A little more than a year ago, the Timberwolves made what was maybe the most shocking move in their franchise history. They traded star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks right before training camp for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick via the Pistons, which turned into Joan Beringer.
The Wolves were coming off their most successful season in 20 years, having secured the third seed in the Western Conference and advancing to the Western Conference finals. Wolves fans thought that the run-it-back tour was going to be even sweeter until they made a trade that left fans at the time upset and confused.
To begin last season, the trade soured even further with the fans, as Randle and DiVincenzo started slowly, along with the Wolves as a team. Meanwhile, Towns was off to a career year with the Knicks, putting up monster numbers.
Things changed about two-thirds of the way through the year, however, as Randle, who had been hurt, came back and looked like a completely new player. He was playing faster and more decisively, and he was more bought in on both sides of the ball than ever before.
With Randle's improved play and DiVincenzo's toughness, the Wolves would eventually advance to the conference finals for a second straight year, where they would fall short against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This once-controversial trade began looking logical for the Timberwolves, and this season it's starting to look like a no-brainer.
The Randle-KAT trade now looks like a steal for Minnesota
The main reason this trade was made was financial. DiVincenzo is on one of the NBA's best bargain contracts, averaging under $12 million for this and next season. Randle was on an expiring contract last season, but re-upped for three years and $100 million, another bargain deal given his All-Star level numbers.
Towns, on the other hand, is on a mammoth contract that would have certainly hard-capped this team in future seasons. He is due $53.1 million this season, and the next two after that, this number increases even more. Keeping him on the roster would have resulted in minimal flexibility and zero depth.
This season, you can argue that Randle is having a better individual season than Towns, while making nearly $20 million less. Combining that with DiVincenzo's production and rookie center Joan Beringer, taken with the pick in the trade, who has looked good in limited minutes. A year later, the Wolves look like they made out like bandits.
This trade not only improved the Wolves' depth dramatically, but it also allowed them to have the flexibility to add more pieces to the team. They did all of this while getting out of the second apron and remaining a real threat to contend in the Western Conference.
KAT has been the same dominant player (with some frustrating flaws) in New York that he was in Minnesota. But fast forward to today, and it's easy to see why Tim Connelly made the move.