The New York Knicks went for it.
You can’t criticize them at all for that. Before the season, they sent out Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was a trade no one saw coming. And it immediately created hopes of an NBA championship coming back to Madison Square Garden.
At times, KAT looked like a brilliant fit with the Knicks. At other times, there were bumps in the road.
In the end, the journey came up a bit short. Towns scored a lot of points in the Eastern Conference Finals, but his defense and streakiness left something to be desired, and the Knicks were knocked out in six games by the Pacers.
Now with their season over, the Knicks have decisions to make. Do they run it back with this group, or do they shake things up yet again?
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Rarely does a team follow up one massive offseason move with another that reverses that choice the following offseason, but that’s what many are already suggesting.
This is The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor after Saturday’s loss: “Trading KAT should be priority #1 for the Knicks.”
It wouldn’t be an easy thing to pull off. Towns has a big contract, and other teams might wonder whether Towns is the answer for them after he wasn’t quite the answer in New York.
The Knicks might decide they don’t want to give up on this core yet, either.
But this is just the start of the rumors and speculation. Towns’ name will feature prominently this offseason, whether he goes anywhere else or not.
Ironically, it’s partially because the Knicks are relevant again. Their relevance raises the stakes of this potentially massive decision, one way or the other. Towns will be at the heart of it.
