Trade talks that lasted forever somehow came together quickly. The New York Knicks are on the verge of hiring Karl-Anthony Towns — and it only took a nanodecade for the deal to be completed.

The Knicks have coveted Towns since team president Leon Rose took over the organization in 2020, when Rose left his previous post at CAA, the same agency that represents Towns. Years ago, when New York felt ready to look for a big name, it called the Minnesota Timberwolves to express interest in the great, sharp-shooting guy, league sources said. Then the Knicks did it again. And again. But the chatter never turned into what could be called negotiations.

The Knicks liked Towns. They wanted his team to know that. Conversations often became circular. The Knicks would express interest in Towns, one of the most versatile 7-footers in league history. The Timberwolves — who didn’t actively acquire their starting power forward, a 20-and-10 forward who can shoot like a guard and pivot like a Brunson — reacted similarly each time; with something like: “Okay, then make us an offer.”

Occasionally the Knicks would spit out concepts. Years ago, they even sketched out scraps of what could have led to a trade between Towns and Immanuel Quickley, league sources said. But this spat did not lead to meaningful negotiations. The Knicks and Wolves did not enthusiastically discuss a Towns trade. At least not until Friday.

According to league sources, the Knicks have spent this week exploring the league’s center market, with their starter Mitchell Robinson now out for the start of the upcoming season. After declaring that they were ready to part ways with not only Julius Randle but also Donte DiVincenzo, the commitment to the Wolves began to grow.

Now they have agreed on a deal.

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The Knicks will acquire four-time All-Star Towns, The athlete reported late Friday evening. Randle, DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and the Detroit Pistons’ protected 2025 first-round pick are going to the Timberwolves, league sources said. Since both New York and Minnesota are above the first frontcourt, the Knicks will have to give up another $8.8 million or more due to a peculiarity in the new collective bargaining agreement. Some of these require a third team to be involved. In short, this simple three-for-one exchange will not be the final version of the deal.

At least some of the dollars will come from signing and trading current free agents from last year’s roster in New York. The Knicks will sign DaQuan Jeffries and trade him to the Charlotte Hornets. The athlete reported as part of the Towns deal, but his salary alone isn’t enough to make the money work. Other smaller steps will also follow.

New York is still months away from a 50-win season that came just one win away from the Eastern Conference finals. The start should take place this season – which is as close as possible; Media day is Monday – with depth as a strength. The same players that head coach Tom Thibodeau refused to take off the field in the 2024 postseason, DiVincenzo and Josh Hart, were ready to come off the bench.

What a difference a single step and years of desire can make.

For the second time this offseason, when the Knicks traded four unprotected first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, they reshaped their identity.

They’ll head into training camp with a projected starting lineup of overwhelming size, spectacular shooting and all the anchors: Jalen Brunson, Hart, Bridges, OG Anunoby and Towns. The bench is nowhere near as discouraging as it was the previous Friday. Miles “Deuce” McBride is the sixth man. The prized Achiuwa will see his time, as will former third-string point guard Cameron Payne, whose veteran presence could get him close to minutes. Maybe Jericho Sims will get a chance. Or freshman Tyler Kolek. Or any of the veterans New York signed to training camp contracts: Chuma Okeke, Landry Shamet or Marcus Morris Sr.

This will look nothing like what was expected just a few days ago. It’s a new era.

The Knicks will never know whether the January run that gave them a 12-2 record after trading Anunoby and before Randle’s season ended with a dislocated shoulder was a mirage or the first sign of greatness. They will never be “the Nova Knicks,” the group in which everyone who attended that school outside of Philadelphia was supposedly indispensable. So much for that.

We all thought that the Knicks’ star trade was the deal for Bridges, for which they gave up all of their top draft picks that they had been saving for years in hopes of landing that one big name.

No, uh.

They had another step in them.

According to league sources, the Knicks are excited to see how Towns can complement Brunson, Anunoby and Bridges. Brunson-Towns’ pick-and-rolls will be a nightmare to guard with the two wings lurking in every corner, ready to catch and shoot. Cities can run to the basket and score from deep. He can jump to the arc and bury 3s. He’s not just a spot-up shooter either. He will pull up jumpers from any angle and at any level. A season ago he shot 42 percent from deep, but also shot from mid-range and around the basket.

The Knicks can now split Brunson and Towns so that at least one of them is always in the game, allowing an All-Star to support the offense for 48 minutes.

The cities can recoup their losses with Randle’s aftermath and much more. The Wolves didn’t send Towns to the block as often as in previous seasons when their big man Rudy Gobert was also hanging around the basket. But the aforementioned planned starting lineup would allow him to pulverize the center backs. And when double teams arrived, he could attack skilled, open shooters.

He will help with rebounding, a potential weakness while Robinson is injured. According to a league source, Robinson is aiming to return in December or January, but that source also provided details on the correct language. It is not yet certain whether Robinson will be on the pitch by then; The Knicks will monitor his rehab, and if he needs more time, he’ll get it. Even if he comes back, no one can know what his conditioning will be.

Once Robinson is back, the Knicks have options. Is he coming off the bench? Or will they go with a huge starting lineup that includes both Robinson and Towns, replicating the strategy that helped Minnesota to the Western Conference Finals last spring along with Bridges and Anunoby?

Of course, more pressing questions come first.

What happens to the defense if Towns starts at center?

One statistic that influenced the Knicks regarding Towns, according to a league source, was his plus-minus numbers. The Timberwolves were better at times Away Even better if he plays all nine seasons of his career. But most of that is due to his offensive prowess.

Towns always had difficulty anchoring a defense. That’s why the Wolves traded for Gobert. What happens when opponents repeatedly put Brunson at the top and Towns at the back of pick-and-rolls, making the Knicks’ two All-Stars dizzy on the way to the rim? Will elite perimeter helpers — and there’s a good case to be made that Bridges and Anunoby will suffocate their opponents like no other perimeter duo in the NBA — along with Hart be enough to keep hopeful invaders off the court?

Thibodeau has worked with Towns before when the coach led the Timberwolves and Towns, now 28, was growing up. They weren’t a perfect match back then. Before a game at Madison Square Garden last season, Towns questioned whether the two were having trouble resting.

“I have no problems with Thibs,” Towns said at the time. “We suppressed that. I still consider Thibs one of the best coaches, the best X’s and O’s players I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing for. He’s a winner.”

A source close to Thibodeau insisted the coach feels the same way.

“If a guy can play,” the source said, “then Thibs wants him.”

And cities can play.

But will it tip the Knicks over the edge? Are the starters talented enough to make it to the conference finals? Could they defeat the defending champion Boston Celtics once they get there?

When this team was all-in after executing the Bridges trade, they simply turned around on the couch cushions and rummaged through old jacket pockets to find enough coins and a $20 bill for the pot.

The Knicks have now traded six first-round picks, four of them unprotected, Bojan Bogdanovic, DiVincenzo and Randle for Bridges and Towns. Nobody but Brunson is untouchable.

Just a few days ago, a group of Knicks executives traveled to the Bronx to support Randle’s big day. The power forward – the same one who chose New York when no one else wanted, who expanded below his market value to commit to the organization long-term, who developed into a three-time All-Star and two-time All-Star in the NBA -Performer under Thibodeau, who helped revitalize a once-down franchise that has now made the playoffs three times in four years and is a contender this season for the first time in decades – was the man of the day at a construction site in near Yankee Stadium.

Randle had been raising money for the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball Charter School for years. He is now responsible for $1.3 million in donations. On Wednesday, at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new building, the school announced it would name its basketball court after him.

The Knicks’ leadership was in attendance, from Rose to William Wesley, executive vice president of basketball operations, to Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Thibodeau to John Starks and others. From the looks of it, you would have thought it was a group full of synergies.

But things change quickly in the NBA – even if it takes years.

(Top image of Karl-Anthony Towns and Tom Thibodeau: Bart Young / NBAE via Getty Images)