Culture Corner

Breaking up dynasties, stars seeing new franchises, and a group of college teammates disbanded before they even touched the hardwood together; let’s take a look into some of the biggest trades this NBA offseason.

Karl-Anthony Towns to New York, for DiVincenzo and Randle

The New York Knicks seem to be doubling down on their championship pursuit this season, after acquiring all-star centre, Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves, in return for Julius Randle, Keita Bates-Diop, a 2025 first-round pick, and beloved former Villanova Wildcat, Donte DiVincenzo. Fans were excited after acquiring Brooklyn Nets small forward, Mikal Bridges, earlier in the offseason, which reunited four (I repeat, four) former college teammates in Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges. The Villanova boys won a national championship with each other back in 2016, so knew how to compete with one another; however their dreams of reuniting in the NBA were stripped from them when DiVincenzo was sent to the Timberwolves. That being said, this is an outstanding trade for New York, who needed someone to slot into the 5, after losing Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Mitchell Robinson being out for the start of the season due to recovering from his ankle surgery. Towns will be able to spread the floor for the Knicks more on offence as he provides a huge deep shooting threat, whilst also boosting their defence, after leaving the league’s No.1 ranked defensive team. The Timberwolves, who just came off a franchise-best playoff run (reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2003-04 season), have now lost arguably their second best player. Anthony Edwards will no doubt be left feeling abandoned after a further breakout year, most likely wanting another run at the championship with his team that performed so well the season prior. However it is not all bad for the Timberwolves; not only do Minnesota benefit financially from this trade, reducing their overall spending on player’s salaries, they also gain a lot of depth to their roster, adding two former starters, giving them more options off the bench. Overall, a good trade for both teams.

DeRozan to Sacramento

The Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, and Sacramento Kings joined forces to make this trade happen, sending Demar Derozan to the Kings, Harrison Barnes to the Spurs, and Chris Duarte to the Bulls (with some second-round picks thrown in their too). DeRozan is coming off two all-star appearances in three seasons with the Chicago Bulls, pairing up with star-studded duo De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis to surely make an impressive big-three. For the Spurs, this is an impressive addition, as they look to build around ‘unicorn’ Victor Wembanyama, with the addition of Chris Paul earlier in the offseason too. Barnes is a veteran in the league, who won a championship with the Golden State Warriors back in 2015, so pairing him with a young Wembanyama will help mould him into even more of an unstoppable force. Chicago came out on the bottom of this trade; although they have freed up some of their salary cap, they haven’t gained much instant value, as Chris Duarte isn’t exactly an efficient or volume-scorer. Bulls fans will be hoping their second-round picks pay off at some time or other.

The Golden State dynasty is no more as Thompson goes to Dallas

The Dallas Mavericks receive Klay Thompson from Golden State, losing Josh Green to the Charlotte Hornets, whilst the Warriors receive two second-round picks. The Golden State dynasty that won four championships together is officially disbanded, as Klay leaves for the Mavericks. Is this really a good trade for the Dallas? Thompson ended scoreless for the first time since his rookie season, shooting 0/10 in an elimination game against the Sacramento Kings. Klay will be entering his 13th season in the NBA, in which we have never seen him play for anyone but the Warriors. Only time will tell if this was really worth it for the Dallas Mavericks.

Alex Caruso joins the Oklahoma City Thunder, in return for Josh Giddey

After a great season for the Oklohoma City Thunder, who came the closest of any Western Conference team to knocking out the Mavericks (runner-ups of the NBA finals), after finishing 4-2 in their series, they have acquired Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls. OKC, who fell to Dallas after a large majority of their points coming from catch-and-shoot 3s, will be hoping that Caruso can close the gap and use his defensive prowess after landing himself on the NBA’s all-defensive second team last season. Not only this, but Alex Caruso is also a much better 3-point shooter than Josh Giddey, coming off a career-high 41% of his 4.7 attempts after the 23/24 season, providing the Thunder with some much needed scoring too. For the Bulls, it is uncertain whether Giddey will be a useful asset, as the 21-year-old clocked in 8% lower true shooting percentage than the league’s average, at 0.533 in his sophomore season, which only increase slightly last season. However, Giddey is young, and will only improve with time, so it may be a while before we can spot whether this was worthwhile for the Bulls.

The NBA 2024/25 season begins on the 22nd October where the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics, will take on the New York Knicks.