Having recently completed a deal to acquire OG Anunoby from the Raptors, the Knicks are said to still be active on the trade market as they have assets to spend, including eight available first-round picks.
Namely, there are rumors swirling around the league that one of their next top trade targets will be Timberwolves 3x All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, but no concrete offers have materialized yet.During an appearance on FanDuel TV, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Knicks will “always have interest in” acquiring the 7-foot big man if he is made available by the Timberwolves. It’s important to realize that a mid-season move for Towns could be a tricky business considering the Timberwolves are currently the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 24-8 record. With that in mind, the 28-year-old Towns is finally on a team competing with the Timberwolves for the first time in his nine-year career, so any deal for the Timberwolves’ 2015 first-round pick is more likely than not. requires more players and features draft picks. The Knicks recently acquired Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn while also sending RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors. Anunoby, who led the NBA in steals last season, will certainly fit nicely into Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive scheme and be a major upgrade for a New York team that was lacking defensively. However, this also means that Knicks co-stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle will now have to carry the majority of the load offensively. The deal then potentially created an opportunity to sign another offensive star, prompting Knicks president Leon Rose to pursue another blockbuster trade this season. “It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the Knicks to make another move,” an NBA executive told HoopsHype. “There’s not a lot of shot creation from the other players on the roster right now, and there’s a lot of pressure on Brunson. I understand why New York made the trade. The team played selfishly. Anunoby is a better fit for what they have than Barrett.With the Knicks parting ways with two shot creators in Barrett and Quickley, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes will now all be slotted into bigger roles in the rotation. In any case, a player like Towns could be interesting to pair with Randle, especially considering that the Knicks were looking for a consistent offensive player after losing 7-foot center Mitchell Robinson, who played the rest of the game will be waived. season after ankle surgery. In his ninth season with the Timberwolves, Towns is currently averaging 21.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three-point range. As a result, Towns is highly sought after due to the combination of his size, shooting ability and the fact that he is one of the best 7-footers in the league in his prime, making him a viable trade candidate.Of note, Towns had previously been linked to the Knicks in trade rumors this past offseason, but there were rumors that New York may not want to take on the Timberwolves star’s huge contract. That said, after moving pieces, the Knicks can now have additional flexibility by creating a $5.2 million trade exception, so they are now $5.1 million below the NBA tax line.Note: This 2023-24 season, Towns will make $36 million, so his four-year, $224 million supermax extension with the Timberwolves will begin during the 2024-25 season. In fact, the Knicks were first linked to Towns in April 2023, when an NBA source told Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports that both Towns and New York had mutual interests.“The interest in making this happen would certainly be mutual,” the source told Deveny. “KAT and the Knicks are intertwined. For some people it’s more a question of when to pursue it, not if.Adding Towns to the core of Brunson, Randle and now Anunoby could undoubtedly strengthen the Knicks to make a playoff run in a competitive Eastern Conference, but considering the Timberwolves have a chance at a championship, that has yet to happen. The question is whether Minnesota will be willing to engage in trade negotiations at this point.Since the Knicks are currently the eighth seed with an 18-15 record, they would like to move more assets before the February 8 trade deadline. Other notable names of potential trade targets coming into play for the Knicks include guards like Donovan Mitchell and Dejounte Murray, and big men like Andre Drummond and Clint Capela could also be targeted in the coming month.
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