Karl-Anthony Towns’ second return to Target Center since the Timberwolves traded him to the Knicks might not carry the same emotional wallop as his first one last season.
There will always be a bittersweet feeling for Towns — along with a feeling of home — any time he lands back in Minnesota.
“Me and my girl going to our house here, it’s different,” Towns said following Knicks shootaround Dec. 23, with the game later that night. “It’s different when you’re not here. We talked about just the lifestyle here and how awesome it is to be here. All the memories here, just reliving them and driving by the same places that we always used to go to getting our coffees and stuff.
“It’s crazy that it’s the second year and it still feels the same.”
Things have gone well for all involved in the trade that brought Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Wolves, who made the Western Conference finals last season while New York did the same in the East with Towns. Last season, the Knicks beat the Wolves 103-77 on Dec. 19 in Towns’ first visit back.
Towns spent 10 seasons with the Wolves after they made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, becoming an NBA Rookie of the Year, a three-point contest champion and a four-time All-Star. When asked if the September 2024 trade still stung or if he was at peace with what happened, Towns said, “There could be two truths in that.”
“You could be at peace knowing that the business cycle keeps going, and business is business,” he said. “And after the year we had last year in New York, feeling more at home, fans welcoming you in more, you could be at peace with it.
“But it still stings when you’re not walking in this locker room, coming to this amazing state, the city, and realize you’re not going to the training facility anymore, you’re not making that drive in, you’re not doing all that, and now you’re in a hotel. I think it hits different.”
