The Wolves' ruthless Towns swap makes them controversial trade winners

The New York Knicks have struck again with a late-night offseason trade. New York is sending All-NBA forward Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a protected first-round pick to Minnesota for All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. 

According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Knicks and Julius Randle had not made progress on a contract extension, showing that New York was willing to trade him. Talks between the Knicks and Wolves have taken place this summer, with them intensifying over the last 24 hours.

For Minnesota, this move comes as a surprise given the fact that their core of Anthony Edwards, Towns, and Rudy Gobert just reached the conference finals last season. However, Towns was porous with his defensive IQ and decision-making throughout the playoffs, averaging almost four fouls per game and being a constant negative on that end of the court. He also dealt with a shooting slump that spanned the Wolves’ last two series. 

The Wolves made the right decision trading away Towns.

This move allows Minnesota to fully invest in Naz Reid, who is coming off of a Sixth Man of the Year season and was more effective in the postseason next to Edwards. In addition to that, without KAT last season, Reid averaged 17 points per game, seven rebounds, and shot 47 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range.

The Wolves also added Randle and DiVincenzo to the mix, giving them more scoring punch in the frontcourt and more shooting on the wing. DiVincenzo is coming off the best season of his career which saw him make 283 three-pointers. He is also coming off a postseason where he averaged 18 PPG and shot 43 percent from three-point range.

As for Randle, he does have his playoff shortcomings, but he is a two-time All-NBA player and was playing at that same level last season before he got hurt. He is also making less money than Towns and is a better fit next to Edwards due to his ability to create shots and he is a strong paint player.

Lastly, the Wolves get out of Towns’ mega contract that was set to kick in this season. In a 224 million dollar extension that is set to begin this coming season, Towns will be making $49 million, $53 million, and $57 million, and then he will have a player option of $62 million in 2027-28. The Knicks will be paying a hefty price for the big man’s services.

The bottom line is this: the Wolves won this trade. They swap out Towns’ contract and injury history for a more durable (outside of last season) forward in Randle. They also add more much-needed depth to their wing rotation in DiVincenzo.

While it was no secret that the Knicks needed the center, the desperation could be felt through this move. Giving up a key contributor in DiVincenzo and an All-NBA forward in Randle for Towns? A big man that doesn’t play good defense coming to a system where the head coach emphasizes defense and rim protection from his bigs? For $224 million over the next four years? This trade produces more questions than answers for New York.

Time will eventually tell who wins this trade or not, but with that said, this NBA season just got that much more interesting.