The Knicks Just Went ALL-IN For Karl-Anthony Towns

This is what going all in looks like. We have wondered for years, what are the Knicks gonna do with all their assets? I mean, they collected a ton of picks, they had cheap players to trade. Will they get Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell? Literally linked to every star forever. But now we know. It started with a brilliant signing of Jalen Brunson's, getting him from the Mavericks. Probably the most clutch signing in 10 years, actually. Then, the big trade for O.G. Annanoby at last year's trade deadline, trade for Mikkel Bridges this offseason, and late, literally a week before training camp, Carl Anthony Towns. Now, the Knicks have used up most of their picks, and all their money, this is it. If they don't win a title, it could be another 10 plus years before their window opens again. But Julius Randle had to go. They already dealt R.J. Barrett in the O.G. Annanoby trade. Now, fully turn the page from the old Knicks to the new Knicks. But what about the Timberwolves? Does this trade make them better? No, they are worse off to win a championship, but there is a sneaky reason this is good for them, especially Anthony Edwards. But there's so many sports going on right now, and it's great to be playing underdog, because there's so much value out there. Because I play pick'em, higher or lower, on my favorite player, whatever games I'm gonna watch that day or night. Before the NBA season gets kicked off, let's see if we can hit with streaks. If you hit 11 in a row, just pick your first two right, get the next nine. 1,000 X your money. So let's look at the board and get those two picks started off right. Let's go first off with Matt Prater, there he is. Let's go higher on that one and a half field goals made. And then let's go to Xavier Worthy. Not worthy today. Let's go lower on his three receptions. Okay, let's finalize that pick there. And best of luck if you were tailing those picks. Check out this updated map to see if underdog is available in your area. They have free square promos going on all September long. So if you sign up with my promo code AMHOOPS, you only have to take one of my picks and then you get your free square. Plus, with promo code AMHOOPS, you get up to 1,000 bucks in bonus cash. But the complete trade is the Knicks get Carl Anthony Towns, the Wolves get Julius Randle, Dante DiVincenzo, a protected first round pick from Detroit, and the Hornets get the Quan Jeffries and a future pick. And honestly, that is not that much for Towns. Other max all-stars are getting like a million picks, talented players, Cat gets one all-star, Julius Randle, and one pretty bad pick. Why? Because this is the new CBA era. A bad contract kills your value. The Wolves were happy to get this deal for Cat. I mean, if they ran it back and disappointed in the playoffs and Cat sucked, do you think anyone is gonna trade for Cat's max contract at that point? No, it would be just like Brandon Ingram right now. The Pelicans are shopping dude everywhere they can and teams are like, yeah, he looks nice. Just too expensive. But this is possible for Minnesota because Nas Reed stepped up. So good off the bench, literally sixth man of the year last year as a center. You don't need Gobert, Towns, and Nas Reed all on one team. And yes, Cat was great in Minnesota, never complained, on like the worst NBA franchise for years, but not once demanded a trade, which is actually rare in today's NBA. People blamed him, but he was drafted number one in 2015 and considered the future of the NBA. Literally, they asked GMs anonymously, who would you start a franchise with a couple years ago? And it wasn't LeBron, it was Cat. So people had number one player expectations on him, but he was never that. It is not his personality. That's why he was happy to hand the team to Anthony Edwards when he got there. Tried to do it Jimmy Butler, but it just didn't work out. So what is great now, in New York, Cat is the number two to Jalen Brunson. But the Wolves wanted him gone, and they will never admit that because they don't want there to be hard feelings. But check this out, in the playoffs, Cat had 13 games scoring over 20 points in his career, 18 games under 20 points. How do you have well over half your games under 20 points in the postseason as a max player? I am sorry. Good guy, good player, everyone loves him, but he had to go. So Randle is actually a good fit in Minnesota. They need someone who can create shots outside of Mike Connelly in that offense. Now, Randle doesn't shoot threes, which is pretty tough with Rudy Gobert, but that's why they got Dante DiVincenzo, number three in triples last year behind Steph and Luka. But this doesn't raise their ceiling for championship. It does one other thing that Anthony Edwards is gonna love. But before we get to that, this is all actually about the Boston Celtics, okay? New York had assembled all this talent with like OG and Mikael Bridges, but they knew they were still just short of the Celtics. They needed one more big move. But why trade out Julius Randle? Well, first of all, they are run by a guy named Leon Rose, who used to run a huge agency called CAA. I mean, this dude Leon Rose was like LeBron's agent before Rich Paul and him started Clutch Sports. So if you follow the CAA client list, it's a pretty good clue on who the Knicks will sign. Jalen Bronson, CAA. OG Ananobi hired Sam Rose, son of Leon Rose, at CAA. Karl-Anthony Towns, you guessed it, CAA. But right before last year, who fired CAA and went to another agency? Julius Randle. It was pretty clear this was gonna happen at some point, just a matter of time. But Towns just fits so much better. First of all, Randle needs the ball in his hands to be really effective. They've got Jalen Bronson for that. And the biggest need for New York was the center, especially after Mitchell Robinson got injured again. Cat fills that role. And Randle was part of the old Knicks. You know, R.J. Barrett and those guys. And now they finally turn the page and the title window is open. But for how long? I mean, earlier I said they have to win a title with this group or else it'll be another 10 plus years for the next window. But do they have to win this year? Well, the Celtics core four of Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, Drew Haldane, Christoph Sorzinkas, who just dominated the league, won the title, are only together for two more seasons. But New York has Bronson, Cat, and OG locked up for four plus years and are about to extend Macau Bridges. So New York's window is open the next four seasons. And all these guys are in their mid-20s. This is huge if you're a Knicks fan. Terrible if you're like a Sixers fan or a Bucks fan. Like, your window is closing fast. But I think the Knicks will use this season to build chemistry, okay? It is not championship or bust. They have a lot of work to do. I mean, mixing in Cat and Macau Bridges from day one is a ton. Towns will get used to Tibbs' game plan after all he played under him in Minnesota. Then next year is that last season of Boston's Big Four. Maybe the Knicks break through. But after that, it is their time. The only real question is, do they have a championship number one? Is Jalen Bronson that guy? I mean, look, he's not like a LeBron or a KD or a Nikola Jokic or whatever. He's not that dominant. But the Celtics just proved you don't need a top five player to win. But let's get to why this is good for Anthony Edwards. And no, it's not winning a title this year. Julius has been an all-star three of the last four seasons, but he is not great in the postseason. Just ask Knicks fans. Terrible against Atlanta and then Miami. But Cat's max contract was kicking in this year, set to make $220 million the next four seasons. Randle is a free agent next offseason. Dante only makes $11.5 million. That's amazing. The Wolves not only got depth, they got flexibility, which is gold with the new CBA. I mean, before this, they were locked into Carl Anthony Towns for years. That was their present and future. Now, they can do all sorts of things. Randle is good? Resign him to a lower number than Cat. Randle sucks? Let him go. Get younger. But the biggest advantage of the new CBA is not having a bad contract. And Cat was a bad contract. This gives them hope for the future. They can pivot different ways to give Ant a contender for years to come. But now we have yet another reason to be really excited about the NBA. But the WNBA season is just ending and Kaitlyn Clark, actually I've decided, is more popular than Victor Wimbanyama, in the US at least. But why doesn't she have her own signature shoe? Nike has an official reason, which is a lie. The actual reason is pretty messed up.