Exclusive | Karl-Anthony Towns told The Post before 2015 draft that playing for Knicks was childhood dream
Karl-Anthony Towns once gushed about the chance to play for the Knicks.He’ll soon live that reality.
Towns, whom the Knicks are acquiring in blockbuster deal from the Timberwolves, spoke with The Post’s Steve Serby for a Q&A before the NBA draft lottery in 2015.Towns — who grew up in Piscataway, N.J.
— was widely expected to be the No.1 pick in the draft after starring at Kentucky for one season.And the Knicks had the second-best odds of landing the top pick.
Towns said he dreamt of playing for his hometown team.“It would be an honor, not only as a player, but as a Knicks fan, to be able to play for that organization,” said at the time.
“It’s gonna be, I guess a childhood dream — rooting for the Knicks all this time, and the next thing you know, you hear an organization call your name to go out there and give it your best shot.I think it would be very cool, and really very honored and blessed to be able to play for them.” The Knicks infamously fell to the No.
4 pick and drafted Kristaps Porzingis, missing out on Towns — who went to the Timberwolves.Towns, 28, spent nine seasons with the Timberwolves before Friday’s stunning news.
The Knicks are sending Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, DaQuan Jeffries and a lottery-protected, first-round pick from the Pistons to the Timberwolves as part of the deal, The Post’s Stefan Bondy confirmed.At the time, Towns felt prepared to be be viewed as a “savior.” “You know what? I guess it comes with the territory,” Towns said.
“It comes with the territory. We gotta be willing to take that stress head-on, and I feel I’m ready for that.If that needs to be my role — I don’t think that’s gonna be my role, I think I could just be a help to my teammates.
“I’m gonna try and work very hard to give them the best chance to win, but it’s not as a savior, you can’t do it all by yourself.That’s why no one is bigger than nobody else.
Everyone’s helping each other to get to one...