We pause the regular NBA Season Preview to breakdown a huge NBA trade between the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Peter Klein looks at how this affects each team and how all the new players fit on their new team.
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Apple Pod: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM
Twitter: twitter.com/primetimeklein
IG: instagram.com/primetimeklein
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary
Twitch: twitch.tv/primetimepk
Email: couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com
We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,
instagram.com/wehadnoideapodcast
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SportsTranscript
00:00Alright, the NBA world got shooketh over the weekend, as the New York Knicks send Dante
00:18DiVincenzo and Julius Randle on their way to Minnesota in exchange for Carl Anthony
00:23Towns.
00:25And so, yes, this throws off a few NBA preview things that I do.
00:31We're still gonna put out the mega preview on the eve of the NBA season, but there's
00:35gonna have to be a couple disclaimers like, hey, this was recorded before that trade happened.
00:39And today was supposed to be NBA players on the hot seat, and two of them were Carl Anthony
00:44Towns and Julius Randle.
00:46So I suppose fitting that both players get moved in this particular deal.
00:51But let's start with the Knicks, because I like them more.
00:55They get the best player in this trade, in Carl Anthony Towns.
00:58They needed a center with Mitchell Robinson being banged up and Hartenstein now being
01:02a thunder.
01:03Boy, did they go out and get one.
01:05If this works, this can be a title team.
01:10I have said that.
01:13I've said that about this team before.
01:15Deeds, welcome back.
01:16Sorry that pesky work thing gets in the way, but happy to see you back.
01:19We still got some NHL talk coming up after the basketball here, and some flames to close
01:24things out today.
01:27But I have said before that this is a New York Knicks team that is now a championship
01:32caliber roster.
01:33And you have now added Carl Anthony Towns to that.
01:36And so if he can properly integrate into this team, and the best version of him I think
01:42fits this team really well, where he doesn't need to be a—he's not a ball stopper.
01:47He doesn't need to, alright, now I got it, now I'm gonna do my thing and I'm gonna
01:49put it up.
01:50He can be a spot shooter and can kind of spread the floor a little bit.
01:53He provides them with a real big body presence down low that they didn't really have.
01:59Hartenstein and Robinson both at times were able to do that, but in terms of being like
02:04just a scorer down low, Towns is infinitely better than both of those guys.
02:10And so I think he can kind of fit with Brunson and Bridges in a very interesting way.
02:16On the defensive side, it's not perfect.
02:20He fouls a lot.
02:21And that is going to be the issue here, or one of the issues I think here, is defensively,
02:27when you are playing for Tom Thibodeau, a lot is expected of you.
02:30And you can't do that when you are on the bench after you've fouled a lot.
02:33And that was always the frustration with this guy, is he can find himself in foul trouble
02:38for just the dumbest fouls you could possibly imagine.
02:43And so that is where you start to get into the oil and water aspect of this.
02:48Because we had said before that the Knicks have carved out their identity.
02:52When you see a player out there, you're like, you know what?
02:54That's a Knick.
02:56Karl-Anthony Towns is not that.
02:58And so you do lose a touch of that.
03:00But you also get a really interesting, very talented player at his peak.
03:05Like game 7 against the Denver Nuggets, he had a monster game and helped them put the
03:09Nuggets away and move on to the Western Conference Finals.
03:13And so like, there is a really, really good player in there.
03:16I do also think that it never really clicked in Minnesota.
03:21And I think that that was kind of weighing on him a little bit.
03:25The fact that there was a new guy coming in to be the guy when he was the guy before,
03:28I don't think he ever really fully embraced that.
03:31Now he is coming to a team that isn't his team.
03:34But it's guys who he's familiar with from different aspects of life, right?
03:40So there is, I think, a really intriguing part of this team now that I'm just, I'm excited
03:48to see it work.
03:49There is a part of me that is just a little bit like, oh, like, I just, I liked how they
03:52were constructed.
03:53I liked how they were put together.
03:54And I wanted to see it work.
03:56But now, offensively, this is going to be a difficult team to stop.
03:59We will see what they're able to do defensively.
04:02But I do think that he fits there a little bit well.
04:04On the Minnesota side, it gets you out of a gigantic contract.
04:07And DiVincenzo, I think, like, fits in with this Minnesota group quite well.
04:13And what they are looking to do in kind of a second unit.
04:16He's still going to be a bench player on this team, but I think he fits this group very,
04:19very well.
04:20It's Randall that I'm not sure about.
04:22Because Randall is that guy who, when he gets the ball, it all just kind of stops.
04:26And it's why it never really fit with him, with the Knicks.
04:31Although, like, I'm saying it didn't really fit with him, with the Knicks.
04:33Like, he's a two-time All-NBA.
04:35And is a very good basketball player.
04:37And I think that gets lost in a few things sometimes.
04:39But with him and Edwards, like, Edwards needs the ball to be able to create and do all of
04:43those things.
04:44Well, so does Randall.
04:46And when Randall gets it, it's okay, I'm going to back you down, I'm going to spin around,
04:49oh, I'm a little point forward, oh, and now I'm going to shoot a three.
04:51And it's not going to work.
04:54And so, yeah, I have questions about the fit there.
04:58But like, long-term contract-wise, I think it's an interesting move.
05:01It kind of gets them out of a couple of things.
05:03And now it is a big prove-it year for Julius Randall as well.
05:06So I don't think that this is a team now that takes a big step back.
05:11Towns, like, they replaced his minutes with Reid really effectively, and didn't really
05:18miss a beat without him.
05:19So I think they just kind of slide him in there.
05:20We will see where Randall kind of fits with all of that though, because I can't imagine
05:25Randall's going to be stoked to come off the bench in Minnesota after starting in New York.
05:31So it's good, again, it's just, it's an interesting fit out there.
05:35Well, I do think the Knicks win this trade, because I do think Karl-Anthony Towns just
05:40kind of raises the ceiling a little bit for this group offensively.
05:45It's a difficult fit defensively, but they have enough guys who can go out there and
05:49get stops defensively that I don't think it's going to be much of a hindrance.
05:53So I'm very excited to see how this all plays out, and to kind of recalibrate what I think
05:59of both conferences after a blockbuster trade.