8 first-round picks!Chase Towns!No. 1 in the West refuses to trade

According to NBA Athletic Shams, the Knicks are chasing Towns, who have eight tradeable first-round picks, as well as young players such as Grimes. But Knicks reporter Ian Begly reported that the Timberwolves will not trade Towns this season, and that the Knicks could have gotten Towns last offseason, but they missed the opportunity.

The reason is simple: the Timberwolves are in first place in the West, so why should they dismantle the team and send Towns away? If the Timberwolves plan to rebuild, the Knicks' first-round pick is still useful, but the Timberwolves are currently chasing a championship. And the Knicks said that if they want Towns to start with Mitchell Robinson and copy the Timberwolves twin towers, Randle can put it in a trade.

And the Timberwolves have no interest in Randle, and the Knicks have to bring in a third party to trade Randle for a player the Timberwolves want, and the deal will be more complicated. To sum up, the current attitude of the Timberwolves is to refuse to trade Towns. If the Timberwolves can't go far in the playoffs, the Knicks still have a chance this summer.

Although the Knicks have 8 first-round picks, they will not all be used to exchange for Towns, after all, the Knicks are not a big man like the Timberwolves. Judging by the Knicks' move to pursue Towns, the team decided to abandon Randle. Nearly five years have passed since the summer of 2019, and Randle has done nothing in the playoffs.

Randle played in the playoffs twice with the Knicks, one in the first round and one in the second round. Randle played in a total of 15 games, averaging 34 minutes per game, scoring 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.5 steals. He shot 34.4 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from three-point range!

In the regular season this season, Randle averaged 24.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 0.6 steals per game, shooting 47.8% from the field and 28.9% from three-point range. The regular season is heavy-handed, and the playoffs are only promised. Randall is 29 years old, and it's hard to see room for improvement. The Knicks have come to realize that Randle can't hold up the team's interior.

Downs has played in the playoffs three times, all of which were first-round exits. He played in 16 games, averaging 35.8 minutes per game, averaging 18.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.6 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 47.1%, 33.3% and 80.2% from three. Despite the ridicule that Towns was too soft, he was clearly better than Randle in the playoffs.

In the regular season this season, Towns averaged 21.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 50.6%, 40.1% and 89.3% from three. Downs has a true shooting percentage of 61.9 percent, which is 64th in the league. Randle is shooting 56.8 percent from the field this season, 177th in the league. The Downs were also a little more efficient in the regular season.

Putting aside the contract and talking about data, it's actually a bit of a problem. Randle's four-year, $117 million contract expires in the summer of 2026, and his salary for the season is $25.66 million. Downs is in the final year of a five-year, $158 million contract with a salary of $35.97 million this season. He has a four-year, $224 million contract that will be executed from next season.

Do you think Downs is the third center in the league based on his performance? How many first-round picks is Downs worth?