Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to say goodbye to Minnesota in his own way.
The four-time All-Star, after being traded to the Knicks, posted a photo to his Instagram Stories on Saturday morning of him shooting a free throw at the Timberwolves practice facility with what appears to be a time stamp of 3:11 a.m.
His father appears to be watching him and likely rebounding from under the basket.
Towns’ nine-year stint in Minnesota, which drafted him No. 1 overall in 2015, ended when the Knicks stunningly traded Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, DaQuan Jeffries and a lottery-protected, first-round pick from the Pistons for him in a blockbuster trade Friday night.
It is the second glimpse into Towns’ reaction to the trade after he simply wrote “…” on his X account as the deal was becoming a reality.
Jon Krawczynski, the Timberwolves beat reporter for The Athletic, said the New Jersey product’s camp was “stunned” by the deal.
Towns, who won Rookie of the Year in 2015-16, averaged 22.9 points, 10.8 rebounds while shooting 39.8 percent from the 3-point range during his Timberwolves career.
Minnesota reached the playoffs four times during Towns’ tenure, going all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season after a 56-win season that saw it claim the No. 3 seed.
They eventually lost to the Mavericks in five games, but it appeared the Timberwolves were on an upward trajectory with the duo of Towns and Anthony Edwards.
Instead, both will chase an NBA championship separately in different conferences.
The Timberwolves are in the midst of a legal dispute over the sale of the team between current owner Glen Taylor and co-owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore — whose bid recently added the backing of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Randle and DiVincenzo have yet to publicly react to the trade, but Randle’s wife Kendra posted photos to her Instagram Stories that show they are embracing the move to Minnesota.
News Summary:
- Karl-Anthony Town gives himself Timberwolves moment after Knicks trade
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