A little over two weeks after the stunning blockbuster trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns from the Wolves to the Knicks, the teams had an odd predicament: They had to play each other in the preseason at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Towns was the star attraction as the shiny new piece on the home team. Wolves players and coaches greeted him warmly, with some nice moments and words shared between Towns and star Anthony Edwards.
Julius Randle, one of the key players the Wolves got back in return (and arguably very close to KAT’s equal in terms of production and accolades), was in street clothes for the game and didn’t play.
If you were looking for drama, that only left Donte DiVincenzo — perhaps the key to getting the deal done given his skill set and friendly contract.
As Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast, DiVincenzo provided a large dose of spice.
WorldWideWob on X had a great breakdown of what happened.
After making a floater during which he was fouled, DiVincenzo stepped to the free throw line and said this toward the Knicks bench: “Can’t finish, right Thibs? Can’t finish, right?”
It was a playful jab at his former coach, Tom Thibodeau. But it was misheard as, “Thanks for the trade, Thibs.” Once that incorrect interpretation hit social media, it spread like wildfire. The narrative was corrected by DiVincenzo and others later, but who knows how many people still think he said something about the trade.
