5 potential disgruntled superstars Knicks could be monitoring for offseason trade
1: Karl-Anthony Towns
Everyone knows how the Knicks feel about CAA clients. With Leon Rose at the top, Karl-Anthony Towns has been considered a possible target for a few years now. Like Zach LaVine and Jimmy Butler, he knows what it’s like to have Tom Thibodeau as a head coach.
Towns has played in only 22 games this season after missing nearly four months with a calf injury. Before getting hurt, the 27-year-old was averaging 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. KAT said that before going down, he “felt the most complete as a player in my career.”
After the Timberwolves shocked the rest of the league by trading for Rudy Gobert during the offseason, many were left scratching their heads wondering how a Gobert-Towns lineup would work for Minnesota. At the beginning of the season, the Timberwolves struggled but have since climbed their way up to No. 7 in the West thanks to the strong play of Anthony Edwards. Still, Minnesota has a lot of work to do.
Towns signed a four-year, $224 million max extension last offseason that doesn’t kick in until 2024-25. He isn’t allowed to be traded until July 7. It’d be hard for the Knicks to pull a trade off if KAT decided that he no longer wanted to be in Minnesota. He’s wrapping up his eighth season in the league and all that he and the Timberwolves have to show for it is a first-round playoff exit.
New York already has a starting center in Mitchell Robinson who signed a four-year, $60 million deal in free agency last summer. However, his social media activity has caused speculation that perhaps he truly believes he would be better off elsewhere. None of this is to say that Robinson wants a trade, or that the Knicks want to trade him, but he’s raised some eyebrows nonetheless.
If Towns decides that he wants to leave Minnesota before his new contract starts, New York will be circled as a potential landing spot.
