It was a little over a week ago that the New York Knicks acquired power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns. The trade saw them give up Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a player who was named to three All-Star teams with New York. Also sent to Minnesota was Donte DiVincenzo which broke up one-fourth of the ‘Nova Knicks’. It was quite the surprising blockbuster deal that was done so close to training camp beginning for both teams.
Prior to the Knicks getting Towns, they were going after another center in the Western Conference.
Knicks Made ‘Multiple Runs’ At Utah Center Before Towns Deal
Walker Kessler Seems Like A Tom Thibodeau Type Of Center
Walker Kessler was selected with the 22nd overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. It was an excellent rookie season for the seven-foot Kessler in 2022-23 with the Utah Jazz. He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and actually received two first-place votes. His 2.3 blocks per game were fourth in the league. Last season, Kessler averaged 2.4 rejections, only behind Victor Wembanyama amongst the league leaders.
On his SubStack, Marc Stein says that before acquiring Towns, the Knicks were making a run at the 23-year-old Kessler.
Before coming to terms on a blockbuster swap with Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns mere days before the start of training camp, New York made multiple trade runs at Utah’s Walker Kessler to fill its well-chronicled void at center, league sources say. It is believed that Utah wanted at least two future first-round picks for Kessler … after the Knicks had exhausted much of their remaining cache of draft picks in the trade with Brooklyn for Bridges.
It is not a surprise that Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau would be interested in the 23-year-old Kessler. Thibodeau loves to have a rim protector on the court at all times. With Mitchell Robinson still out recovering from ankle surgery with a reported December re-evaluation date at the earliest, New York was without that. The Mikal Bridges deal wiped away most of their treasure trove of future first round picks though, which likely made it much harder to consummate a deal with Utah.
Not First Foray With Ainge
There are many Knicks fans who probably aren’t surprised that a deal with Utah was unable to get done. It was the summer of 2022 when it sure looked like that Donovan Mitchell would be traded to New York from the Jazz. Some saw it as inevitable.
Well, that deal to the Knicks never happened. Mitchell was instead dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That led a lot of Knicks fans to believe that Danny Ainge, the CEO of basketball operations with the Jazz, wasn’t interested in doing a deal with New York unless they overpaid. Perhaps he still has a hatred for them from his playing days with the Boston Celtics?
Nonetheless, the Knicks have advanced to the second round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons without Mitchell’s services. They defeated Mitchell’s Cavaliers in the opening round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs in five games.
