Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Could Haunt Timberwolves as Knicks Reach NBA Finals
The New York Knicks put away the Cleveland Cavaliers 130-93 on Monday night, completing an Eastern Conference Finals sweep and punching their first NBA Finals ticket since 1999.
Karl-Anthony Towns, the former face of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise, delivered 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks in the series clincher.
The Knicks have now won 11 straight playoff games and enter the NBA Finals as the hottest team in basketball.
The Timberwolves, meanwhile, are nowhere to be found and still searching for a second superstar to pair with Anthony Edwards.
On Tuesday, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins took things even further, insisting that if KAT helps bring a championship to New York, Minnesota's decision to trade him could go down as one of the worst trades in league history.
"If Karl-Anthony Towns … [brings] a championship to New York, that's going to make the Minnesota Timberwolves look like fools," Perkins said. "The Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Karl Anthony-Towns with the No. 1 pick. They traded him right after they went on their first [Western] Conference Finals run with him and Anthony Edwards. Right now, what are we saying about the Minnesota Timberwolves? That they need to find a Robin to go alongside Anthony Edwards, when they had one all along."
"If Karl Anthony-Towns helps the Knicks complete this mission, we can officially say the Minnesota Timberwolves made the worst trade in NBA history," he added.
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That sounds dramatic, but it might actually be true.
Minnesota traded Towns to the Knicks before the 2024-25 season in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a future first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons.
At the time, there was logic to it. Minnesota had just broken through to the Western Conference Finals behind Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, and Towns. But internally and externally, questions lingered about how balanced the roster was and whether the organization could sustainably keep its expensive core together.
In short, Minnesota chose flexibility, depth, and long-term roster maneuverability, while New York chose star power.
Fast forward to now, and the Knicks are in the NBA Finals while the Wolves just got bounced in the second round after two straight trips to the Western Conference Finals.
Towns is thriving as a co-star in New York next to Jalen Brunson. Meanwhile, Minnesota still has Edwards, but many argue he needs a co-star of his own to truly compete for a title, something he seemingly had in Towns.
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Towns was the Wolves’ No. 1 overall pick in 2015 and a multi-time All-Star and All-NBA talent while in Minnesota. Yet, for years, the criticism was that Towns couldn’t lead deep playoff runs.
Now he’s four wins away from an NBA Championship, but it won’t be in Minneapolis.
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 10:41 AM.