NBA Rumors: Karl-Anthony Towns Never Got ‘Promise’ He Wouldn’t Be Traded by Wolves

Even though Karl-Anthony Towns’ social-media reaction to being traded seemed like one of surprise, the Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly never guaranteed the four-time All-Star he wouldn’t be dealt at some point.

Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly “could not give that promise” when Towns previously sought assurances he would remain with the club while settling into his new role of supporting Anthony Edwards as the No. 1 option.

On Friday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski reported the Timberwolves agreed to send Towns to the New York Knicks for Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, Keita Bates-Diop and a future first-round draft pick via the Detroit Pistons.

Shortly before the trade was reported, Towns made a cryptic post on social media with an ellipsis.

There was certainly some surprise that Towns was traded right now, both in terms of how close it is to the start of the 2024-25 campaign and because of the success Minnesota had last season.

It’s not totally unheard of for a blockbuster trade involving a star player to happen in late September or early October. Damian Lillard was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal exactly one year ago Friday.

For the most part, though, teams have finished all of their pertinent offseason business long ago and will at least start the season to see what their roster can do before thinking of breaking it apart.

The Timberwolves had the second-best season in franchise history by record (56-26) last season. They also made the Western Conference Finals for just the second time before losing to the Dallas Mavericks in five games.

While those are reasons to be surprised that Towns was dealt, there had been rumblings about him as a potential trade candidate for a long time due in part to Minnesota’s luxury-tax concerns with an expensive roster and uncertain ownership situation.

In fact, the Knicks were reportedly monitoring Towns’ situation with the T-Wolves as far back as October 2023.

Towns spent the bulk of his tenure in Minnesota as the team’s best player after being drafted No. 1 overall in 2015. He took a step back in the overall hierarchy once Edwards was selected with the top pick in 2020, but the duo formed a nice partnership over time.

The 28-year-old Towns made the All-Star team twice in the past three seasons. He is coming off one of his most efficient offensive seasons with a 62.5 true shooting percentage and a 41.6 percent success rate from three-point range in 62 starts.