The Minnesota Timberwolves’ decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks appears to be a financially driven move above all else.
The Minnesota Timberwolves shocked the NBA world on Friday night by agreeing to trade star center Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a protected first-round pick, according to multiple reports. The two sides are still hashing out the final details of the deal—the Charlotte Hornets are expected to get looped in for financial reasons—but it’s a seismic shakeup on the eve of training camp.
The timing came as a surprise, particularly since the Timberwolves made the Western Conference Finals last season for only the second time ever. They’re fresh off arguably the second-best season in franchise history, topped only by the 2003-24 campaign.
However, the Timberwolves likely didn’t make this trade for basketball reasons. This appears to be a financially driven move above all else.
Towns is heading into the first year of the four-year, $220.4 million supermax extension that he signed with the Timberwolves in July 2022. Fellow Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is on a near-max extension of his own, while star guard Anthony Edwards is heading into the first year of his five-year, $244.6 million max extension as well.
Prior to this trade, sources told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that the Timberwolves were facing «losing more than $100 million this season because of a whopper of a luxury-tax bill coming due with new contracts» for Towns and Edwards. They’re also in the midst of a messy ownership spat between current team governor Glen Taylor and a prospective ownership group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. They’re set to begin arbitration in early November, according to Windhorst, «with a decision expected around the new year.»
While it’s unclear who will be paying the future bills for the Timberwolves, they were on the verge of becoming financially stuck prior to the Towns trade.
