The New York Knicks recently made a large splash during their offseason. They traded for Karl-Anthony Towns, a two-time All-NBA selection and four-time All-Star. However, the trade will not be without its casualties for the Knicks, as they sent the Minnesota Timberwolves Julius Randle, an All-Star forward, and Donte DiVincenzo, a fan favorite among the Knicks faithful.
This is not coach Tom Thibodeau’s first introduction to Towns, as he was the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016 to 2019. During this time, Towns and Thibodeau didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye in the direction the Timberwolves were heading. But now, Thibodeau and Towns are on their way to mending their once-rocky relationship.
“There is some benefit to having coached him before and to know who he is as a person, but, also, that was more than five years ago,” Thibodeau said. “He’s in a different place, he’s a different player. There is going to be a learning curve and we have to adjust quickly.” Thibodeau told The Athletic about how much Towns has matured over the last five years in Minnesota.
Towns will be joining a seasoned core around Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson alongside the addition of Mikal Bridges. Bridges comes to the Knicks in a blockbuster trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
Towns’ trade is a dream come true for the Knicks who have been in search of floor spacing for over five years since the departure of Kristaps Porzingis. Towns is a 7-foot-tall big man who can shoot lights out from the 3-point line with a career 39.8%. Along with a dynamic post-game and a pick-and-roll threat from Jalen Brunson, the Knicks are going to be a defensive nightmare.
For Thibodeau, normally a very defensive-minded head coach, Towns is not the number one option as he is a below-average defender. His rim protection isn’t as good as other centers in the league, but such a shortcoming may be mitigated by the elite perimeter defense that his new teammates Bridges and Josh Hart are known for. As well, when Mitchell Robinson comes back to the lineup he can slot back into the center position to take up the job of rim protector. Just like what was seen in Minnesota with Rudy Gobert playing center and Towns playing power forward this foundation would help lead them to the Western Conference finals.
However, with all of the excitement of the Towns trade for the Knicks, it is very important to remember what Randle did for this team, and how he pointed them in the right direction when arriving five years ago. Before Brunson and Anunoby, Randle created a culture surrounding the Knicks that hasn’t been seen in quite a while in the walls of Madison Square Garden.
Randle single-handedly broke out and put his Knicks squad on his back and got them to a playoff appearance for the first time since the 2012-13 season. In his years with the Knicks, he made three All-Star teams. He had a lot of ups and downs including poor playoff performances.
As for fan favorite DiVincenzo, he had career-high numbers with the Knicks averaging 17.8 points a game last year. DiVincenzo was a large part of the Knicks playoff run last season even making big shots in the playoffs. Including a memorable one in the series with the Philadelphia 76ers where he helped with a game-winning 3-point shot.
The proof will be in the pudding for New York to see if this trade will work out in the long run for their franchise, as while there are still some looming questions remaining around the franchise, including long-term rim protection, the addition of the generational talents of Towns to the All-Star talent of Brunson means the Knicks are poised to make a run at the Larry O’Brien trophy. Only time will tell if it all works out.
