None of the messaging indicated a seismic move was imminent. After more than a year of the Knicks making overtures for Towns that were summarily dismissed by the Timberwolves because they were not good enough, many in Minnesota didn’t expect Rose and Gersson Rosas, the former president of basketball operations in Minnesota, who was fired and landed with the Knicks, to get serious about their pursuit.
If they were going to relent to New York’s wishes by finally giving them Towns, DiVincenzo had to be part of the package, team sources said.
The two-for-one opens up more options for tweaking the roster going forward. Randle and DiVincenzo have much more tradeable contracts, and the shorter terms could give the Wolves a lot of leeway three years down the road. With Edwards rising near the top of the league, the Wolves like that part of the deal while also believing they can remain contenders for the season ahead.
Randle has plenty of advocates in Minnesota. The Wolves believe his bully-ball approach on offense can work with what they have around him. He is a solid passer as well and plays a physical style that appeals to Finch. The new combination of depth coupled with anticipated leaps from Edwards, McDaniels and Reid will be relied upon to help the Wolves boost their 17th-ranked offense.
Now the biggest question left to answer is if they are still a contender in the West this season. They believe that Randle’s bucket-getting and toughness and DiVincenzo’s shooting and defense give them a real chance. Training camp is right around the corner, so it won’t take long for the answers to emerge.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5800924/2024/09/28/why-timberwolves-trade-karl-anthony-towns/
by EarthWarping
26 Comments
Wolves just didn’t get the order of operations right. You have to commit to all this money *before* you go through the process of selling the team
Ok but where is NAWs playing time now?
If Randle leaves, how are they gonna replace him? Or they looking to trade him.
Wild that all this comes after the most successful season for them in 20 years
No mention of gobert? Maybe flip him for BI and minny can have the strangest but most intriguing team in the nba. Conley, edwards, BI, randle and reid would be a sight to see lol
The trade makes perfect sense if they can flip Randle but the Randle/Gobert fit is bad enough that it trumps any of the downstream effects of getting KAT off the books.
I’m also shocked they couldn’t get another FRP considering how many we see moving for bigger names these days
The title makes no sense. Both players are under contract next season, Minnesota will have both players’ bird rights in free agency next summer, and neither player will be paid a crazy amount. NAW is hardly even worth more than the minimum. This is really just more confirmation that ownership won’t go deep into the tax and the KAT trade was solely a tax cutting move, which is kinda funny because this article reads like it was written by the Wolves front office to argue the opposite.
is this the guy that shills for Glen or is that Dane Wolfeson or whatever?
It’s wild how much of the spin from Wolves brass is that they get to keep the Ant-Jaden-Naz core together like they are some proven golden trio. Ant is excellent but a lot of advanced stats have Jaden and Naz as replacement level players. Plus last season the offense was garbage when all three were on the court together.
This whole trade is overblown. KAT is good, but he disappears more than he excels. It’s almost to the point where you don’t expect him to come through. I’m just surprised he went before Rudy
There is plenty to criticize the Wolves for but DD, Naz and NAW > Towns
refs are salivating at the thought of someone in a wolves uniform trying to do “bully ball.”
You can’t play bully ball with the Wolves whistle.
Oh no I get it. This makes sense for the Wolves. But what about the Knicks? You could have done these machinations to keep Hart who has a cheaper deal. You likely could have kept Donte.
Forget being “wildly popular”.
If the expectation in Minnesota is “Ant scores 30 ppg to carry our offense”, which it should be, then you can’t give up NAW and Naz Reid’s defense. And you don’t lose spacing by subbing Naz for KAT.
That said, the pressure is on for Ant.
if only the Wolves had another supermax center on the roster they could have dealt away instead.
wolves won this trade.
And?….
More Naz Reid ok!
I feel bad for Minnie fans its going to be a longggg season for you guys unfortunately
KAT gets paid a lot. No need to get his feelings hurt.
I’m surprised that New Orleans didn’t get it done, they already lack size on their roster and if Zion is healthy, KAT would be a good fit. They also have the trade assets to make it work.
Naz Reid.
Ok but kats better than both of them combined
Wasn’t one of the reasons Naz said he resigned because he was great friends with KAT? (I could have it mixed up with another player but I can’t find the original story)
Guys come on, the Minnesota owner could barely even afford to pay to have his 14 luxury cars detailed daily last year! They simply could not afford to keep him! End of story! LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE