Nearly 24 hours after the news broke that the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves had agreed to a deal that would send Karl-Anthony Towns to the Big Apple in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a future 1st round pick, the aftershock of the deal is still being felt around the NBA. And not just in the Tri-State area, where fans who were imagining a “Nova Knicks” championship are licking their wounds.

As of Saturday night, the Knicks are still making moves to ensure that this blockbuster deal can and will officially go through.

Per senior NBA insider Chris Haynes:

“New York Knicks have waived Marcus Morris Sr. and Chuma Okeke.”

Fred Katz of The Athletic provided additional clarity as to why these two minor moves followed this seismic and completely unexpected deal between the Timberwolves and Knicks.

“The Knicks had to open up roster spots so they could pull off sign-and-trades in the Towns deal. Waiving Okeke and Morris gives them two extra open spots. Now they can sign and trade DaQuan Jeffries and whomever else to Charlotte.”

Marcus Morris Sr. and Chuma Okeke both signed with the Knicks this summer after playing for Cleveland and Orlando respectively last season. Neither player was expected to have an outsized role within the Knicks rotation during the 2024-25 season.

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Knicks pivot from Villanova Wildcats to KAT 

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) looks to drive past New York Knicks forward Julius Randle (30) in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden.
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

After seemingly going all in on the Nova Knicks mantra with an offseason trade for Mikal Bridges, the Knicks reversed course and went all in on their championship chase to an even greater extent with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns.

While Knicks fans had good reason to be excited about a closing lineup that potentially included Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart along with their former Villanova teammates Bridges and DiVincenzo, the prospect of Brunson, Hart, Bridges and OG Anunoby being paired with a legitimate floor spacing big like Towns is something that even the biggest Towns skeptics could probably get behind.

For as imperfect as Karl-Anthony Towns' game is, his claim as one of the greatest shooting big men in league history is backed up by any numbers you could find. And given Anthony Edwards' ascension over the last couple of years, Towns has gotten used to being a secondary option within an offense. He'll be taking a backseat this season to Jalen Brunson, who averaged a career-high 28.7 points per game last season.