Knicks trade for Karl-Anthony Towns: New York is reportedly sending first-round pick Julius Randle to the Timberwolves

According to The Athletic, the Minnesota Timberwolves are close to a deal with the New York Knicks that would send Karl-Anthony Towns to the Big Apple in a package that includes Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The Timberwolves would also receive a protected first-round pick from the Knicks, who were originally part of the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks are also reportedly transferring salaries to the Charlotte Hornets, including DaQuan Jeffries, to comply with restrictions imposed by New York and Minnesota's respective luxury tax caps.

This would be the second major acquisition for New York this offseason, following the mega deal to acquire Mikal Bridges in June. The Knicks lost starting center Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency and their other key center, Mitchell Robinson, will miss the season opener due to injury. Now the Knicks have found a franchise center in Towns, but a very different type of player than the ones they are missing. Hartenstein and Robinson primarily operate near the basket. Towns is arguably the best big man shooter in NBA history and he will bring a whole new dimension to the Knicks offensively.

The Timberwolves are coming off the best season in their franchise's history. Towns was instrumental in the second-round upset of the defending champion Denver Nuggets, but he's also still in the early stages of a super-max contract that would have become unaffordable for Minnesota over time. With Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels both signing large new contracts this season, the Timberwolves have apparently decided they need to get a deal done quickly.

With Randle, they effectively turned a $50 million offense-first center into a $30 million offense-first center while acquiring one of the NBA's best shooters in the process. Sacrificing Towns' shots at power forward will be painful, but his offensive value was dampened playing alongside another big man in Rudy Gobert. Randle's secondary will be significant for Minnesota, especially given bench lineups that struggled when Edwards sat out last season.

Towns has been a target of the Knicks for some time. He is represented by Jessica Holtz of CAA. Knicks President Leon Rose was once primarily the head of CAA's basketball operations, and the Knicks have long earned a reputation for attracting CAA customers. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby are all represented by CAA.

Blockbuster transactions are very rare in September and the restrictions introduced by the new CBA further increase the odds against a deal of this size. But the NBA rarely disappoints when it comes to offseason surprises, and it just gave us a big surprise with perhaps the most significant move of the offseason in the coming months after the dust settled on free agency.