Wolves' Tim Connelly says trading players feels 'gross and weird'

But it appears Connelly and the Wolves handled trading Karl-Anthony Towns as well as possible.

Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly answers questions at a press conference to introduce the 2022 draft picks at Target Center in Minneapolis on June 28, 2022. / Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly didn't take the decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns lightly.

His team was coming off a Western Conference finals appearance, and Towns was a beloved figure on the team and in the community. Towns had spent his entire career in Minnesota, garnering four All-Star and two All-NBA selections. But in the end, the New York Knicks met his high asking price, and Connelly made the move to take things in a new direction.

"Want to thank (Towns) and his family for being such an impactful part of the organization, the community," Connelly said at the introductory press conference Thursday for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Keita Bates-Diop, the three players the Wolves acquired in the trade of Towns. "The whole idea of trading people I think is pretty gross and weird, and it's hard to get players of this caliber, so to ensure to do that, we had to give up one of the best players to ever put on a Timberwolves jersey. As good of a player as he is, he’s a better guy, so New York got a heck of a player and a better person. He’ll be missed; we’re super excited, but again, just want to let New York know they got a special guy.”

Across his nine years in Minnesota, Towns averaged 22.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He's second in franchise history in scoring with 13,121 points, second in rebounds with 6,216 and fourth in assists with 1,815. He's the franchise's all-time leader in made 3-pointers (975) and player efficiency rating (23.8). His impact will be remembered.

But Towns' time with the Timberwolves has officially come to an end. And while Connelly said it feels "gross and weird" to trade players, it appears as though the Wolves handled the situation well. Connelly went to tell Towns before the news of the trade broke and didn't leave him in the dark — something that's happened too often — about the monumental move.

"From my understanding, they handled it better than any organization has probably ever handled trading somebody, so super professional in the way they work their business," Mike Conley said.