Getty Julius Randle #30 of the New York Knicks goes to the basket as Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends.
New York Knicks rumored target Karl-Anthony Towns is off the trade block, contrary to an earlier report that he could be traded soon as early these next few weeks.
On June 9, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus reported that “other competing executives think Karl-Anthony Towns will be long gone ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. Some even believe Minnesota would jump at an opportunity in the next few weeks.”
But that is not the case, according to The Athletic’s Timberwolves beat reporter Jon Krawczynski on Tuesday.
“With [Rudy] Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns already on max contracts, and KAT’s supermax extension set to begin in 2024-25, holding this team together over the long haul is going to be a challenge.
That has led to widespread speculation that Towns could be on the move. He is younger and much more versatile offensively than Gobert, so he figures to have higher value if he were put on the trade market. But president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and coach Chris Finch have said publicly that their plan is to move forward with the existing core, with both believing a full summer and training camp together, and improved health from Towns and Gobert, will be enough to solve some of the offensive problems the team had last season. Owners Glen Taylor, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are on board with that approach as well, sources said,” Krawczynski wrote.
Towns, who signed a four-year, $224 million extension with the Timberwolves last year, had been linked to the Knicks since his former CAA agent Leon Rose became the team president.
Knicks’ Interest in Karl-Anthony Towns
In April, Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney reinforced that belief with intel from a league source.
“The interest in making that happen would be mutual, for sure,” one league source told Deveney. “KAT and the Knicks are intertwined. To some people, it is more a matter of when they go after him, not if.”
Deveney’s report was followed by Towns’ sightings in New York — first with Knicks legend Latrell Sprewell partying at a club, then throwing out a ceremonial pitch at a Yankees game — which added more fuel to the rumors.
But according to SNY’s Ian Begley, the Knicks’ interest in the oft-injured, three-time All-Star big man is waning.
“From what I’ve heard from a couple of people in touch with them, they felt the temperature was a little down on the interest in Towns compared to where it was very early on in Leon Rose’s tenure,” Begley said on the May 25 episode of the Hoopshype podcast with host Michael Scotto and fellow guest New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy.
Naz Reid Has Fans in Knicks Organization
If Towns is unavailable, another Timberwolves big man is more attainable for the Knicks.
Naz Reid, who will enter unrestricted free agency, “is a name to keep an eye on if the Knicks move [Mitchell] Robinson or [Isaiah] Hartenstein in a trade,” Begley wrote in his June 16 mailbag.
“…it’s worth noting that Naz Reid has a significant amount of fans within the organization,” Begley added.
Gersson Rosas, the former Minnesota Timberwolves president who signed the undrafted Reid to a two-way contract which he later converted into a four-year, $6.1 million deal, is now with the Knicks and is rumored to succeed outgoing general manager Scott Perry.
Reid is coming off the final season of his bargain deal with the Timberwolves, averaging a career-high 11.5 points per game while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from deep on 3.2 attempts. He also grabbed 4.9 rebounds and averaged nearly one block in 18.4 minutes off the bench.
