Stunning trade: Timberwolves send Karl-Anthony Towns to Knicks for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round draft pick

Just a few days before they open training camp on Tuesday, the Timberwolves made a stunning, franchise-altering move.

The Wolves traded mainstay center Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for All-Star Julius Randle, guard Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick from Detroit.

An NBA source confirmed the trade.

Towns is a four-time All-Star and was the NBA rookie of the year in 2015-16 after being the No. 1 overall choice by the Wolves. In nine seasons, he has averaged 22.9 points, and is second in franchise history in most major categories, behind Kevin Garnett.

Considered the NBA’s top three-point shooting center, Towns is on a four-year, $220 million contract that starts with the coming season.

Randle, 29, is a three-time All-Star forward who, like the 28-year-old Towns, played one season of college basketball at Kentucky before entering the NBA. Randle was drafted by the Lakers, and played four seasons there before joining New Orleans as a free agent. After one season with the Pelicans, he signed with the Knicks in 2019.

He became a high-scoring star in New York, even scoring 57 points in a game against the Timberwolves. He had shoulder surgery near the end of last season; despite that, the Knicks made it to the second round of the playoffs under former Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau before losing in seven games to Indiana.

Randle is on a four-year, $117 million contract that runs through 2025-26. He averaged a career-high 25.1 points two seasons ago and 24.0 last year.

DiVincenzo played on NCAA title teams at Villanova in 2016 and 2018. He was a first-round pick by the Bucks, and played 3½ seasons in Milwaukee before he was traded to Sacramento in February, 2022. He spent the following year with the Warriors before signing with the Knicks in 2023.

He’s on a four-year, $50 million deal and averaged a career-high 15.5 points last season.

The move is a dynamic-changing deal just before the Wolves begin a season in which they are looking to build off the success of its first Western Conference finals appearance since 2004.

Just this week, Towns returned to Minnesota in preparation of his 10th season after the team picked him No. 1 overall in the 2015 draft out of Kentucky. Through years of struggling, Towns remained loyal to the franchise, always pledging to build a winning team with Minnesota despite semi-regular rumors that he might force his way to another team.

Now that success is here, Towns is gone after helping see it come to life. While he has been inconsistent in the postseason, he posted the message “…” on X, formerly known as Twitter, just before the news broke, with the Athletic first reporting it.

For a long time, the Knicks have been a reported suitor of Towns, with Thibodeau and former Wolves President Gersson Rosas both working for the franchise. The Knicks never relented and were more aggressive in their pursuit of Towns in the last days and weeks.

The Wolves had their eye on DiVincenzo in free agency last offseason when he signed with the Knicks while Randle previously played for coach Chris Finch when he was an assistant in New Orleans.