Completing Karl-Anthony Towns trade costs Knicks second-round picks

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Knicks payment to the Hornets for helping them get Karl-Anthony Towns is two second-round picks.

In order to complete the blockbuster deal involving Towns, the Knicks and Timberwolves had to recruit a third team — the Hornets — to absorb players into cap space and allow the salaries to match.

As a result, the Hornets agreed to take three Knicks players — Charlie Brown Jr., DaQuan Jeffries and Duane Washington Jr. — along with two second-round picks from New York and one from Minnesota, according to The Athletic.

As part of the deal, the Knicks reportedly acquired the rights to James Nnaji from the Hornets.

Nnaji, a center from Nigeria, was the 31st overall pick in the 2023 draft. He has been playing overseas, recently underwent back surgery and is unlikely to play in the NBA this season.

The Knicks are also sending Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a lottery-protected first-round pick to the Timberwolves for Towns.

Because the deal wasn’t finalized by Tuesday afternoon, Towns couldn’t participate in the first day of Knicks training camp in Charleston.

Mikal Bridges officially started his Knicks career Tuesday with an understanding that his previous stint in Brooklyn, while a frustrating disappointment, was also a valuable learning experience.

“Yeah, it was tough in Brooklyn, we were losing. Even personally, I think I didn’t handle it as well as I could,” Bridges said after finishing his first practice with the Knicks in training camp. “I always preach mental toughness and never losing your spirit. But it was just something I never dealt with like that. And, I think it was just a lot just for that team in general when I was there and the expectation for everybody and I think I didn’t handle it as good as I should have.

“But coming here, it’s good. Everybody’s locked in and everybody’s motivated and coach [Tom Thibodeau] got everybody locked in. So it’s great to be here.”

With the Nets, Bridges took on the burden of the No. 1 offensive option and struggled with efficiency as the focus of the opposition’s defense.

It’ll be a different role in MSG alongside Jalen Brunson and Towns.

“When you got two All-NBA guys like that, that’s what it is,” Bridges said. “It’s definitely going to open up spacing.”

Bridges is expected to start in the backcourt with Jalen Brunson, his former teammate at Villanova.

“I know how he plays, he knows how I play,” Brunson said, “the chemistry is still there.”

Mitchell Robinson, who is officially out indefinitely while recovering from ankle surgery, did not travel with the Knicks to Charleston for training camp.

The center remained in New York to rehab at the team’s facility.

Although Thibodeau declined to provide a timeline for Robinson’s recovery, a league source targeted December or January as a rough estimate, depending on the progress of rehab.

Thibodeau explained why the Knicks returned to Charleston for a second straight year for camp.

“We did it every year when I was a Knicks assistant in the ’90s, and we always enjoyed coming down here,” the coach explained. “Beautiful place and a chance to get away. The players enjoy being able to get away. They can walk and go to nice restaurants at night and spend time with each other. The teambuilding aspect of it is terrific.”

Asked about the backup point-guard rotation, Thibodeau touted the “versatility” of his options.

He mentioned several players but interestingly skipped over rookie Tyler Kolek.

“We have a number of guys that can play both on the ball and off the ball, and I think sometimes that’s the hardest thing to guard,” Thibodeau said. “You want to create the pace, and then you want to create the movement. Sometimes as we did the second half of last year, we had Jalen off the ball and Josh [Hart] initiating a lot of offense for us last year. Mikal’s comfortable with it, Cam [Payne], Deuce [McBride] is good with both. So I like that versatility a lot.”