The New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves have finally worked out the final details of the NBA offseason’s biggest blockbuster trade.
The Knicks made headlines when they acquired four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns from the Timberwolves. But with both teams facing heavy salary cap restrictions, they needed another team to make it happen.
The third team turned out to be the Charlotte Hornets. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Hornets are expected to receive quite the haul to facilitate the Towns deal.
The Knicks will receive Towns and the draft rights to James Nnaji, while the Timberwolves will get Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, and a protected Detroit Pistons first-round pick.
To balance out the deal, the Hornets will take on the contracts of three Knicks players via sign-and-trade: DaQuon Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr., and Duane Washington. In return, Charlotte will net three second-round picks and $7.2 million in cash.
The $7.2M in cash Charlotte received will offset the salaries of Jeffries, Washington Jr. and Brown Jr.
The 3 players will earn a combined $6.8M in 2024-25.
Only year 1 of the 3 year contract is guaranteed.
Charlotte acts as the third team and picks up 3 seconds at no cost.… pic.twitter.com/MhJXND0A3u
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) October 2, 2024
The three players the Hornets will acquire are reportedly set to earn a combined $6.8 million. The team will be able to get a close look at each player basically for free while also gaining a bit of a profit and draft capital.
The Timberwolves may have agreed to send money the Hornets’ way, but Minnesota is the trade’s big winner from a financial perspective. The deal is expected to slice off a massive sum from the Timberwolves’ salary cap expenses in the coming years.
