Karl Anthony-Towns is apparently heading towards the Big Apple.
Per NBA insider Shams Charania, the New York Knicks have completed a blockbuster trade to acquire Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for former All-Star Julius Randle, Donte Divicenzo and a first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons.
Knicks have acquired Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick via Detroit, sources tell me and @JonKrawczynski. pic.twitter.com/FafQlY48Y1
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 28, 2024
The deal also involves the Knicks sending salary and draft compensation to the Charlotte Hornets, Charania reported.
Once the deal was done, Towns will be in just his second team of a nine-year NBA career after getting drafted by the Timberwolves first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
He had a simple three-character response to the trade--three dots.
…
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) September 28, 2024
The four-time All-Star averaged 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds last season that saw the Timberwolves finish number two in the West and knocked off former champions Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
But Minnesota got eliminated in five games by the Dallas Mavericks in the West Finals.
With the pending arrival of Towns, New York will now form a a new Big Three with superstar guard Jalen Brunson and another offseason acquisition in Mikal Bridges.
[ALSO READ: ‘Build him a statue’: Josh Hart, fans react to reports of Jalen Brunson signing ‘team-friendly’ extension with Knicks]
Meanwhile, this marks the five-year run of Randle in New York, who developed into a superstar since getting traded to the Knicks in 2019.
He earned All-NBA honors in two of the past five seasons and won the NBA’s Most Improved player award in 2020-21.
However, Randle played in just 46 games this past season due to a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery. He averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the 330 games he played for the Knicks.
DiVincenzo, the 17th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, had a solid year last year for the Knicks after norming 15.5 points while shooting 40.1% from three.
