While the New York Knicks have a real chance of making the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023, there is a belief around the NBA that the team may see New Jersey native Karl-Anthony Towns as the missing piece to their championship puzzle.
The New York Knicks are at a decade-high point at the moment. After ten years of being unable to reach the second round of the NBA Playoffs, the team stamped their ticket to the 2023 semifinals with a dominant Game 5 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. However, it is still unclear if this current group is enough to bring the team their first championship since 1973.
One team that is likely envious of the New York Knicks’ position is the Minnesota Timberwolves. After swinging a blockbuster trade for Rudy Gobert this summer, the team barely made the playoffs in 2022-2023, and an injury that kept Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined for much of the season played a major role in that result.
After being eliminated from the postseason this week by the Denver Nuggets, the ‘Wolves have to do a lot of soul-searching. They will surely try to bank on the trio of Gobert, Towns, and Anthony Edwards next season, but if it doesn’t work Minnesota could certainly break this group up before the NBA trade deadline in 2024.
New York Knicks record (’22-’23): 47-35
Trading Town seems very possible since he is entering the final year of his current contract, and that is where the New York Knicks come in. On Thursday, Heavy.com NBA insider Sean Deveney received some opinions from league execs on the three-time All-Star’s future, and some firmly believe New York will make a strong push for the local star soon.
“The interest in making that happen would be mutual, for sure. KAT and the Knicks are intertwined. To some people, it is more a matter of when they go after him, not if.”
– NBA source
- Karl-Anthony Towns stats (’22-’23): 20.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 4.8 APG, 0.7 SPG, 37% 3PT
Karl-Anthony Towns already has unique connections to the organization since he was coached by current New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau for two and half seasons in Minnesota — which didn’t go well — and the organization’s President, Leon Rose, was formerly his agent at Creative Arts Agency.
If All-Star Julius Randle can’t prove he is the sort of player to help take New York to a championship, switching him out for Towns does make a lot of sense for the Knicks.