This isn’t supposed to be alarmist. It’s easy to overreact and assume that a star player is leaving Minnesota, especially in the NBA. We’ve been there before with Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love and Jimmy Butler.
I’m not trying to incite panic, but you should know that the New York Knicks front office is chock-full of people with ties to CAA, Karl-Anthony Towns’ agency. Knicks president Leon Rose, general manager Scott Perry and executive vice president William Wesley all have ties to the Creative Artists Agency.
Oh yeah, and Towns is from New Jersey and grew up a Knicks fan.
Again, nobody panic. This doesn’t mean he’s gone. He’s in the second year of his max contract, which runs until the 2023-24 season.
Anthony Davis’ exit from New Orleans may come to mind here. He’s a Klutch client; that’s LeBron James’ agency and it just made too much sense for them to team up in Los Angeles. Well, it made sense for everyone except for the New Orleans Pelicans, who had him under contract for another year and a half and weren’t initially looking to move him.
Davis publicly asked for a trade and eventually got his way.
I get the concern. Isn’t this just another example of a star player forcing himself out of a small market, this time to New York?
There are a couple things to consider here, in addition to Towns’ contract status:
First, we sometimes overemphasize that it’s a Minnesota issue, rather than something to do with the organization, roster makeup and/or the nature of a league where roster overhaul is common.
Minnesota is the 15th largest TV market, right behind Seattle and Detroit, and just ahead of Denver and Miami. The Sonics shouldn’t have left, the Pistons have won multiple championships, and the Nuggets and Heat are great organizations that have produced competitive rosters.
Market size isn’t everything.
And yeah, it gets cold here. But it’s not like winters are warm in Chicago and Detroit — or New York for that matter. Garnett, Love and Butler didn’t leave because of the thermostat. Garnett still has property here and wants to be part of Wolves ownership. Butler didn’t want to play with Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Love is in Cleveland.
Secondly, the NBA’s rules favor players who stick with the team that drafted them. The only team that could sign Towns to a 5-year, $158 million contract is the one who owns his Bird Rights, which is Minnesota (and could even be a catalyst for the Knicks to trade for him, because they would receive those rights in a trade). And even in a situation where he publicly asks out, the Wolves have a lot more leverage right now than the Pelicans did.
But instead of channeling my inner Leslie Nielsen and waving my arms and telling everybody, “Nothing to see here,” let’s address this situation head-on: It might be best for Gersson Rosas to at least create a blueprint for what a Towns-to-New York trade looks like, and how he could maximize his return — especially if the Knicks get a top-three pick next year.
Yes, this would be the 117th rebuild since the Wolves traded Garnett to the Boston Celtics, but they’re in better hands this time. KG was traded a couple years too late, and Kevin McHale didn’t get enough in return for him. David Kahn messed up Love’s contract, forcing the team into an unforced error. Flip Saunders played his hand as well as he could have, landing Wiggins the summer he was drafted No. 1 overall when he knew the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a player like Love.
Don’t agree with me? Fine. Wiggins wasn’t motivated, but he was talented. And, more importantly, the Wolves could have maximized their return on him.
There’s an alternate universe where instead of including Zach LaVine in the Butler trade, they move Wiggins. In that scenario, they keep the No. 7 pick and take Lauri Markkanen. That team now has two shooters to space the floor in addition to Towns, plus Butler’s skill and bulldog mentality.
Draft Jamal Murray over Kris Dunn and, voila, that’s a team!
I realize that’s going too far down the alternate universe rabbit hole: Thibodeau was always going to be enamored by a defensive player like Dunn. But the point is that you can build a good team here — it just takes good management. The coach should never be the GM, as Thibs was, and there are whispers that Glen Taylor stepped in and prevented Thibodeau from moving Wiggins in the Butler trade.
Ownership and management got in the way, not snowflakes and television revenue.
The point here is that it takes multiple moves to build a contender. A KAT trade to the Knicks, even if perfectly executed, isn’t a panacea by itself. It would be the start of what has to be a pretty rapid rebuild.
The path to contention begins with getting value for the No. 1 pick this year, which will be difficult, and feeling out the KAT-D’Angelo Russell pairing. If it’s working, KAT is likely going to be content to play with his friend and try to win here. If it’s not, Rosas needs to explore moving him to New York if they land a top pick next year — potential backlash be damned.
As long as KAT’s defense doesn’t improve, a potential trade has to be on the table. And so long as the Knicks have CAA guys running the team, there will be gravity drawing Towns to the Big Apple.
