Knicks Notes: What New York sees in Karl-Anthony Towns, why Donte DiVincenzo was included in the trade

This is New Year’s Day, 2024, OG Anunoby‘s first game as a Knick.

He scores 17 points, six rebounds and is +19 in a win over Minnesota – the perfect debut.

About 40 minutes after the match, Tom Thibodeau As he walks through the bowels of Madison Square Garden, he sees a familiar face, stops and smiles. It’s Karl Towns Sr. The two men shake hands, embrace and laugh together.

Towns Sr. goes to the Garden’s exit. Thibodeau heads to the home locker room.

They probably won’t see each other for the rest of the season, but Towns Sr. and Thibs will cross paths much more often this year.

Leon Roos and the Knicks made their third blockbuster trade of the past 10 months on Friday, agreeing in principle to acquire Towns from Minnesota in exchange for a package around Julius Randle And Donte DiVincenzo.

WHY THE KNICKS WANT CITIES

The Knicks have long been associated with Towns. Rose was his agent when he was head of CAA. Towns Sr. attended Rose’s first game as Knicks president. Rose and New York ex-director William Wesley are close friends of the Towns family.

They had regularly contacted Minnesota on Towns dating back to at least last summer.

But there never seemed to be much traction. Just last week, people at the Knicks told employees they were willing to start the season at Randle and see how things go.

DiVincenzo was one of the sticking points. Minnesota coveted him. New York was hesitant to move him, but with training camp approaching, the Knicks recently changed that stance. This pushed the deal forward and got the finish across.

You knew the Knicks were doing everything they could to compete for a title when they traded up Mikal Bridges three months ago. The Towns trade was another all-in move for a team that will have a sky-high payroll for the next few seasons.

But New York is clearly optimistic about the investment.

In Towns, the Knicks feel like they’ve found a player who complements the rest of their core (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Jos Hart) extremely good. Towns is the best perimeter shooting big man in the NBA. He forces the defense to draw a defender out of the paint, spreading the floor for his teammates.

His presence should clear the way for Brunson to attack and create advantages for New York. He can also play in the post and draw a double team there. Towns’ presence will make it difficult for teams to trap Brunson and run pick-and-rolls.

Certainly, there are questions about the Knick’s domestic defense in the wake of the trade.

The bottom line is: with Mitchell Robinson outside, the Knicks had a clear need for center. By landing a four-time All Star and two-time All NBA player in Towns, they feel like they took advantage of a great opportunity to fill the need. And because the core is all under the age of 30, the Knicks also believe the addition of Towns gives them a strong chance to compete for several more years.

Are these feelings correct? We’ll find out in the next three years or so.

WHO ELSE IS IN THE BUSINESS?

The details of the transaction were still being worked out late Friday night, but Charlotte is expected to join the deal to facilitate the transaction.

Here’s how things look: The Knicks will broadcast DaQuan Jeffries as part of the agreement. To help comply with the league’s trade rules, they will sign and trade Jeffries for a deal that starts at around $3 million.

New York will also broadcast Keita Bates-Diop in trade. They can make the math work by adding Charlie Brown And Duane Washington Jr. in sign-and-trades, as Yossi Gozlan notes.

Additionally, the Knicks will send Minnesota a protected first-round pick (acquired from Detroit) and the Hornets will also receive preliminary compensation for their help in facilitating the deal.

Trade talks were first reported by The Athletic. The Athletic and ESPN first reported various trade details.

WHY DONTE?

As noted above, the Knicks had long been opposed to including DiVincenzo in the trade. I don’t know exactly why they changed their thinking.

DiVincenzo set the single-season franchise record for making 3-pointers last season. He defeated one of the greatest threes of the past two decades in that thrilling Game Two win over Philadelphia.

But with the moves made this offseason, DiVincenzo would likely come off the bench this season. Bridges would likely have taken his spot in the starting lineup.

I can confidently say that DiVincenzo didn’t particularly like the idea of ​​playing fewer minutes/a smaller role this season. He was coming off a career year and helped the team win a ton of games when it came up short.

I don’t think any competitor would be happy with the idea of ​​taking on a smaller role in this situation.

This is just a guess, but I don’t think the issue outlined above played a significant role – if at all – in the Knicks’ decision to move DiVincenzo. They were against moving him for much of the offseason.

Perhaps the training camp deadline, combined with Randle’s looming contract situation and the length of Robinson’s absence, made the Knicks more motivated to complete the trade.