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.
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