Just when you thought it was safe to print out those rosters and depth charts as the entire NBA heads into training camp next week, the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves shake things up. The Athletics‘s Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski reported a huge and confusing trade on the brink to be completed by the two teams late Friday night.

The Knicks plan to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from the Wolves and return Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a protected first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons. The Charlotte Hornets are also involved in the trade to balance the Knicks’ salaries.

If this has you scratching your head, join the club. It’s a bizarre trade in many ways, and it’s a huge gamble for both teams. The best way to make heads and tails of this trade is to take out a red pen and throw down some trade numbers.

(It’s no insult to the Hornets to take random role player salaries and secondary compensation, but they won’t be judged today. This is like a pass/fail pop quiz for them and we’ll give them a pass on absorbing salary dumps to even out of business.)

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— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) September 28, 2024

New York Knicks acquire Karl-Anthony Towns

On the surface, this might make sense for the Knicks. There had been rumors for a while that they were going after Towns, and it finally came to fruition. Towns is a four-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA Third Team selection and one of the best outside shooting big men we’ve ever seen. All the best, if you ask him. Although much maligned on the internet, Towns is a very good player and one of the better big men in the NBA. He can score from anywhere on the floor, is an exceptional and effortless perimeter shooter, and is also a pretty good rebounder. The Knicks desperately need a center with Mitchell Robinson injured, Isaiah Hartenstein off to Oklahoma City and Jericho Sims as the only true center on the roster (you can throw Precious Achiuwa in there sparingly).

Towns definitely fills a need, and he does so without disrupting the flow of the Knicks’ offense. They can now play five-out, apply tremendous pressure on the perimeter, and maybe even mimic a little bit of what Boston did offensively in its championship run — at least in terms of how the Celtics attack and bomb from the 3-point range. line. Remember: The Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges this summer and also paired him with OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson. So there’s a lot of versatility and perimeter defense. Randle was always the odd man out when Brunson joined the Knicks and quickly established himself as an MVP candidate. Keeping Randle happy with touches and opportunities was always a bit of a ticking bomb, as it could very easily throw the Knicks off track.

That said, New York does two confusing things here. I wasn’t a big fan of DiVincenzo’s signing a year ago because the Knicks didn’t seem to need him much at the time. I thought they should prioritize more dimensions on the wing or in the interior. That all changed when Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett were brought into the Anunoby deal. At that point, DiVincenzo became indispensable in their rotation and played the best ball of his career. It’s not like you can’t move him in a deal, even a deal like this. But there were a lot of good vibes from bringing in another Villanova player with Bridges, and the “Nova Knicks” had everyone rightfully excited. They immediately break that up to acquire Towns (RIP Nova Knicks: 2024-2024). Although this does mean more playing time for Deuce McBride, and he can actually play.

The other confusing part of this for the Knicks is that I’m pretty sure Towns drove Tom Thibodeau wild during their time together in Minnesota. Forget even the whole Towns and Jimmy Butler thing. Towns often talked about the defensive principles used during his time with the Kentucky Wildcats, while Thibs implored the team to buy into what he wanted the Wolves to do defensively. Towns has the ability to be a good defensive player. I know that because prior to Rudy Gobert’s acquisition, there was always a month of the season where Towns was playing great defense and you started talking yourself into him finally turning the corner on that end of the floor. Then his bad tendencies would return and that feeling would disappear. The nice thing was that you never knew what month it would happen. Towns is too aggressive on blocked shots and not timely enough to actually influence the shot. That leaves the offensive boards open for the opponent. He also struggles with relief positioning and rotations when he is the primary defensive big man. That’s the bulk of Thibodeau’s defense with his big men.

The Knicks desperately need Towns to be solid defensively. They face an incredible Boston offense, a potentially dangerous Philadelphia squad with Joel Embiid (an arch-nemesis of Towns), and the relentless offense of Giannis Antetokounmpo on the perimeter and Damian Lillard in a pick-and-roll on the perimeter . with Milwaukee. Not to mention teams like Orlando, Indiana, Cleveland and occasionally Miami in the mix. New York desperately needs Towns to play the best, most consistent defense of his career and get back to the physicality. The good news is that when Robinson is back for the Knicks, he and Towns will be able to play alongside each other. Towns showed that often with Gobert in Minnesota.

Even though this is a frontcourt talent upgrade that the Knicks lacked, I’m still confused as to why this is the move for the Knicks. Their floor is raised, but I’m not sure they’ll reach that higher ceiling. Towns needs to change the way he plays defensively to make this a huge win for the Knicks. It also takes away any glimmer of financial flexibility Brunson gave them by taking a cut with his extension. Towns is signed for $160 million through 2027 and then has a $61 million player option for the 2027-2028 season.

Grade: B-

GO DEEPER

Katz: What’s next for the Knicks after the Karl-Anthony Towns trade?

Minnesota Timberwolves acquire Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and protected 2025 draft pick via Detroit

Whatever they say, this feels like a second-apron transaction. The Wolves went all-in with max contracts for KAT, Gobert and Anthony Edwards, while also giving Jaden McDaniels a huge deal last year. Everyone knew that this would be too expensive in the world of the new collective labor agreement.

However, with the Wolves reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2004, it seemed like there was a short run in this franchise to see if it could break even further. After all, the Wolves defeated defending champion Denver Nuggets and their three-time MVP Nikola Jokić. They solved the unsolvable problem when it came to the West’s hierarchy (there’s a chance the Nuggets love this cap move by the Wolves, by the way, since Minnesota’s size hurt Denver in the playoffs). Sure, the Wolves were defeated in the conference finals by a great Dallas Mavericks team, but the Wolves should have taken another bite of the apple.

Apparently that’s not the case, despite Edwards’ rise to superstardom and franchise leader.

The Wolves accomplish four things with this trade. First, they add some much-needed depth and playmaking to the backcourt. If the Wolves can get anywhere close to what DiVincenzo did for the Knicks last year, he’ll be almost a perfect complement to Ant on the court. His shooting helps mitigate the loss of Towns on that end of the floor, and he can handle the ball and pass well enough as a secondary creator. This could help Mike Conley conserve energy in his old age and take the pressure off Rob Dillingham to perform as a rookie. It almost means that you are less dependent on Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was sometimes too quick to attack in big games.

Second, they make things super weird when they get insulted. Last season the Wolves were not a good offensive team. They struggled quite a bit to be consistent and ended up with a league average offense. Randle doesn’t help with that. He has his strengths in attack, but he is also a ball stopper in terms of attacking flow. That could be fine if Edwards isn’t in the game. They can attack a lot through Randle and he can bully. He adds good physicality next to Gobert and can physically punish opponents with his play. But he’s also not suited to playing on the field with Gobert, if Edwards ever wants to think about driving (he does).

Third, the Wolves might be able to free up some minutes for Naz Reid, which could be a good thing. I think there is potential for Reid to get more opportunities. The Wolves don’t have to worry about feeding Randle’s ego as much as they do with Towns. Not that Towns is necessarily a problem in that regard, as he adapted quite well when Edwards took over the team and Gobert came on the field right away. But now the Wolves can give even more support to Reid, who is a huge offensive presence on the floor. This could even be a long game for them with Reid once Randle moves on.

Finally, with this trade they alleviate some of the threat from the second platform. Randle has a $30 million option for next season. Worst case scenario for the Wolves is he exercises that and they can then move him as an expiring deal. Maybe for depth? This feels so much like a second-platform trade for the Wolves, which is very disappointing for a team that just made it to the conference finals. Perhaps this was the only way to maximize this opportunity, but I’m just not sure how this fits on the field. It may not be worth the added savings and flexibility. They will certainly need Edwards to continue to improve and build on one of the best players in the league to stave off any questions this trade brings.

As for the Pistons’ pick, it’s protected in the top 13 in 2025. The Pistons will absolutely be in the top 13. It’s protected in the top 11 in 2026 and in the top nine in 2027. Otherwise, it’ll be a second in 2027. Maybe that will come across as a first in 2027, but the Pistons still have a lot of work to do to turn this into something else then a second-round pick for the Wolves. So it could be one of those false first-round picks that look good in a press release.

This is one of those rare trades where I don’t really like it for either team. It feels a bit like they both believe they are trapping their trading partner by moving a big man they no longer fully believed in. A real ‘that’s their problem now’ atmosphere. But that doesn’t mean the joke is about the trading partner. It could be anyone’s fault.

Grade: C+

Required reading

John Hollinger: Why KAT-for-Randle trading could turn the “best player” maxim on its head

James L. Edwards III: Why acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns doesn’t guarantee the Knicks have gotten better

(Top photo of Karl-Anthony Towns: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)