Long before “Luka to the Lakers,” there was a different blockbuster trade that shook the NBA and continues to resonate as the second round of the playoffs begins.
Back in October, it seemed impossible to top the impact of Karl-Anthony Towns being shipped to the Big Apple and Julius Randle landing in the Twin Cities. And then in February, Luka Doncic found his way to L.A., while Anthony Davis went to Big D.
And yet, maybe it was impossible to top after all. The reality is that Towns’ New York Knicks are in the second round, along with Randle’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers never even got out of the first round after adding Doncic and earning the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. The Dallas Mavericks failed to advance out of the play-in tournament with Davis.
In Towns, the Knicks landed a stretch big man who could deliver scoring and rebounding. But the defense took a hit, with New York allowing at least 126 points 11 times while going 2–9 in those games. The two wins came in overtime.
The Knicks’ 111.7 points allowed per game in the regular season ranked ninth in the NBA, compared to 108.2 allowed last season, which was second best in the league.
On some level, the deal has gone as intended, with a little defense sacrificed for more scoring. The Knicks averaged 112.8 points last season and 115.8 this season. They won 50 games last year, compared to 51 in the just-completed campaign. Jalen Brunson led the way with 26.0 points and a career-best 7.3 assists.
But New York reached the second round last season before bowing out, and if they can’t get past the Boston Celtics this time around, the marginal gains will have been for naught.
With star Anthony Edwards as their centerpiece, the Timberwolves sacrificed height and outside shooting for toughness inside to pair with elite rebounder and defender Rudy Gobert, along with the versatile Jaden McDaniels. They also landed Donte DiVincenzo in the deal to help offset the lost long-range shooting.
Yet, early dividends were hard to come by, with Minnesota sitting at 17–17 on Jan. 4. By comparison, the Knicks looked like trade bandits, using their new assets to forge a 24–10 record by Jan. 1.
Then the teams seemed to swap identities. From March 4 to the end of the regular season, the Knicks went 11–10, while the Wolves went 17–4. Including the playoffs, Minnesota is on a 21–5 run.
Everything came together after Randle returned from a 13-game absence due to a groin injury. As bad as it seemed when he went down in early February—during a crucial playoff push—the All-Star break helped limit his missed time. His March 2 return gave him fresh legs for the playoff charge.
Randle even admitted that stepping away for a month helped him better understand what the team needed and how to fit his game into the plan, rather than trying to bend the team to his style.
“I was able to sit out and just evaluate and figure out how I can put it all together,” Randle told reporters at the time. “… Just recognizing those moments and situations and trying to execute it as best as I can.”
It didn’t hurt that injured contributors Gobert and DiVincenzo also returned from their ailments soon after.
Towns has been productive in New York, scoring 24.4 points in the regular season and 19.7 in the playoffs. He had 12.8 rebounds in the regular season and 10.0 since. Randle averaged 18.7 points with 7.1 rebounds in the regular season and 22.6 points with 5.2 rebounds in the playoffs. DiVincenzo posted 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in the regular season, and 8.0 and 3.8, respectively, in the playoffs.
The Knicks can claim the trade a win if they get past the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But the Wolves now face a higher bar, needing to return to the Western Conference finals after reaching that stage in 2024.
They’ll have to get past the Golden State Warriors just to show the trade wasn’t a setback.
The Wolves can always say their deal worked out better than the Doncic swap to the Lakers—at least for this season. But the goal was never to win “Trade of the Year.” The Knicks and Wolves want more.
A Wolves-Knicks matchup in the NBA Finals would give both teams exactly what they were looking for.
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