Knicks' blatant robbery of Timberwolves ramps up pressure on the Mavericks

With the start of the 2024-25 NBA season set to begin in less than a month, the Dallas Mavericks are in a great spot.

Dallas is coming off a trip to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Boston Celtics in five games, and they improved in every way this offseason. Their shooting took a big jump with the acquisition of Klay Thompson, and both Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes are set to be outstanding point-of-attack defenders.

Marshall was originally reported as the backup option for Derrick Jones Jr., and his defensive versatility should be an outstanding fit in Dallas. The Mavs also added Spencer Dinwiddie to give them an extra creator, and every hole from the playoffs seems to be filled.

Mavericks leap ahead of Timberwolves after questionable Towns trade

The Mavs remain one of the best teams in the Western Conference following that amazing run to the Finals, and their chances of running it back in the West just got much easier.

On Friday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks agreed on a trade that sent Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick to the Knicks in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. It was a complete shocker for this trade to go down, especially at this point in the offseason, and now even more pressure is on the Mavericks to go win the West.

Before this trade went down, the Timberwolves were often predicted to finish in front of the Mavs in the standings. Even though Minnesota lost Kyle Anderson and their only big acquisition was Rob Dillingham, many analysts picked the Mavs to finish behind them in the standings.

After this move, the Mavs are clearly in front of the Timberwolves in the West, and it'll likely come down to Dallas, Oklahoma City, and potentially Denver fighting for the No. 1 seed.

The Timberwolves gave up their franchise player who was entering his tenth year with the team in exchange for Randle and DiVincenzo. While Randle has been an offensive monster in the NBA since he entered the league and DiVincenzo is on a great contract and is an outstanding role player, the Knicks fleeced them.

Randle is coming off shoulder surgery that caused him to miss a large chunk of last season and the playoffs, and he has a player option next summer. He could opt out of his contract after next season, and Minnesota would have lost him for nothing.

This trade puts the Knicks in the same tier as the Celtics in the East, and the Timberwolves' project of having both Towns and Rudy Gobert on the roster is already over. Minnesota is going to save tons of money by making this move due to Towns' massive contract that had him locked up until at least the end of the 2026-27 season, but they got worse.

The Timberwolves could face spacing problems with the addition of Randle into the starting lineup in place of Towns, and his shooting is a huge step down from what Towns brought. For his career, Randle is a 33 percent 3-point shooter while Towns is a 39.8 percent 3-point shooter.

Towns is one of the best offensive bigs in the NBA, and although Randle is a beast offensively too, this trade creates a whole new dynamic in Minnesota. Naz Reid is likely going to be called upon more than he was last season, and Randle's fit will be a questionable one from day one.

DiVincenzo is an outstanding 3-point shooter and this move gives the Timberwolves depth, but the Mavs passed them if they hadn't already. Dallas is in a great spot to be an elite contender in the Western Conference, and Minnesota got worse after this move.

Dallas already destroyed the Timberwolves in the playoffs last season, and they'll be in a great spot to pass them in the Western Conference standings this season. This could work out for the Timberwolves in the long run, but the Knicks won this trade by the looks of it now.