Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves

While he seems content in Minnesota at the moment, Karl-Anthony Towns is definitely the player the Knicks should have at the top of their target list moving forward. Not only is Towns one of the better big men in the entire NBA, but he is from Metuchen, New Jersey, and grew up a Knicks fan.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have had just one winning season since 2005 and Karl-Anthony Towns has been in a situation a lot like Zach LaVine in Chicago in the sense that both players are stuck on losing teams. Towns has verbally said he’s committed to Minnesota and building something special there, but who knows what his true intentions are.

After acquiring D’Angelo Russell at the trade deadline last season and drafting Anthony Edwards first-overall this year in the NBA Draft, Karl-Anthony Towns will likely remain in Minnesota at least through this season to see how things go.

If Minnesota shows growth this year and is a better team overall than last year, then it will make things harder for the Knicks to try and lure him away from the Timberwolves in a potential blockbuster trade. 

Karl-Anthony Towns is also under contract through the 2023-24 NBA season, making a trade the only plausible way for the Knicks to get their hands on the former number one overall pick. With three first-round picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Knicks could put together quite a trade package to try and trade for Towns next offseason, but again, the Timberwolves do not seem to want to try and move him at the moment. 

Over the course of a season, anything can change, and if the Timberwolves struggle/bat heads with each other, it could cause some tension between management and Towns, who has been loyal to their rebuilding process for five seasons now. Regardless of the circumstance, Karl-Anthony Towns is the player the Knicks need to try and get and should be willing to give up any player/draft picks other than RJ Barrett to try and land the big man.