Are you tired yet, New York Knicks fans? Tired of any and every star being linked to your favorite team at every turn? Unfortunately, until New York makes its big move, nothing will change.
Karl-Anthony Towns has been linked to the Knicks for years. He’s a CAA client who’s from New Jersey and played under Tom Thibodeau when the head coach was in Minnesota.
New York Post’s Stefan Bondy reported on Oct. 7 that the Knicks are “monitoring” three players: KAT, Joel Embiid, and Donovan Mitchell. The Towns trade rumors were further ignited when the Knicks hosted the Timberwolves on Oct. 14, and the team’s brass called Towns over pregame.
Knicks president Leon Rose, with owner James Dolan & SVP Gersson Rosas, calls over Karl—Anthony Towns pregame pic.twitter.com/qba8xUGy7o
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) October 14, 2023
The mock trades never stopped for New York, but they’ve gained traction recently, especially regarding KAT. In the latest episode of ‘The Lowe Post’ podcast, Zach Lowe pitched a Towns-Knicks trade that has since horrified fans.
Check out Zach Lowe pitching KAT trades for the Knicks. They eventually land on RJ+IQ+salary+5 FRPs (3 from other teams, 2 protected Knicks).
— The Strickland (@TheStrickland) October 20, 2023
Depending on how you value the draft capital, this package is in the range of what Utah was lauded for getting for Rudy Gobert. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/tNScRJfWLZ
ESPN’s Zach Lowe creates Karl-Anthony Towns-Knicks trade proposal
In the deal, New York would give up RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, additional salary, and five first-round picks for Karl-Anthony Towns. If you rolled your eyes just reading that, so did many other Knicks fans.
Towns is signed through the 2027-28 season, a $61.6 million player option. He’s coming off a season where he played in only 29 regular season games due to a calf injury. Since arriving in Minnesota in 2015, Towns and the Timberwolves have had three playoff appearances, all first-round exits.
The 27-year-old isn’t entirely responsible for all of Minnesota’s shortcomings, but he hasn’t exactly met the expectations that come with being drafted No. 1 overall. New York has been patient in its pursuit of a superstar, and while it’s true that fans are growing impatient, it’d be an insult to the fan base if the Knicks did the above deal for KAT.
Rather than go after an overpaid center who can shoot threes, the front office would be better off keeping an eye on Embiid, Mitchell, and even Luka Doncic. All three of those players would be better options than Towns.
Thanks, but no thanks, Zach Lowe!