You’ve probably heard the news by now. On Friday night, It was announced that the Minnesota Timberwolves are trading all-star Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates Diop, and a lottery-protected First Round Pick (via Detroit). Why did the wolves do this? What does this mean for the future? I’m breaking it all down here.
The main reason the wolves made this move is a reason you may not realize. Karl-Anthony Towns signed a super-max extension with the Wolves back in 2022, and he’ll be making nearly $60M this season. Because of tax and salary reasons that I’m not going to get into, frankly, because I don’t understand it, his contract would put Minnesota over the second apron. Or, in simple terms, it prevents Minnesota from being flexible with its cap space. Because of this, they could’ve either kept Kat and dealt with the financial issues, or they could try to deal with him in a trade to get more flexibility for the future. And that’s exactly what Minnesota did. Getting Julius Randle (who will be making $28.9M) and Donte DiVincenzo (who will be making $11.4M) gives Minnesota some flexibility to do some things with their salary in the future. Not to mention, Julius Randle becomes a free agent after this season.
As far as the actual value comes, Minnesota received some nice pieces. Julius Randle is a three-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player who does a lot of similar things in his game to Kat. Last season for New York, Randle averaged 24.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 5.0 APG on 47% from the field and 31% from 3 in 46 games played. So, while the 3-point shooting isn’t quite where Kat was, the Wolves will see no shortage of scoring.
Donte DiVincenzo is another PHENOMENAL piece. DiVi broke out in New York last season, putting up a career-high 15PPG in 81 games played. One of the best aspects of his game is his 3-point shooting. Donte averaged 40.1% from 3 last season, something to look forward to in this upcoming season. DiVincenzo is widely regarded as a top-tier 3&D role player with many high-quality traits that fill exactly what Minnesota needs. He’ll be a great addition to an already stacked bench unit, headlined by reigning 6th man of the year Naz Reid and 8th overall pick Rob Dillingham.
Let’s talk about the negatives of the trade. Towns was one of, if not Anthony Edwards’ best friend on the team. His leaving will most likely weaken the Wolves’ chemistry as a team, something that they excelled at last season. The second potential problem is Julius Randle’s fit in Minnesota. A Julius Randle-Rudy Gobert fit doesn’t exactly look like it could work. Randle being inserted in the starting lineup also could raise some spacing issues. Finally, and most simply, the Wolves are losing an all-star player. Julius Randle is great, but he’s not Kat.
Let’s take a look at the new-look Wolves depth chart: My projected starters will be PG Mike Conley, SG Anthony Edwards, SF Jaden McDaniels, PF Julius Randle, and C Rudy Gobert. On the bench, the Wolves have no shortage of talent; in my opinion, it’s the deepest core in the league. PG Rob Dillingham, SG Donte DiVincenzo, SF Nickeil Alexander-Walker, PF Joe Ingles, who Minnesota signed earlier in the off-season, and C Naz Reid. That’s my projected 10-man rotation to start the year, but I didn’t even include 27th-overall pick Terrence Shannon Jr, 2nd-year player Leonard Miller, or fan-favorite Luka Garza.
While it’s extremely sad to see Karl-Anthony Towns go after nearly a decade in Minnesota, it was time to let him go. However, Wolves fans shouldn’t be afraid for this season because this trade will benefit the Wolves for both this season and the future.
