Karl-Anthony Towns previously sought assurances from Tim Connelly that the Minnesota Timberwolves wouldn’t trade him as he accepted a secondary role behind Anthony Edwards. Sources tell ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that Connelly said all the right things during those meetings with Towns, but never promised he wouldn’t trade him at some point.
Towns found the trade “completely unexpected” as the talks between the Wolves and New York Knicks were kept secret. For almost the entire offseason it had appeared Towns would spent at least one more season with the Wolves following their loss in the Western Conference Finals.
Towns signed a four-year, $224 million supermax extension with the Wolves during the 2022 offseason shortly after they hired Connelly to run the front office and their trade with the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert.
The Wolves went on to sign Jade McDaniels to a five-year, $136 million extension, as well as an extension with Anthony Edwards that jumped from a five-year, $204 million deal to a five-year, $260 million supermax when he made an All-NBA team.