What does Knicks’ acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns mean for Celtics?

New York acquired the All-Star big in a trade, giving up Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo as part of the deal.

One of the Celtics’ top threats in the Eastern Conference made a surprising, but major, move late Friday night.

The Knicks have agreed to a trade to acquire All-Star big Karl-Anthony Towns from the Timberwolves for star forward Julius Randle, shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick, according to multiple reports. The Hornets are also reportedly involved in the deal, acquiring reserve shooting guard DaQuan Jeffries from the Knicks.

The move caps off what’s been a busy offseason for the Knicks. They acquired wing Mikal Bridges from the Nets earlier in the offseason, giving up wing Bojan Bogdanovic, five first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and a couple of end-of-the-bench players.

After going 50-32 to finish with the second seed in the Eastern Conference last season, the Knicks’ trade for Bridges solidified the perception that they were one of the best teams in the East. The trade for Towns helped solidify that the thought even further, with their odds to win the East (+400) passing the 76ers (+450). They now hold the third-best odds to win the NBA title (+800) at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Still, the Celtics enter the season as the clear betting favorite to win both the East and the NBA title. They have +155 odds to win the conference and +310 odds to win the NBA title at DraftKings.

As for how the Knicks match up with the Celtics, the move to acquire Towns seems to match Boston’s five-out offense. Towns is more of a 3-point threat (39.8 percent career 3-point shooter) than Randle (33.3 percent career 3-point shooter). Towns is also more of a catch-and-shoot threat, shooting 42.6 percent in catch-and-shoot situations last year with nearly all of his 4.6 catch-and-shoot attempts per game coming from distance. Randle, meanwhile, shot 34.9 percent in catch-and-shoot situations, with nearly all of his 3.2 catch-and-shoot attempts per game coming from behind the arc.

So, it’s pretty evident that when the Celtics take on the Knicks at full strength, their defense will likely be spaced out. If that is the case, Boston might have the personnel to at least slow down Towns offensively.

Even though both games between the Celtics and Timberwolves were overtime thrillers last season, Towns struggled offensively in both matchups. He averaged 16 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from distance in the two games against the Celtics last season. For reference, he averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and three assists per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field 41.6 percent from distance last season.

The Celtics had a few defenders who had success against Towns in individual matchups over those two games last season. Towns scored just 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting (0 for 4 from deep) in 41 possessions when Jayson Tatum was guarding him, per NBA’s tracking data. Towns scored 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting in the 38 possessions Jrue Holiday guarded him last year, but the All-Defense team member also forced five turnovers when matched up with Towns.

Tillman, who played against Towns twice last season as a member of the Grizzlies, might be the Celtics’ best option at defending the star big. Towns scored just nine points on 3 of 11 shooting in the 42 possessions that Tillman guarded him last season.

Flipping things around, Towns wasn’t great when guarding the Celtics last season. Boston shot 70 percent in the restricted area and 42.1 percent from distance when Towns was the closest defender in its two games against Minnesota last season, per NBA.com’s tracking data.

Towns guarded the Celtics a bit better in the paint outside of the restricted area (36.4 percent) and in the mid-range (33.3 percent), but those shots aren’t typically a part of Boston’s shooting profile. He also had a 117.6 defensive rating and a minus-10.1 net rating against the Celtics last season, which were much worse than his regular-season number in both areas (109.2 defensive rating, plus-7.2 net rating).

Like he was for a good portion of last season, Kristaps Porzingis could be the key for the Celtics offensively when they take on the Knicks this season. The standout big didn’t have a great offensive showing in his lone game against the Timberwolves last season, scoring 20 points on just 5-of-14 shooting. However, four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert was the primary defender on Porzingis in that game, not Towns.

Porzingis might had his best games against the Knicks last season. He averaged 21.6 points on 54.8 shooting from the field and 53.3 shooting from deep over five games against New York, showing limitless range in a few of those matchups. Of course, Randle was involved in a few of those matchups and the Knicks have bolstered their perimeter defense. But if Towns is going to matchup with Porzingis, the numbers suggest that the Celtics big might be able to replicate the success he had against New York last season.

We won’t know for certain how these two teams will matchup though when at full strength for quite some time. Even though the two teams will meet in the first game of the NBA’s 2024-25 season, Porzingis will be out after offseason surgery. Knicks center Mitchell Robinson will also be out for the start of the season due to an ankle injury. The two teams aren’t scheduled to play again until Feb. 8.

Still, the Knicks’ acquisition of Towns makes the looming Celtics-Knicks matchup even more enticing, even if Boston still might have the edge at the moment.