No, the Knicks Should Not Trade For Karl-Anthony Towns

In 2025-26, Towns is set to earn more than Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson COMBINED.

I've seen a bunch of outlandish trade proposals in recent days suggesting the Knicks would be willing to part with Julius Randle and/or RJ Barrett, along with another quality young player (IQ or Obi), in addition to multiple first-round draft picks in exchange for Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns.

That's nonsense. 

As I detailed earlier this week, there are reasonable arguments to be made for and against trading Randle. However, swapping Randle for Towns is an unnecessary gamble. 

First and foremost, Towns inked a monstrous $224 million supermax extension which does not kick in until 2024-25. Towns will earn an average of $56 million annually over the life of that contract, including $62 million in the final year of that deal. In 2025-26, Towns is set to earn more than Randle and Jalen Brunson COMBINED.

All that for a player who saw his scoring average plummet this past season (from 24.6 PPG in 2021-22 to 20.8), grabbed a career-low 8.1 rebounds and averaged fewer than one block per game for the first time. And like Randle, Towns struggled in the playoffs, averaging 18.2 points while shooting 45% from the floor and 25% from downtown. Towns posted the worst plus/minus on the team in the Wolves' first-round series vs. Denver, with Minnesota being outscored by 46 points in the 180 minutes he was on the court. (The Wolves outscored the Nuggets in the 65 minutes KAT sat). 

In addition, Towns has been injury prone. He's missed 130 games over the past four seasons, having appeared in more than 50 games just once since 2018-19. 

The reality is the Wolves are in trouble. Inexplicably, they went all-in on Rudy Gobert last summer in a move that was mocked at the time and looks even worse right now. Minnesota traded away Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, four future first-round draft picks (three of them unprotected), and a pick swap in exchange for Gobert. The hope was a twin-tower lineup of Rudy and KAT would overpower opponents. It did not. Gobert and Towns shared the floor for 529 minutes during the regular season and averaged just 106.2 points per 100 possessions, an OffRtg which would have ranked 30th in the NBA. 

Now, the Wolves are stuck paying both bigs cap-crippling sums (Gobert has three years and $131 million left on his current contract). This summer, they are going to ink Anthony Edwards to a max contract which could be worth up to $249 million. They are also hoping to sign Jaden McDaniels to a lengthy extension. 

The Timberwolves enter the offseason only $18 million below the luxury tax. Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell were bright spots last season, but both will become unrestricted free agents this summer. 

The Wolves obviously didn't envision parting ways with Towns when they agreed to make him the highest-paid player in franchise history, but their options are limited. (As an aside, because of language in his contract, Towns cannot be traded until July 7th.) Minnesota could consider dumping Gobert, which would solidify their previous trade as arguably the worst in the history of the NBA, but what kind of return would they be looking at? Remember, even if they wanted to, the Wolves can't attach any draft capital in a Gobert/Towns deal because Utah controls all their picks through 2029. 

Looping Randle into this conversation, he would be a better fit alongside Rudy and was far more productive this past season. Compared to KAT, Randle averaged more points, more rebounds, more three-pointers, and fewer turnovers - and has been far more durable. Factor in each player's respective salaries (Randle will earn approximately $27 million annually over the next three years), and it's clear why the Wolves would be interested in such a swap. 

However, it's less clear why trading Randle for Towns would make much sense for the Knicks. 

A deal with Randle and Evan Fournier as the main components being sent to Minnesota in exchange for Towns and Taurean Prince is feasible from a cap standpoint, but would that improve the Knicks significantly moving forward? The pairing of KAT and Mitchell Robinson (whose game is similar to Gobert) would be clunky. And committing north of $250 million to Towns would significantly reduce the Knicks' cap flexibility in the future. 

New York is an enviable position at the moment. They own ten first-round picks over the next seven drafts. They have several impressive young players on affordable, team-friendly deals. They've found one franchise cornerstone in Jalen Brunson, who is locked into an incredibly valuable contract. 

Consequently, unlike in the past when New York would have been happy to settle for any "superstar" that hit the open market, the Knicks can now be selective in terms of who they target. If they trade for Towns, would that preclude them from getting involved in the Joel Embiid sweepstakes if the reigning MVP demands a trade from Philly at some point? 

Trading Julius Randle would make sense in specific scenarios (we will explore such hypothetical swaps in the days/weeks ahead), but a deal for Towns would be a perilous proposition. KAT has been knocked in Minnesota for a perceived lack of toughness/durability/defense and his inability to produce in the postseason. That wouldn't go over well in New York, especially when the player makes $55 million annually. Yes, the cap is rising, but Towns' contract would be an unwise allocation of New York's resources. 

Towns annual salary over the next five years:
2023-24: $36,016,200
2024-25: $50,050,000
2025-26: $54,054,000
2026-27: $58,058,000
2027-28: $62,062,000

Pass.