The New York Knicks dropped a bombshell on Friday night with a trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns.

The All-Star big man was acquired in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill confirmed the deal is happening.

Per ESPN’s Tim Bontempsthe Charlotte Hornets will serve as a necessary third team in the trade, as both the Knicks and Timberwolves are above the first platform and are not allowed to take more money in a trade.

Cities seemed to react to the news X minutes before it hit the public sphere. He didn’t seem enthusiastic.

The move reunites Towns with his longtime coach, Tom Thibodeau, who coached him for three seasons in Minnesota before being fired in 2019. It’s also a homecoming of sorts for the New Jersey native.

The trade comes as a shock to more people than Towns, both for the fact that the Timberwolves are moving on from a player who has served as the face of the franchise since taking him first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, and for the fact that the Knicks somehow aren’t. didn’t do this in the offseason.

Why did the Knicks acquire Karl-Anthony Towns?

The Knicks were already positioned as NBA title favorites after a transformative offseason that saw them bet big on small monsters and the power of friendship.

The team signed OG Anunoby to a five-year deal worth $212.5 million and then traded nearly every possible first-round draft pick for Mikal Bridges. In Anunoby, it got a player who went 26-6 when healthy. In Bridges, it got a player who perfectly fit the team’s identity and who also played with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and DiVincenzo at Villanova University.

That quartet of ex-Villanova players is now a trio, and the reason why centers on the team’s situation.

Last season, New York had a big man tandem of Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson. Hartenstein left for a three-year, $87 million contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Robinson is out until at least December with an ankle injury.

Without any moves, the Knicks were moving to field a combination of Jericho Sims, Precious Achiuwa, Randle and others at center. They went with a four-time All-Star instead.

The fit may not be perfect, but the Knicks now have a talent level to match a culture that many saw as one of the best in the league. They are going 100% this season, with an expected starting lineup of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, Anunoby and Towns.

From a personnel perspective, the cost was significant, but not prohibitive, as Towns had already signed a four-year, $228 million supermax extension. Randle was a three-time All-Star during his time in New York, but his affiliation with the team following the Bridges trade was in doubt. DiVincenzo is a premium bench player, but Towns could be a premium starter.

Why did the Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns?

The Timberwolves went 56-26 last season and reached the Western Conference finals. Teams in that position don’t often trade a player like Towns.

So the team must not have been as happy with the roster composition as some speculated, namely that it paid two star big men, Towns and Rudy Gobert, a combined $90 million-plus to share the paint. With the team embroiled in an ownership dispute, the Timberwolves may also want to cut payroll.

Certainly, Towns and Gobert are very different players. Gobert is a defensive monster who can alter almost any shot near the basket, while providing a more limited threat on offense with no perimeter shooting to speak of. Towns is talented enough to run offense and score from anywhere on the field, but his defensive impact has always been less than you would want from a 7-footer.

There was also the presence of Sixth Man of the Year winner Naz Reid. That’s a lot of big man minutes to manage, even if they’re all good players.

Towns’ offensive impact would have been more important had Anthony Edwards not supplanted him as Minnesota’s best option on offense. That made him expendable, and the Timberwolves opted to terminate his contract in exchange for players who might be a better fit for their Edwards-Gobert tandem.

It remains a gamble, on both sides. Teams competing at the top of their conference rarely change like this, and it’s even rarer to see them do it with each other.