Breaking: Knicks Finalize Towns Trade

Incredibly, New York was able to manufacture (almost out of thin air) the $11 million in salary required to consummate trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

It appears the KAT Blockbuster, which was stuck on the one-yard line for a few days, has finally crossed the goal line and hit paydirt. 

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Tuesday night that Charlotte will utilize their cap space to seal the deal. The Hornets will receive DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown and Duane Washington Jr., as well as a pair of second-round draft picks from the Knicks, one second-rounder from the Timberwolves and cash. Charania also reported that New York will receive the draft rights to James Nnaji. 

Sum it all up, and it looks like this:

• Knicks receive: Karl-Anthony Towns and James Nnaji

• Wolves receive: Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and 2025 top-13 protected first-round pick (via Detroit) 

• Hornets receive: DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr., Duane Washington and $7.2M million in cash. 

Per ESPN's Bobby Marks, New York is trading a 2026 second-rounder via Golden State and their own 2031 second-round pick.

Here are some other trade-related details that are being reported this evening. Jeffries, Brown and Washington will all be sent to Charlotte via sign-and-trade and are expected to be promptly waived. Those three players will earn a total of $6.8 million in 2024-25, allowing the trade to work under the new CBA. (Because the Wolves were above the second apron, they were prohibited from taking back less salary than they are sending out.) 

The $6.8 million owed to the three former Knicks will fit snugly within Charlotte's $8 million room exception. Per Marks, the Hornets are the first team in league history to acquire a player via signing exception (the rule was introduced for the time last year). 

It appears the primary holdup was related to Partizan's hesitancy in releasing Duane Washington. Partizan, a club based in Belgrade, Serbia, had signed Washington last month. According to Spotrac's Keith Smart, Partizan has some important Euroleague games coming up and didn't want to play those contests without Washington. Thus, it took "some truly incredible creativity on the part of the Knicks, Wolves and Hornets front offices to get this deal pushed through."  

New York finding a way to obtain Nnaji in the deal was a nice piece of business by New York.

Nnaji, who didn't start playing basketball until 2017 in his native Nigeria, was just 18 years old when he was selected with the 31st overall pick in the 2023 draft. He's a raw but extremely athletic big man who many pundits predicted would be a first-round pick last year. He measures in at 6-foot-11 and possesses a monstrous 7-foot-7 wingspan.

Here's what a scout told SI about Nnaji last year: "He is one of the strongest players from a physical standpoint in the upcoming draft. He has decent mobility and runs the court quite well for his size. He is a good athlete/leaper, too, and is very bouncy. Nnaji is an old-school rim-running big man. He doesn't get many touches but doesn't complain."

In 2022, playing for powerhouse Barcelona in the Spanish ACB league (the second-best league in the world), Nnaji became the youngest Barca player to ever appear in a EuroLeague game. 

He didn't come over to the States after the Hornets drafted him; instead, spending last season on a loan with Basquet Girona in ACB. Across 26 Liga ACB appearances in 2023-24, Nnaji averaged 2.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks while shooting 64.9% from the floor and 64.7% from the charity stripe in 8.3 minutes a night. 

However, Barcelona announced in June that Nnaji underwent successful lumbar spine surgery. The procedure is expected to sideline him for four months. Fortunately, the Knicks can stash him overseas for another year, thus saving a roster spot and cap room.

Speaking of the roster, after waiving Marcus Morris Sr and Chuma Okeke to create the slots necessary to sign(and trade) Jeffries, Brown and Washington, the Knicks have only 15 players in camp and 12 players on guaranteed deals. 

Veteran shooting guard Landry Shamet is expected to lock up one of those final roster spots, and have his contract guaranteed as well. Assuming Shamet brings the number to 13, New York would be roughly $3.5 million under the second apron. Thus, they could convert one of the rookies on a two-way contract (Ariel Hukporti or Kevin McCullar) to a rookie minimum deal for multiple seasons of team control.

Lastly, before I sign off for the night (be on the lookout for a "Mikal Bridges Extension Explainer" post tomorrow), I have to praise Leon Rose, Brock Aller and the rest of the Knicks front office. 

The salary cap gymnastics this group has executed this offseason would make Simone Biles blush.

The maneuverings required to add Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns have been incredible. Consider this: Shake Milton, Mamadi Diakite, DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr., and Duane Washington will make a combined $11.1 million in 2024-25.

New York was able to manufacture (almost out of thin air) the $11 million in salary required to consummate trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Knicks would NOT have been able to execute either trade if they had waited until the start of the season or until the February trade deadline. 

And, incredibly, these moves have put New York in a position to keep its core intact while staying under the second apron for each of the next two seasons. 

A "masterclass"  is probably an understatement.

It once seemed unimaginable, but it's now impossible to deny that the Knicks have one of the best front offices in the entire league. And that's invaluable in this day and age of the new CBA.