The Knicks and Timberwolves made a move that took everyone by surprise, shaking up the league in a way no one saw coming. And in an instant, the tables turned, and lives were forever changed for Karl-Anthony Towns, Donte DiVincenzo, and Julius Randle, all of whom found themselves at the center of the game-changing trade. The impact wasn’t just felt on their franchises. Their families, too, faced a challenge because of the sudden shift.

Donte opened up about the trade on The Young Man and The Three, highlighting the hardest aspect of the league. Before the new season began, the 27-year-old had his family visiting, making plans for trips and coordinating when they would attend his games. And out of the blue, his unexpected trade was finalized.

The “toughest” part, according to Donte, was having to leave his loved ones behind and join his new team in Palm Springs the next day after the trade became official. “I had my family come out here, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m leaving tomorrow,'” the guard shared. His family wasn’t prepared for the sudden change of plan. They were like, “Wait, you’re dropping us in Minnesota, like, unfamiliar with everything, and then you’re just bouncing for a week?” But as Donte pointed out, an NBA player’s life isn’t all glitz and glamour. “That’s the hardest thing that people don’t understand about the NBA,” he said, shedding light on their challenges. Although, Donte didn’t settle in with the news so smoothly.

When he returned to the Madison Square Garden with the T’Wolves for a preseason matchup, he let out his aggression toward his former head coach Tom Thibodeau allegedly thanking him for the trade in a viral video. He was also spotted saying, “That’s what happens when they let you run the show.” That didn’t go down well with Thibs’ assistant and Jalen Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, who got into a verbal altercation with Donte. However, like Donte, KAT had no bad blood with the Timberwolves.

After nine seasons, the trade news certainly dropped like an A-bomb to KAT, but Timberwolves’ President Tim Connelly’s transparency and courage made things better.

Karl-Anthony Towns recalls the trade night incident

During his appearance on the Roommates Show, Karl-Anthony Towns told his new teammates, how he learned about his trade from Connelly four minutes prior to the community getting a confirmation about it from Shams Charania.

“It was me, three of my closest friends, and my pops,” KAT said when Connelly visited him to deliver the news. So he gave a shout-out to the man for standing up to five of them and being honest about the trade situation. “I respect it. Honestly, it’s a tough situation regardless of what would’ve happened,” KAT added. “The fact that it happened that way, I got to give him respect.”

KAT handled the situation professionally and quickly blended in with his new squad, despite his past differences with Thibs. The offensive powerhouse wasted no time showing his skills in the Knicks jersey and quickly became a key contributor to the team, averaging 26.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per night. Both KAT and Donte have confessed that they are content with the trade. So, all’s well that ends well.