Knicks Notes: What New York sees in Karl-Anthony Towns, why Donte DiVincenzo was included in trade

This is New’s Years Day, 2024, OG Anunoby’s first game as a Knick.

He puts up 17 points, six rebounds, and is a +19 in a win over Minnesota — the perfect debut.

About 40 minutes after the game, Tom Thibodeau is walking through the bowels of Madison Square Garden, he sees a familiar face, stops and smiles. It’s Karl Towns Sr. The two men shake hands, hug and share a laugh.

Towns Sr. heads to the Garden exits. Thibodeau makes his way to the home locker room.

They probably don’t see each other for the rest of the season, but Towns Sr. and Thibs will cross paths much more often this year.

Leon Rose and the Knicks executed their third blockbuster trade of the last 10 months on Friday, agreeing in principle to acquire Towns from Minnesota in exchange for a package centered around Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.

WHY THE KNICKS WANTED TOWNS

The Knicks have long been linked to Towns. Rose was his agent when he was the head of CAA. Towns Sr. attended Rose’s first game as Knicks president. Rose and New York exec William Wesley are close friends of the Towns family.

They had periodically checked in with Minnesota on Towns, dating back to at least last summer.

But there never seemed to be much traction. As recently as last week, people with the Knicks told associates that they were prepared to start the season with Randle and see how it went.

DiVincenzo was one of the sticking points. Minnesota coveted him. New York was reluctant to move him, but with the start of training camp looming, the Knicks recently came off that stance. This pushed the deal forward and got it across the finish line.

You knew the Knicks were all in on competing for a title when they traded for Mikal Bridges three months ago. The Towns trade was another all-in move for a team that will have a sky high payroll over the next few seasons.

But New York is obviously bullish on the investment.

In Towns, the Knicks feel like they found a player who complements the rest of their core (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart) extremely well. Towns is the best perimeter-shooting big man in the NBA. He forces defenses to pull a defender out of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/knicks-notes-york-sees-karl-135539611.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-09-28 13:55:39

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