For the umpteenth time, Charles Barkley has repeated his stance on the 2022 trade that brought Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He thinks it was stupid now he wants the New York Knicks to use their
The Knicks, yeah we play hard, we’re solid, but they’re not contenders. If I’m them, I’m like hey, we got to do something. All those draft we got, what are we saving them for? Go out and make a move. Because, you gotta say to yourself, ‘We’re not in a conversation with Boston and Milwaukee.'”
The Knicks have four picks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft. They have their own pick, Dallas’ top-10 protected pick, Detroit’s top-18 protected pick, and Washington’s top-12 protected pick. They also have their own first-round pick in 2024 plus Milwaukee’s top-4 protected first-round selection.
When TNT”s Ernie Johnson asked Barkley who the Knicks should trade for, Barkley said Karl-Anthony Towns.
“Because those two guys in Minnesota can’t play together. I mean, that was one of the stupidest trades ever. You go get two guys over 7-feet tall in a little man’s league and neither one of them are good enough on the offensive end, they’re not like Shaq,” Barkley explained.
“Like Shaq, he’d have a hard time guarding stretch fours, I said well they gonna have a hard damn time guarding him, too. But Rudy and Karl-Anthony Towns, they don’t dominate in the post enough to justify playing two 7-foot guys together. Like last night against the Hawks, the Hawks just stomped them. They had a lead but it was a waste of time.”
Minnesota led the Hawks by 21 points early in the third quarter Monday and then got blown out, losing 127-113.
“I would go out and get Karl-Anthony Towns personally because this team here (the Knicks) is not going to win anything. They beat Cleveland last year, but they’re not a contender. You can’t be mediocre and stick with that,” Barkley said.
Charles Barkley wants to see Karl-Anthony Towns in New York with the Knicks. Also called the Rudy trade one of the stupidest trades ever. pic.twitter.com/G6wiqpYbyf
— SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) November 1, 2023
Towns and Gobert have been on the court together for 59 minutes through three games and they have a 110.2 offensive rating and a woeful 118.8 defensive rating.
Any trade for Towns would force the Knicks to send contracts back to Minnesota to avoid going into the luxury tax, and two contracts that would get New York close to making the money work are those of small forward R.J. Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley.
Would the Wolves entertain a trade of Towns for Barrett, Quickley and a couple of first-round picks?
That would give New York a projecting lineup of Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, Josh Hart, Julius Randle and Towns. Minnesota’s post-trade lineup would be Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and then either Barrett or Naz Reid and Gobert.
It’s been more than a year since Towns signed his supermax extension with the Timberwolves, so there is nothing to stop Minnesota from trading him if they want to make a deal.
