NBA Rumors: 3 NBA teams who could tempt Timberwolves to trade KAT

Team I: KAT is intertwined with this NBA Eastern Conference team

There is a distant rumbling of thunder on the horizon of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it’s getting louder. It seems that there is a growing sense that the New York Knicks are targetting the Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns this offseason, and the way other factors are lining up, that could be something that gains traction this offseason.

Whether or not trade discussions have taken place, the logic behind this trade scenario is far too obvious to shut down from the get-go. In fact, Fansided’s very own NBA Insider/Analyst Ian Levy touted the heating-up rumors one month ago in a Step Back article, and it made sense then. The Heavy’s Sean Deveney touted the strong connection between Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks as well.  In fact, it appears as though everyone has the Knicks as a front-runner to trade for Timberwolves big Karl-Anthony Towns:

And we all know the saying about NBA rumors, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Take the treasure chest for KAT

The Knicks have amassed a war chest of picks and young players, that can be combined in any number of players/picks that could help the Timberwolves pay for young players now but also restock their cupboards with a new arsenal of future draft picks.

The Knicks, while very young, have a surprising window to get better now. Unlike the Timberwolves, they haven’t the same level of elite young talent on this roster. The team has been powered by the dominance of PG Jalen Brunson. The addition of a stretch-4/stretch-5 like Karl-Anthony Towns gives their offense an entirely new dimension that would be hard to stop in the NBA.

Of the three options listed, I believe that the Timberwolves would be most interested in trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the NBA Eastern Conference because he has plenty of playing time left in his career. The team proved to themselves that this Timberwolves roster has enough pop in the tank to win without Karl-Anthony Towns. But any trade that sends him to another team immediately upgrades their roster and could force the Timberwolves’ own timeline for an NBA Championship run to lengthen once more.

This is a narrow and treacherous trail to trek right now. The Timberwolves have a bad reputation for giving up on players who reach elite status on other team rosters.  Karl-Anthony Towns is a player who is a known NBA star already. If the Timberwolves are prepared to trade Towns, this must be more than a convenient salary dump. The Timberwolves must be certain of getting an NBA stat, either a veteran or via the 2023 NBA Draft, in return.