Friday night’s blockbuster three-team trade has now been finalised on the eve of pre-season, after the moving parts were agreed upon in a surprising move for cross-conference sides keen to improve wherever possible following deep postseason runs last term. New York already look much different than last term, but will their summer splash prove decisive in their championship charge?
Wolves hand keys to Edwards as Towns ventures East
YOU wait nearly three months for a big trade and suddenly, just as we’re settling into the opening moments of pre-season before the new 2024-25 campaign, one flashes across your screen that you didn’t see coming. Perhaps you should have, but was there ever a serious market for two divisive stars? Now you have your answer.
The Athletic and ESPN reported the news, impacting their respective rivals after two All-Star level players venture in opposite directions for very different reasons.
Randle’s volatile temperament and stuttering form, coupled with his injury history has been questioned as he’s been linked with an exit though no suitors were named.
Randle has been an All-Star in three of the last four seasons, though poor playoff displays hurt his stock considerably. He averaged career-highs in points (24.1), rebounds (10.2) and assists (6.0) alongside three-point percentage (41.1) during the shortened 2020-21 year and eclipsed some shooting numbers in 2022-23.
Yet this past year in his age-29 season, the power forward could only manage 46 regular season games before sustaining a dislocated right shoulder injury that ultimately needed season-ending surgery to repair. He’s expected to participate in training camp, having rehabbed the issue for two months without success.
After enduring troublesome injuries the season before, Towns averaged 21.8 PPG and 8.3 rebs, alongside 50% FG and 41.6% from three-point range. The big man’s presence was key in helping Minnesota exceed postseason expectations, making the West finals for the first time in 20 years (losing in five to Dallas).
As far as familiarity is concerned: Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has an affinity for Randle having previously coached him in New Orleans, when he was an assistant during the 2018-19 season. Towns reunites with Thibodeau, where he first became an All-Star under the 66-year-old’s guidance over a three-year stint (2016-19).
Elsewhere in this trade…
Minnesota have been interested in sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo since his one-year stint with the Golden State Warriors and while the talented guard enjoyed a career-best year in New York, hasn’t yet found a permanent home to call his own.
Reports suggested he’d be relegated to a sixth-man role after the franchise made an expensive Mikal Bridges summer trade splash costing them four first-round picks to unite the Villanova boys – him, Bridges, Josh Hart and star guard Jalen Brunson.
Instead of building up that excitement as preseason gets underway, the quartet won’t play a game together and Towns will shore up the Knicks’ biggest glaring hole after losing Isaiah Hartenstein to Oklahoma in free agency while Mitchell Robinson (ankle) could be sidelined until 2025 after recently undergoing offseason surgery.
The Timberwolves add a shrewd shooter boasting versatility in DiVincenzo as the 27-year-old heads into Year 7, having benefited from being around two future Hall of Famer figures – Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokoumpo – among others prior.
Minnesota will also receive a 2025 first-round draft pick from New York in the deal, one with a top-13 protection via the Detroit Pistons. Said to be in rebuild mode themselves, it shouldn’t be surprising to know the Charlotte Hornets will receive draft compensation for helping make the deal work financially as the third team involved.
Training camps began Monday and the deal wasn’t yet finalised, meaning the respective players needed their own introductory news conferences with media but it’s perhaps better that way: more column inches and space for the move to breathe.
Full trade details
Minnesota
Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and 2025 first-round draft pick (top-13 protected via Detroit, top-11 in 2026, top-9 in 2027, 2027 2nd if not conveyed)
New York
Karl-Anthony Towns, James Nnaji
Charlotte
DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr, Duane Washington Jr, second-round draft picks in 2025, 2026, 2031 as well as $7.2m in compensation
Minnesota were well into the second apron while New York reached the original threshold, they needed a trade partner to make the numbers work in a more cost-effective way now the league’s trade and roster construction rules have changed.
Charlotte were able to use salary cap exceptions to take on money from the Knicks, making a deal legal as they’ll get draft capital for its exceptions — ones they could have held until later in the season, per ESPN.
Knicks-Timberwolves will play a preseason contest in New York on Oct. 13, with the first of two regular-season games against one another the week before Christmas in Minneapolis, a matchup sure to be appointment viewing now given this development.
Picture source: Getty Images, trade-specific information source linked
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