Top 10 winners (or losers?) from Towns trade to Knicks

The top 10 winners (or losers?) from the reported Karl Anthony Towns trade to the New York Knicks have mushroomed since the news broke.

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Karl Anthony Towns is shown digitally altered while wearing a New York Knicks' No.13 jersey. Reports swirled in after Towns was traded by Minnesota to New York

TOP 10 WINNERS (OR LOSERS?) FROM TOWNS TRADE OVER THE WEEKEND

The top 10 winners or losers from the Towns trade just soared once the news floated over the weekend.

Furthermore, the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled the trigger, and fans should see all sides of this blockbuster trade.

Moreover, let’s break down the five “winners,” the advantages the Knicks and Wolves got from this deal, and the five “losses” both teams should potentially deal with.

WINNERS: KNICKS FILL NEED FOR CENTER

Moreover, the Knicks basically needed a center as injuries and a player departure decimated their big-man rotation.

Furthermore, the seven-foot Dominican-American fills that need as Mitchell Robinson continues to recover from surgery.

Additionally, Isaiah Hartenstein’s departure to the Oklahoma City Thunder also pressed New York to go for Towns when they had the chance.

WINNERS: WOLVES GET BALANCED LINEUP

Furthermore, the Wolves may have preferred a balanced lineup rather than continuing to invest in a “Twin Towers” frontline of Rudy Gobert and Towns.

Moreover, Gobert is likely to regain the regular starting center minutes he had with Utah as he partners with a traditional “4” in Randle.

WINNERS: KNICKS AVOID RANDLE CONTRACT FATE

In hindsight, the Knicks avoided Randle’s contract fate, as the forward enters the last year on his guaranteed deal.

Furthermore, New York gets a new start with Towns, who is locked on his current contract for the next three years.

Julius Randle, in Knicks jerse No. 30, dribbles the ball in a game. Randle was traded by New York to Minnesota as part of the Karl Anthony Towns deal

WINNERS: WOLVES’ GOT INSURANCE IN REID IF RANDLE PANS OUT

Moreover, the Wolves got insurance by locking up Naz Reid if Randle pans out with his new team.

Reid averaged 13.5 points and shot 41.4% from three-point range to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year last season.

Don’t be surprised if Wolves’ coach Chris Finch goes for Gobert and Reid in long stretches due to the latter’s improved outside shooting.

WINNERS: KNICKS’ POTENTIAL TO TRY TOWNS-ROBINSON COMBO SOON

While the Wolves go back to the traditional center-power forward frontline, the Knicks have the potential to try something intriguing soon.

Furthermore, Robinson might need more recovery time for December.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau might want to tinker with a “Twin Towers” setup of Robinson and Towns moving forward.

Sure, Thibodeau is not known for big lineups and sticks to a tight eight – or nine-player rotation, but the potential will always be there on his bench.

LOSER: KNICKS’ POTENTIAL DEPTH

Moreover, the Knicks lose potential depth after yielding shooter Donte DiVincenzo as part of the Towns’ trade.

Sure, Towns and Randle may just swap places.

But DiVincenzo’s departure creates a big void in New York’s wing rotation.

Julius Randle, right, with Knicks jersey No. 30, and Karl Anthony Twons, in black jersey, face off in an NBA game. Towns was traded from Minnesota to New York for Randle, Donte Divincenzo and a draft pick

LOSER: WOLVES MAY LET RANDLE WALK

Furthermore, the Wolves may let Randle walk after this season.

This is to avoid the second apron of the league’s salary cap.

Randle will make USD28. million this season, with a player option of USD30.9 million next season.

That is something the forward is not keen on picking up.

With Randle’s questionable durability issues, Minnesota could find a sign-and-trade for its new big man.

LOSER: KNICKS’ MISSED VILLANOVA REUNION

The Knicks missed a wider Villanova “reunion” with DiVincenzo gone.

Sure, they still have Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and newly acquired Mikal Bridges.

But a quartet with DiVincenzo would have been a more potent mix for them.

LOSER: WOLVES NEED TO BRACE FOR DIVINCENZO FUTURE DEAL

The Wolves can give up Randle, but it should be tough for them to yield DiVincenzo moving forward.

Furthermore, the 27-year-old wingman continues to be on the upside, and his improvement should generate a bigger deal soon.

Minnesota can keep DiVincenzo to a core led by Antony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Reid, and even Gobert.

But the Wolves should look for a successor to Mike Conley at point guard.

Their cap might limit them in this regard if they re-sign DiVincenzo to a longer deal soon.

Donte Divincenzo, in New York's No.0 jersey, looks on during a game break. DiVincenzo was included in the Karl Anthony Towns trade to Ne York

LOSER: WOLVES AGAIN FOR YIELDING WINNING ‘FORMULA’ AGAINST NUGGETS

Moreover, the Wolves pose to be a “loser” again in this deal based on last season’s playoffs.

Minnesota’s big frontline of Gobert and Towns – with Reid spelling them – proved to be the winning formula for them to bring down then-defending champion Denver in the postseason.

Gobert and Reid may still be a tall frontline, but Towns won’t present problems for Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets by then.

Finch and the Wolves may hope Randle will shoot better outside and force Jokic to chase him away from the paint to repeat their success last year.