The New York Knicks has hired Tom Thibodeau this offseason as the new head coach. One of the intriguing moves in his new position is reuniting with Karl-Anthony Towns by exploring trade possibilities with Minnesota Timberwolves.
In 2016, Thibodeau was assigned as the Timberwolves head coach to assist in the growth of Towns who was just coming off his rookie year and would love to continue working with the NBA All-Star in his new team—the New York Knicks.
NBA trade rumors
To pull out this deal in getting Towns to wear a Knicks uniform, Thibodeau has to use his close ties with the center’s agent Leon Rose and William Wesley, a close friend of Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
Knicks adopting a model that has gained popularity w/ the successes of Bob Myers (Warriors) and Rob Pelinka (Lakers). Rose has been one of the top agents in basketball for years, w/ clients including Joel Embiid, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns and Carmelo Anthony. https://t.co/ONrcIu9k2U
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020
Towns still have four years in his contract with the Timberwolves and will be owed $29.4 million for the 2020-21 season.
Another trade target is to acquire another former Timberwolves player Zach LaVine to join Towns from the Chicago Bulls. Per NBA Analysis Network, Heavy’s Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson reports that:
“There was a report back in the summer about Bulls star, Zach LaVine is the Interest of the Nets and the Knicks. This was of course before the Bulls fires Jim Boylen. Could a LaVine and Towns pairing in NYC work?”
Knicks misses landing top free agents
For the past years, the New York Knicks have missed on landing top free agents and the biggest blow was Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving preferring to play for the Brooklyn Nets who are located in the same city.
Knicks have some good assets that could be attractive to the Timberwolves and that could include Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson’s contracts.
The New York Knicks could make some moves as they have the option not to sign Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, and Wayne Ellington who has a combined salary of $34 million. That is enough to attract marquee players like free agent DeMar DeRozan to join the team and form a duo with Towns.
One thing that could hold the trade is that Towns has a close relationship with trade deadline acquisition D’Angelo Russell as both players were teammates in college under Coach John Calipari.
Last season, Towns was sidelined most of the time with an injury and played only 35 games. He was able to provide his team with quality production of 26.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. He also shot an accurate 51% from the field and 41% beyond the three-point line.
On the other hand, a disgruntled Zach LaVine was the Bulls’ best offensive option giving the Chicago Bulls 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
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