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The NBA is back.
Not just because training camps open across the league next week but more because it’s back to grabbing headlines with monster trades. This one came out of the blue and caught some of the principles off guard:
Karl Anthony Towns is headed to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in what ultimately is a three-team trade.
Let’s break down the winners and losers of this deal, but first here is the full trade:
New York receives: Karl-Anthony Towns
Minnesota receives: Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, 2025 first-round pick (via Detroit, top-13 protected)
Charlotte receives: DaQuan Jeffries, “draft compensation” (the details of the players and picks headed to the Hornets, to make the money all work, is not finalized as of this writing)
WINNER: New York Knicks
Ultimately, it’s this simple: The Knicks needed a center and just landed one of the best in the NBA.
Towns is an All-NBA level big man who makes this team better. New York had its eye on the New Jersey native for years and now, needing help at the five (Mitchell Robinson is out recovering from surgery until around Christmas, and Isaiah Hartenstein left for a bigger paycheck in Oklahoma City), the Knicks got one of the best in the game.
It’s not a hand-in-glove fit. There are questions.
At the top of the list is how well Towns can hold up as the rim-protecting defensive anchor of a Tom Thibodeau defense. Will the mercurial player bring it every night, as Thibs demands? What worked in Minnesota is that defensive role — and the rebounding that goes with it — fell to Rudy Gobert, allowing Towns to play the four and be hidden a little on defense. (To be fair, Towns had good defensive moments, most notably against Nikola Jokic when the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs last season.) Towns now has to assume that role full time, and do it until Robinson returns.
Thibodeau had his frustrations with Towns’ effort and game when he coached the Kentucky big man in Minnesota (during the Jimmy Butler era), but in recent years, he has said several times he was open to working with Towns again. He had nothing but…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/winners-losers-karl-anthony-towns-152155616.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-09-28 15:21:55
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