wolves.
That's why his tweet upon learning of the trade was composed of only three dots.
"I just know how the world works and I was as stunned as everybody. So I really just put dot dot dot," he explained. "I couldn't even come up with words to try to be the one to break my own news, cause already knew it was going to get leaked."
Now, he's looking at the bright side and how he's able to see more of his family. In four games of the preseason, Towns made 18.3 points and 11.0 rebounds.
The Knicks start the season on October 23, Wednesday (Philippine time) against defending champion Boston Celtics.
