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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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