KAT and D’Lo get candid on Timberwolves breakup: 'They need what they got rid of'

Towns said everyone was all smiles just hours before the script flipped and he was traded. Russell thinks Minnesota would be better with him and Towns.

Jan 11, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard D'Angelo Russell (0) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) talk in the second quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-Imagn Images / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

The back and forth between D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns during a recent podcast is something to behold.

Discussing pretty much everything in their lives, Towns revealed what happened the day the Timberwolves traded him to the Knicks and Russell, speaking from what he described as a "humble place," made some waves by saying the Wolves would be better if they never got rid of him and Towns.

"I was in a good spot and then all of a sudden," Towns began on The Backyard Podcast, recalling the day he was traded. "I worked out Friday in front of everybody, [Tim Connelly] included and everyone. Everyone smiling, they liked where my body's at, where my game's at, where my mind's at, everything's cool. I don't know what happened in those five hours up to the time [Connelly] told me, but some s*** went down," Towns said.

Full discussion: The trade

Towns: Media day was Monday. I got traded Friday night during a Miami-Virginia Tech college football game.

Russell: How did you find out?

Towns: They came to my house, like two minutes before [Shams Charania] posted it. It was like two minutes before. I could tell they was in a rush to tell me something.

Russell: Be honest, were you like, 'I'm ready to go.' Or were you like, 'I'm cool, I can make this s*** work'?

Towns: I was so ready for the season. We just spent a whole summer mentally, physically getting ready for this moment. I walked in there in a great headspace. I had just went to a Lynx game with all of 'em and we were talking about the drills and things me and Ant need to start doing so we can maximize each other's potential and offensive games and stuff.

D'Lo thinks the Wolves need him and KAT

Russell: No offense, because I'm in it right now, but like, when I watch their team I'm like, 'You know who they need? KAT.' And then I'm like, 'Yo, they need me.' Like, honestly, they need what they got rid of. GM, that ain't my job, but I'm just saying, like, I feel like we could make their team better right now. We could make their job easier right now.

Towns: I feel like we could make any team better.

Russell: That's a fact.

Towns: That's the talent that comes with being us. I think we make any team better. And like you said, that's not our job. Our job is just to be the best we can be. And we walk in and you give us the opportunity and we maximize.

Russell: But it's crazy how the other team sees it more than the team you're with. You know what I'm saying? You play against Minnesota, they like, 'He' s on the scouting report, deny him, trap him, you gotta guard him this way, don't foul him'... they got all this stuff about how dangerous you are, but then when you on their team they ain't treating you that damn dangerous.

Towns: Do you think we've been taken for granted?

Russell: Nah. Hell, you bro? What? Not you. Not you. Me, god-damnit, look...

Towns: You think so?

Russell: Not you, hell no. Me? Listen, bro, I'm in a different realm. I'm honest with myself before the media is so I don't need no validation. I just know that I'm dangerous and everything else says I'm not. Everything else says 'Oh he can't perform, oh this, that.' But when I play against y'all, y'all god-damn trapping me, y'all god-damn putting y'all best defender on me, y'all putting your best defender on me.

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