Mason Katz ‘26
EE Staff Writer
The NBA offseason is coming to an end but the craziest is not over. At roughly around 10:30 PM on September 27th, The New York Knicks And Minnesota Timberwolves agreed on a blockbuster trade. The Timberwolves sent their homegrown star Karl Anthony-Towns to the East Coast for a package of Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. NBA Fans, players, and the community were shocked.
Shams broke the news on X and other reporter accounts began to follow. This deal was completely out of the blue and there had not been anything leading up to this. The Knicks and Wolves did have conversations on a trade throughout the summer, but everyone believed they went their separate ways. Trade talks picked up when New York was willing to include DiVincenzo in the deal. From then on it was a done deal.
Many fans were heartbroken from both teams. Karl Anthony-Towns, a kid who was drafted and developed over the past nine years, was no doubt a fan favorite. The 4x NBA All-Star led the Timberwolves to the WCF last season but fell short in 7 games to the Mavericks. Towns will be making a homecoming as he is from New Jersey and has been a lifelong Knicks fan. The Knicks agreed to terms with Julius Randle in the 2019 free agency after missing out on Kevin Durant And Kyrie Irving.
Randle started out rough but as his time in New York increased he became a key piece of their success. Randle was selected to 3 All-Star Games and was named on All NBA teams twice. The final piece of this trade was Donte DiVincenzo. DiVincenzo agreed to a contract with the Knicks in the 2023 off-season and lit it up from three all season. Donte was key in the Knicks playoff run when Randle was injured. Also not to mention he is from Villanova in which the Knicks have a lot of those Wildcats.
This huge move was not the only offseason move the Knicks made. In late June the Knicks and crosstown rival the Nets agreed to send Mikal Bridges to the Knicks for Bojan Bogdanović and many first-round picks. This trade reunited the Villanova Championship team from 2018 with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges. Knicks fans were thrilled as the Nova Knicks were formed and team chemistry was at an all-time high.
Even though Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo were huge pieces of the Knicks success, the addition of Karl Anthony-Towns will make their offense way better due to having an elite floor spacer. Also, they filled the gap at center they had due to the loss of Hartenstien in free agency, and Mitchell Robinson not coming back till around late December due to injury.
Jalen Brunson and Towns should thrive in this offense and lead the Knicks to a top seed once again. Towns’s 61 million dollar salary should not be that much of a problem due to Brunson taking a pay cut on his extension also this offseason. The projected starting lineup of Brunson, Bridges, Hart, Anunoby, and Towns should catch many people’s eyes this year. NBA season tips off on October 22nd when the Knicks will be facing the defending champions the Boston Celtics. Should be a great year for NBA basketball.