A Shocking Knicks/Wolves Trade Could Make or Break Karl-Anthony Towns | The Bill Simmons Podcast
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Austin Rivers to react to the Knicks trading for Karl-Anthony Towns.
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44 Comments
Austin is absolutely fantastic on this podcast.
I'm sorry – but can someone explain to me why Austin Rivers is here? Did the Simmons-Doc Rivers Beef just got swept under a rug?
I think Knicks should start Deuce at the two , so u would have Brunson, Deuce, Bridges, OG , KAT , bring Hart off bench with Precious, Morris , Payne
Mitchell is the key , if and when he comes back, u can do more mixing with the lineup , once he returns you can do Mitchell, KAT, OG, Bridges and Brunson … that’s the lineup that can finally win u a ring if people stay healthy.
If they can keep people healthy and find steady production at the 2 this team can compete with the Celtics and get to the finals.
Towns is a head case 😂
As a New York native who has lived most of his life in Minnesota, I’m a huge fan of both teams and follow them closely.
At a base level, I think this trade makes sense. The Knicks had a serious deficit at Center after Hartenstein signed with the Thunder. Also with Kat’s max contract kicking in, and all the draft picks traded away in the Gobert trade, the Wolves had zero flexibility for years to come. You could also argue that the Wolves maxed out their potential last year, and the competition in the league is only getting stronger.
I hope I’m wrong, but ultimately I feel like this is a lose-lose trade. I think every single player involved will play worse on their new team, and will have a negative effect on the current team chemistry which has been a strength for both teams. I don’t think this is a good fit for anyone.
BIll ur celtics up next LOL
Naz should start not randle but regardless randle wont play with rudy that much he will have nost his mins with naz
Knicks fans are crazy for not liking Randle wow
The Knicks got worse…
Randle didn't make sense on the Knicks anymore. They needed a center to play with the perimeter guys that they invested in and Randle couldn't have done that really well consistently. Plus, the 2 big lineup they played last year worked only marginally. Minnesota played with 2 big last year really well and already have a center so Randle makes sense for them, especially defensively over KAT on the perimeter. Randle's gonna get all the touches he wants over there too because it's him and ANT on offense with marginal support from Rudy, Conley and co.
the trade was due to randle & divencenzo not too thrilled about roles and randle not signing extension.
I don't know if the net position changes for the T'Wolves. I am absolutely certain the Knicks just got worse because the Knicks don't know how to do anything else and I don't like KAT's game at all.
i think its good to make the trade now instead of distrubing the team in middle of season…
Thibs gets rid of Donte Divincenzo. Just like it got rid of Obi Toppin. It will cost the Knicks when they need a 3 Point shot. He broke up Villanova because he thought Divincenzo couldn't play defense. Thibs will be gone. The Knicks will falter. And Knicks fans will riot by December.
I am not a fan of rivers. Just not someone I like listening to
Keep Austin off the main pods
Austin Rivers is a future NBA Coach , Mark my words !! lol…
Austin Rivers talking about humility while he's got a painting that has a picture that has his face on it five or six times. By the way this makes the Knicks better in Minnesota worse and I don't see how people aren't getting that right away.😊
Can't stand the hating on the Nuggets because they had to let their fifth best player go. I know that the nuggets have been doing the Joker wrong because they are one of the cheaper organizations in basketball bye I am very happy that a team that was designed to beat us no longer exists. This wasn't an L for the Nuggets, it was definitely a win. We just need to hope that Jamal Murray was just going through a bad few months because other than the playoffs last year and the Olympics this summer he has been a postseason maniac. The Nuggets obviously believed so because they just re-signed him.
I have concerns that KAT is not emotionally tough enough for NYC and the Media.
If the Knicks need shooting, t Davis is out there?
Randle isn’t gonna be on the floor in crunch time? Bill are you drunk?
Towns will handle PortZinga that’s all u need to understand the other guy wanted a bigger role so there you go
Mural of himself? Dude you play for the decade in NBA and you didn't cought a single body.
How tf you say Knicks hated Randle when they spent the whole summer defending him and saying the team would be better with him
@10:20 this is not correct. In January when we went 14-2 or whatever, it was with Jules and OG.
rumors say donte didn't like the knicks and kat hates ant so that made the deal easy.
not having mitch for three months is tough
People keep missing the real story at the heart of this trade. Mitchell Robinson got hurt before the season even started and they knew they had to get a center. Tibs does not like playing small ball. They were going to have to pick up a center no matter what and Julius randle was just an extra portion of meatloaf that nobody was really hungry for. Minnesota said they didn't mind trying some of that meatloaf as long as the Knicks were willing to pay for dinner. That bill is Kat. This makes the Knicks much better. And it makes Minnesota a step down or two. There's going to be a lot less room for Anthony Edwards to operate with Julius randle clogging things up. I see Minnesota now as a 4th or 5th seed and I see the Knicks as clearly the number two seed in the east. Like I said I'm a Denver fan so I love this trade.
Is no one gonna talk about Towns performance against Jokic in game 7 of a playoff series? Dudes, come on. He was on an island against Jokic and handled him in the biggest stage of his career. He’s 28 and there’s good evidence to believe he’s coming into his prime. This is an incredible trade by the Knicks and having bridges, hart and DDV was a bit redundant. DDV deserves to start and freeing up cap space for Minny was huge. Also Naz made Towns redundant in a sense. This is a win win trade but also a risk for 2 teams with championship aspirations that really “arrived” just last year.
Mr. Rivers tear down this wall.
this is not gonna work out for either party what a shitty trade
Austin Rivers is good at this, man.
I can't wait to see Stephen A.'s take on this. I'm thinking he's not going to like it right away b/c change is scary, especially if your heart's in it, but he never really liked Julius Randle, anyway, so we'll see..
DRAKE IS MF RAP KING 🤴 💯
No Patience Basketball Association (NPBA). That is true, Bill at his best when he comes up with witty stuff like that
It's funny how no one mentions how well the Knicks were playing before Julius got hurt after the Randle trade. They were 12-2. Are just gonna ignore that?
Bill Simmons continuing to say “taping” is crazy lol
Can you imagine Simmons Lowe and Russillo on the Sunday night pod!!
18:36 is EXACTLY why most of us wanted to move on from Julius
He looks like he can pass for Klay Thompsons brother
KAT if u read this we psyched to have you as a Knick. Lets GO!
Kat is way too soft, no way is he that much better than Julius.. plus getting Donte.. how did the Knicks win this trade. AR barely knows ball hahahha
Austin's background…could you pick 4 worse looking jerseys?