New York Knicks‘ outspoken forward Josh Hart broke his silence following the blockbuster Karl-Anthony Towns–Julius Randle trade late Friday night, September 27, that also saw his Villanova teammate Donte DiVincenzo getting shipped to Minnesota.
“Uhh… are we serious? Hart tweeted on X Saturday morning, September 28.
But after Knicks fans, who commented to the X post, thought Hart was referring to the trade, Hart was quick to clarify.
“This is about the Chelsea match,” Hart posted on X on bold letters to emphasize his point.
Chelsea FC were playing Brighton & Hove Alvion FC at the time of Hart’s tweet.
Hart’s lack of reaction to the Randle-Towns with DiVincenzo as the collateral damage was the exact opposite when DiVincenzo signed with the Knicks last offseason and when the pulled off the Mikal Bridges trade last summer.
After DiVincenzo’s free-agent signing, Hart immediately shared a fan-made photo of him, Jalen Brunson and DiVincenzo in Knicks uniform.
After the Bridges trade, Hart also quickly shared a screen shot of him on video call with Brunson, Bridges and DiVincenzo.
All four of them played at one point for Villanova during their two national championship runs in the past decade.
SNY’s Ian Begley reported DiVincenzo was the sticking point of the Towns-Randle swap that quickly came together when the Knicks changed their stance.
The Timberwolves targeted DiVicenzo, who was their free-agent target a year ago but lost to the Knicks.
According to a report from The Athletic in February, DiVincenzo’s former Golden State Warriors teammate Stephen Curry helped him choose between the Knicks and the Timberwolves during his free agency last year.
Karl-Anthony Towns Solves Knicks Woes
Towns solve the Knicks’ most glaring need at center following Isaiah Hartenstein’s departure in free agency and with Mitchell Robinson out until December or January to recover from his ankle surgery.
A four-time NBA All-Star and a two-time All-NBA player, Towns if the floor-spacing big man that on paper, is a seamless fit to the Knicks core of Brunson, Bridges, OG Anunoby and Hart.
Hartenstein thrived last season as Brunson’s pick-and-roll partner. Towns will not only thrive but he is expected to dominate and complement Brunson well also as a pick-and-pop partner. A 39.8% 3-point shooter, Towns is the best shooting big man in the association.
With Towns at center, the Knicks now can match the Boston Celtics’ famous five-out action that spreads the floor.
The Knicks are all-in and have their championship window in the next three years before Brunson will be eligible to the veteran supermax.
Karl-Anthony Towns Comes Home
A self-confessed Knicks fan, who was born and raised in Edison, New Jersey which is about an hour away from the Madison Square Garden, Towns comes home.
He’s been on the Knicks’ radar since his former agent, Leon Rose, became the team president.
The speculations grew louder when former Timberwoves president Gersson Rosas joined the Knicks as one of Rose’s top deputies.
Jon Krawczynski, who broke the news of the blockbuster trade with Shams Charania for The Athletic, pointed to Rosas as a big factor to this trade finally happening.
Towns is also reunited with Tom Thibodeau, his coach for three seasons in Minnesota who guided him to his first All-Star season and first playoff berth. But he’s also had differences with him, which in part factored into Thibodeau’s hasty exit in 2019.
But they have already squashed their beef in 2022, paving the way for this reunion.
The trade has yet to be finalized with the Charlotte Hornets coming in as a third team, according to multiple reports.
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