LA Clippers fans and the entire NBA world was taken aback at the news of Karl-Anthony Towns being traded on Friday night. The Minnesota Timberwolves officially dealt him to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round draft pick.
Due to incoming financial restrictions, the Timberwolves opted to move one of their best players to give themselves a greater opportunity to compete down the road. A tough decision, but one that could pay off for them in the long-term.
Interestingly enough, Minnesota ran into basically the same problem the Clippers were recently faced with. LA decided to get Paul George off the books rather than pay him a long-term, limiting contract. In the same way, the Wolves decided trading Towns was a better option than paying out the full four years and $220 million that he would be owed.
Now that the dust has begun to settle on this situation, we can begin to take a step back and look at the big-picture ramifications of such a move. Obviously, this has the potential to shake up the balance of power in the Western Conference, but there is a perhaps even bigger way this could affect the Clippers.
The Clippers can use this opportunity to pursue Julius Randle
LA is still in search of another star-level player to put next to Kawhi Leonard. James Harden is older, and another big-time talent playing alongside Kawhi will be necessary if the Clippers are to return to the status of a top dog in the West. So why not pursue the newest star in Minnesota, Julius Randle?
The biggest reason why the Clippers could pursue this move is Randle's potential fit with the rest of the Timberwolves roster. He does not appear to be a perfect counterpart to Rudy Gobert in the post, at least not in the same way Towns was. There has already been speculation that Minnesota could look to move Randle somewhere down the line.
If the Clippers can put together an offer the Timberwolves can not resist, they could put themselves in an excellent position to return to the level they want to be at. It is rare that you have a situation like this where a contender was forced to move a big piece to their equation, and is now stuck with a perhaps less-than-ideal alternative.
The Clippers could potentially help the Wolves get themselves in a better place while also upping their own championship chances as well. There have already been executives expressing their belief that LA would be a good fit for Julius, and now the Clippers have an ideal scenario to pursue him served up to them on a silver platter.