It is no secret that the New York Knicks won the trade involving Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo being sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns. They’ve set themselves up for a competitive run to the Finals.
However, despite having the tremendous upsides of Towns, there are some noticeable concerns that need to be addressed before writing their names into the championship history books.
This article will walk through all the negatives and positives surrounding the 28-year-old, then, come the end, I will draw a conclusion on whether or not they are a Finals-bound team.
Positive: A position of need has been fulfilled
New York lost Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Mitchell Robinson will be out until December with his looming ankle injury; this left a large hole in their center position.
Their solution? Trading for Karl-Anthony Towns, which was a brilliant move. Minnesota, after acquiring Rudy Gobert, tried playing Towns at the power forward position. To say the least, it was an awful move. Why? Because Towns is a natural, and more comfortable, center.
New York is putting him back into his natural element, which is a phenomenal win-win for each sides.
Before Towns, their center room consisted of Mitchell Robinson, Jericho Sims, and Ariel Hukporti. For those that don’t know, Hukporti was selected in this year’s draft with the 58th pick.
Robinson is hurt, so that would mean they would either have Sims start or pull Precious Achiuwa from the four to play the five. I don’t have to explain in great depth why that would have been a chaotic nightmare for management and head coach Tom Thibodeau.
In the end, the positional upgrade and stress taken off by acquiring Towns is something worth more than gold. A heavy weight has been lifted off the shoulders of many.
Positive: Towns is way better player than Julius Randle for New York
This statement I made has multiple layers that needed to be unpacked. Firstly, Towns is the better shooter. There’s a reason why many said there was a Randle problem in New York, it wasn’t because he was this significant player dominating the space.
Towns is a far more consistent shooter than Randle has been in his career; one is a 52% shooter, while the other is a 47% shooter. From deep saw Towns 6% better than Randle. Towns is literally a stretch big that wasn’t limited to one role.
Secondly, Randle was never successful or effective in the pick-and-roll game. Something that is almost an underrated skill of Towns is his ability to work the pick-and-roll so well. For majority of his time in Minnesota, the Timberwolves never had a successful guard to compliment Towns in that capacity.
Now, that is not a knock against Anthony Edwards. Please do not misconstrue what I am saying; of course, Edwards has the ability to do it. However, poor spacing, involving Rudy Gobert, killed any possibilities of that happening.
New York has incredible spacing and an incredible guard that is Jalen Brunson to get the job done. This will be scary hours in New York for opposing defenses to try to scheme against.
Thirdly, and this a massive one, especially for the front office, contracts. Heading into this season was Randle’s final guaranteed year, there were so many questions focused on if he would re-sign if it meant taking less money. The kind of sacrifices Brunson and Mikal Bridges are making.
Speculation arose on whether or not Leon Rose and the Knicks would want to go all-in on a number two player that they already had issues with and not fully invested.
With Towns, he’s entering his huge four-year deal worth $220 million. Forget about the money right now, what is really important are the years in the agreement. New York doesn’t have to worry about a big piece leaving anytime soon.
Negative: Roster depth & financial flexibility has been compromised
While this isn’t directly the fault of Towns, New York has taken away some of their depth to acquire him. This raises a red flag for when injuries happen and overall roster rotation.
They essentially traded two pieces for one piece; getting rid of DiVincenzo certainly didn’t help, however, it’s understandable on why they pulled the trigger when given the context of the deal not happening without him apart of it.
Even with the context, one of their biggest issues last season was depth. That was one of the key factors in them not making a deep playoff run, it was evident since the very beginning.
Here is their entire depth chart:
- Miles McBride
- Cam Payne
- Tyler Kolek (second-round rookie)
- Landry Shamet
- Pacome Dadiet (first-round rookie)
- Precious Achiuwa
- Kevin McCullar Jr. (second-round rookie)
- Jericho Sims
- Ariel Hukporti (second-round rookie)
Their front-court is very scarce, with a lot of it being filled by rookies. The back-court is also very interesting to look at because the second and third units may not be able to carry as much as their talent will allow them to.
This puts more pressure on the starters and McBride, who will now see an increased role. Was he expecting it? We will see as the season unfolds.
All of this is to say that the New York Knicks and their fan base must proceed with cautious optimism, as there is a lot of hopeful wishing going on right now with their backup units.
Now, what about their financial flexibility?
By New York getting Towns, with his massive $220 million contract over the next four years, they have put themselves in an unforgiving hole of (almost) zero financial flexibility or independence.
This season, he is making $49 million. This will be the cheapest season, as each season will see a four million increase in his pay. His final season will cost New York $61 million. For a fuller understanding of this, Towns will be 32 years old. Something to consider.
Fun fact, half of their cap space is being spent on Towns and OG Anunoby. The more terrifying part is realizing their history with injuries.
Then pile on the soon-to-be Mikal Bridges contract extension, which will push them into the second apron, New York is forcing themselves into keeping this roster for the long haul. Or at least the starting lineup and other key contributors.
They could face the same level of inflexibility as Mat Ishbia’s Phoenix Suns; there are concerns there.
Negative: Adding Towns doesn’t add another shot creator
Karl-Anthony Towns is a wonderful offensive player, there is no doubt in my mind or the mind of the New York Knicks. However, it’s not like they traded for a player who can generate their own shot out of thin air.
One of the only positives Randle had in his arsenal was his ability to create his own shots and not rely on others, or specifically the point guard, to create them for him. Towns not so much, which could prove to be challenging.
Now, could Towns’ spacing abilities counteract this issue? Yes and no, while it will for sure help, Brunson is still going to have to put in more work regardless of the spacing.
A lot of the Knicks’ players are reliant, and almost fully dependent, on the playmaking and shot creation abilities of Brunson. That isn’t always sustainable, but there are feasible ways out of those tough scenarios.
The reason why this is a negative, besides the obvious, is seeing how this will affect Brunson. Before with Randle, he had those breaks; now, he won’t be having them as much with Towns.
Is this a good trade off for better pick and rolls with better spacing? It can be, but it all depends on coaching and personnel.
What fans have to worry about is how it will affect them in the postseason, not the here and now – speaking of the regular season.
Conclusion:
Is this team Finals-bound? They can be, but so many things have to go their way and they have some tough teams to face once in the postseason. For example: the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and even the Indiana Pacers.
Rosters have changed, teams have adapted, and that includes their benches. The long-term, and short-term, success of this team depends on a lot of factors. A lot of the factors that were covered in this article; plus, factors, like defense and chemistry, that will need to be addressed as the season progresses.
New York is taking a serious gamble, which heavily impacts their future one way or another, and all eyes will be on the Knicks.
Do cracks begin to show? Yes, but, in this deal, they got the best player.
How you must look at it, is this: they were never sustainable with Randle, when healthy and when not, they’ve gained a player that compliments New York better.
Towns has significant defensive issues, he is a worse liability than what many think, but the right scheme and defense will minimize the issues.
This trade shows them going all-in, while remaining conservative, as this proves to the world they are serious about a championship by raising the risks even higher with the reward paying off greatly.
If injuries are kept at a low, and the team gels to the Knicks’ liking, then I could see this team compete in the Eastern Conference Championship. However, the margin for error is very slim now, especially given the reasons above.
In the end, this was the right move by the Knicks. It filled holes in their roster, upgraded a player, and gives them a better chance for the postseason. A lot of the issues were there when Randle was there; funny enough, some of the issues that he caused have been fixed.
