NBA finalizes trade sending Karl-Anthony Towns to Knicks, Julius Randle to Timberwolves

After reports began to surface on Friday, the Wildcat-for-Wildcat exchange is now officially official.

On Wednesday afternoon, the NBA announced the finalized details of the blockbuster trade that sends Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks and Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a three-team, multi-player agreement. Towns, 28, has spent all nine seasons of his NBA career with the Timberwolves, including making the Western Conference Finals in 2024. Randle, 29, has been in New York since 2019-20 and will suit up for his fourth team.

The two former Kentucky players have seven combined NBA All-Star appearances between them and are in the prime of their basketball careers as they head to their new homes. Towns is under contract through 2027-28 with a $61 million player option in the final season while Randle has a player option on his contract for the 2025-26 season worth $31 million.

Below are the full details of the three-team deal, per the NBA. Towns and Randle are now able to practice with their new teams. The regular season begins on Oct. 22.

Knicks receive: 

• Karl-Anthony Towns (via Timberwolves)
• Draft rights to James Nnaji (via Hornets)

Timberwolves receive:

• Julius Randle (via Knicks)
• Donte DiVincenzo (via Knicks)
• Keita Bates-Diop (via Knicks)
• Future first-round pick (from Knicks via Pistons)

Hornets receive:

• Charlie Brown (via Knicks)
• DaQuan Jeffries (via Knicks)
• Duane Washington Jr. (via Knicks)
• 2 future second-round picks (via Knicks)
• 2025 second-round pick (via Timberwolves)
• Cash considerations

This move should be considered landscape-changing for the NBA. As mentioned, both players are in the prime of their careers and will expect to play their best basketball yet over the coming seasons. While they found success in Minnesota and New York respectively, there was an argument to be made that it was time (and an argument that it was not time) to move on for both the players and their franchises.

But that’s how you know this was a fair trade. If both fan bases can find positives and negatives in the transaction, the reality probably lives somewhere in the middle. That doesn’t mean that wasn’t trade wasn’t tough to swallow for either Towns or Randle.

That’s especially true with Towns, who has only known Minnesota as his NBA home since the Wolves drafted him first overall in 2015 out of Kentucky. The sharpshooting seven-footer released a short video to Wolves fans not long after the trade was made official, thanking the fanbase for welcoming him to their family and for everything they went through together over the last nine years.

To the Timberwolves Family: 

Nine years ago, I arrived in Minnesota as a young man with a dream. Little did I know that this place would become my home, and its people would become my family. Your love, support, and unwavering loyalty have fueled my journey and inspired me to be… pic.twitter.com/PP1pGzvGcx

— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) October 2, 2024

New beginnings should be a welcome site for both of the former Wildcats though. With Towns, he’ll join a talented Knicks team that now has even higher expectations to reach the NBA Finals. He’ll also learn under his former head coach Tom Thibodeau, who led Towns and the Timberwolves from 2016-19 but is now coaching the Knicks. KAT should fit nicely into this top-heavy roster as the floor-spacing center.

As for Randle, he established himself as an All-Star during his time in the Big Apple, making three All-Star appearances in four seasons. But due to injury, he played the fewest games of his career in 2023-24 (46) since his rookie season ended after one single game. The Knicks made the Eastern Conference Semifinals with Randle missing the entire postseason.

His fit in Minnesota will be interesting to monitor. The Wolves still have Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid — two talented big men who meshed well with Towns, but pieces of a group that were exposed at times in the playoffs. But Randle’s playmaking should allow him a chance to thrive in a system that operates under Anthony Edwards’ offense prowess.

Regardless, it’ll be exciting to see these two former Wildcats turned NBA All-Stars playing for new teams in 2024-25.