The Knicks and Timberwolves are finalizing a trade that will see Karl-Anthony Towns land in New York and Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo head to Minnesota, league sources confirmed to ESPN’s Bobby Marks on Friday night.
Talks intensified between the teams over the last 24 hours and the deal was being finalized Friday night, sources said.
Minnesota also will receive a 2025 top-13 protected first-round pick, which was acquired from New York via the Pistons in a previous trade.
A third team, the Charlotte Hornets, also is part of the trade to absorb additional salary, sources said.
The blockbuster comes just days before the start of training camps throughout the NBA and sees the Knicks add a four-time All-Star in Towns to pair with star guard Jalen Brunson.
The Knicks are already thin at center, with Mitchell Robinson set to miss the beginning of the regular season after offseason ankle surgery, league sources confirmed to ESPN earlier this week.
Towns has spent all nine of his NBA seasons with Minnesota, combining with Anthony Edwards to help the Timberwolves reach the Western Conference finals this past season. He’s now set to reunite with current Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, whom he played under in Minnesota (2016-19).
During that stretch, Towns played in all 204 of the Timberwolves games, averaging 23.0 points and 12.3 rebounds. He was one of just three NBA players in that span with at least 4,000 points and 2,000 rebounds, along with Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
New York had its own postseason success last season, reaching the conference semifinals before losing to the Indiana Pacers in seven games. Randle, though, was not part of the picture in the playoffs. He dislocated his shoulder Jan. 27, and after two months of rehab, he opted to undergo season-ending right shoulder surgery in April.
That ended an All-Star season for the 29-year-old forward, who was averaging 24 points on 47% shooting, 9.2 rebounds and 5 assists per game at the time of the injury.
Randle had said in June that he expected to be ready for the start of this season.
Contractually, Towns is in year one of a four-year, $220 million super max extension he signed in 2022. Randle has $28.9 million and $30.9M left on his contract, which has a player option for next season. DiVincenzo, the sharp-shooting 27-year-old who averaged 17.8 points in the playoffs this past season, has three seasons left on his contract.
At ESPN Bet, the Knicks entered the day +800 to win the NBA title this year. After the trade, those odds moved to +700, behind only the defending champion Boston Celtics (+340) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (+650).
The Athletic first reported on talks between the teams.
Information from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps was used in this report.