The Minnesota Timberwolves decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for a trade package headlined by Julius Randle still feels surreal. You couldn’t be blamed for occasionally checking the team’s roster online to make sure it really happened. In fact, it was so shocking that neither Towns nor Randle were able to completely absorb their Freaky Friday.
And at least for Randle, it wasn’t just that he had been traded, it’s when he was.
Timberwolves’ Julius Randle Has More To Say About Knicks Trade
“I was really thrown off with it being so close to training camp,” Randle says, per Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. “We had training camp in two or three days. My mindset was ready to go to Charleston [South Carolina] for training camp. It took me like a night or two [to accept it]. The next morning. I was extremely happy because I forgot everything else and thought about the basketball side…
“It’s not that I was thinking I couldn’t get traded. I kind of had an idea [trade talks] were going on, but I think it would happen more during the season or closer to the trade deadline because the summer already passed. I was a little shocked on the timing…”
The Writing Was On The Wall
Randle’s trade to the Timberwolves was a curveball for everyone. He didn’t expect it. Towns didn’t expect it. Even well-placed NBA insiders seemed to only hear about it once it was finished.
However, as he noted, there was a feeling that he could or would be moved by the next offseason. After the Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges (partly to appease new franchise star Jalen Brunson and his former Villanova teammates) rumors picked up steam. Randle was reportedly happy to stay in New York and make whatever sacrifice the team needed, but his projected role didn’t match his strengths. Though an offensive-minded combo forward, Randle was expected to play heavy minutes at center.
What other solution would there have been but a trade?
Soon, it was said that trade interest in Randle was neutral. More than anything, that report lent itself to the idea that the Knicks were considering moving the All-Star. Randle and Knicks’ hesitance to agree to a contract extension added fuel to the fire.
A Win-Win?
There’s not a question of how or why New York ended up sending Randle to Minnesota.
Not only were the Knicks able to get ahead of what promised to be an awkward situation, they landed a more complementary player in the process. Though Towns has his flaws when at center, he’s a true big man at 7-foot-0. Furthermore, he might be the best shooting big in the NBA, having made 39.8 percent of his career threes. As a result, he generates better spacing for and is more capable of playing off of the Knicks’ shot-creators.
The biggest question was how Randle’s strengths and weaknesses meshed with the Timberwolves’. Yet, Minnesota is happy with the trade as well, believing that they have better offensive movement and defensive mobility. At 2-2, they could be performing better but the problem lies in the supporting cast’s play, not the starters.
