The New York Knicks are one move away from being looked at as one of the contenders in the Eastern Conference. The signing of Jalen Brunson last season was a masterstroke for the franchise, as the point guard emerged as their best player during the playoffs, where they made their second conference semi-finals appearance of the 2000s.
The Knicks have been canvassing the league for available stars to trade for with their war chest of assets. They made a massive push for Donovan Mitchell last season but were outbid by the Cleveland Cavaliers ultimately. They have looked at the likes of Zach LaVine and others as they’ve become available, but Karl-Anthony Towns may be the star they start to zone in on this summer. The Minnesota Timberwolves are asset-strapped, and the Knicks might be the team that changes that.
Trade Details
Minnesota Timberwolves Receive: RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, 2027 First-Round Pick
New York Knicks Receive: Karl-Anthony Towns
The Knicks lose just one pick from their draft capital, leaving them with more assets for more trades down the line. RJ Barrett’s uneven development and playoff failures will incentivize the team to upgrade from him to KAT. Losing a young player like Grimes will hurt, but that isn’t a major price, given this could be a way to pull off the Evan Fournier salary dump. The pick would be the price of that dump anyway, but it also goes towards getting them an All-Star caliber big man like KAT.
The Minnesota Timberwolves Re-Tool Around Anthony Edwards
The Minnesota Timberwolves shot themselves in the foot last season when they made the Rudy Gobert trade. It was a bad on-court fit, and they overpaid massively in acquiring an over-30 center on a very unflattering long-term contract. That trade wiped out their assets and financial flexibility. With Anthony Edwards signing a long-term extension and Gobert being virtually untradable, KAT is the best way to get assets for a team built around Edwards.
RJ Barrett averaged 19.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists last season on 43.4% shooting. His defense has improved every season and he could form an interesting swingman duo with Edwards, as the pair could be perimeter assassins together. Barrett needs to improve his three-point shooting, but he may get a better chance at honing his craft in a small market like Minnesota instead of under the New York scrutiny he’s faced since 2019.
Quentin Grimes would be a great bench addition and will inject energy into lineups. The team already has Naz Reid as a compatible frontcourt partner with Gobert, creating an incredibly exciting team. Fournier and Gibert reuniting could allow the Wolves to extract some on-court value from Fournier, but they could very well buy him out and move on without it being a problem.
The New York Knicks Make A Statement In The Eastern Conference
The New York Knicks are clearly ready to compete with the best in the East but just need one more injection of star talent to do so. Towns is exactly that, an incredibly versatile offensive big that could complement Julius Randle very well on the frontcourt. If the pairing works, the Knicks would have incredibly dynamic big-man play led by their mercurial point guard, Jalen Brunson.
Towns averaged 20.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in just 29 games played last season, struggling with injury. The Knicks have Mitchell Robinson as a big also, as the complete antithesis of what KAT is. But the playoff proved that the Knicks need more dependable scorers, as Tom Thibodeau’s team defense setups can end up working even without an incredible individual defender. Thibs and KAT have a relationship from the coach’s time on the Wolves, so that familiarity will make the transition easier. Playing for an actually motivated basketball team in the biggest market may unlock KAT, who has been treading water for the last eight years of his career.
The East is packed at the top, but no one team seems dominant and infallible. The Knicks have a window to jump in right now and this move may allow them to do that. The asset cost isn’t very high. Unless the team feels like RJ Barrett could be used to acquire a bigger fish, this is the move the franchise should make.
Two Teams Create Different Paths Toward Contention
It’s disingenuous to dismiss the chances that the Wolves could have with KAT, Gobert, and Edwards together, given the limited sample size we got last season. But the fit is extremely awkward and it doesn’t seem like the kind of pairing that can overcome teams like the Nuggets or the Lakers in the West. They need to take half a step back by giving Edwards some time to take the mantle of the franchise, and this trade means he could do it alongside a young co-star in RJ Barrett. The pair could grow into one of the best duos in the NBA, provided Barrett can find the potential he was touted to have coming into the league.
The Knicks have been incredibly patient and intelligent in their roster building after missing out on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the 2019 offseason. They haven’t made short-sighted moves and built out a roster over time. They have two playoff appearances to their name, but it’s time to take the next step. Adding a star like Towns would reset the pecking order in the East, as the Knicks will genuinely be able to compete. Not only that, they still have players and assets to move if they need to further build out their roster. If there was ever a time and a star to do it for, the Knicks might have found that.
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