Were Thibs and Towns Flirting at MSG?

I’ll get to the main takeaways from the Knicks' 121-112 loss to the Timberwolves on Saturday night at MSG in a bit, but first, let’s discuss the KAT in the room.

With Minnesota in town this weekend, we got a healthy dose of Karl-Anthony Towns to New York rumors, which was to be expected. When the Knicks host the Wolves on New Year's Day for their sole trip to MSG during the regular season, we can expect more of the same.

The primary reason why Towns’ name will be in the rumor mill all season is because the Wolves are in trouble from a financial/cap standpoint. They went all-in on Rudy Gobert last summer (even though Gobert had four years and $170 million left on his contract), hoping that 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 2022-23 season and averaged just 106.2 points per 100 possessions, an OffRtg that would have ranked 30th in the NBA. 

Oh, and Towns' monstrous $224 million supermax extension will kick in beginning next season. He 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.

Not only are the Wolves stuck paying both bigs cap-crippling sums, but they’ve also agreed to a max extension this summer with Anthony Edwards, the undisputed face of the franchise, that could reach $260 million. They also hope to sign Jaden McDaniels to a lengthy extension and have ten days to get that done. (Like IQ, the deadline for a McDaniels deal is the day before the start of the regular season.)

So, yeah, Minnesota is likely going to have to get creative at some point, and that probably means moving on from Towns, as he is the most attractive asset on the roster, not named Anthony Edwards. 

There are also several reasons why KAT will be attached to the Knicks in rumors. First and foremost, he’s from the area, having been born and raised in northern New Jersey. In fact, Towns did some intern work for MSG Network while in high school. In addition, Knicks team president Leon Rose represented KAT as his agent out of Kentucky, before leaving CAA. 

And, of course, the Knicks have been hunting for a superstar since the start of time. New York possesses precisely what the Wolves would be looking for should they decide to deal Towns. The Knicks own ten first-round picks over the next seven drafts (Minny desperately needs to restock their pick supply after the disastrous Gobert trade). New York also has several impressive young players on affordable, team-friendly deals.

However, KAT and Tom Thibodeau had a bit of a rocky relationship during their days in Minnesota, when Thibs coached Towns for 2.5 years early in his career.