What Karl-Anthony Towns trade means for Jazz

The Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks agreed to a late off-season gamechanger when they exchanged Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, respectively. This trade didn't involve the Utah Jazz, but they have some conclusions to draw from it.

Knowing where the Jazz are now, it would have shocked the masses if they acquired the likes of Towns or Randle because it would make absolutely no sense for them since either one would have improved their ceiling, but only enough to keep them in no-man's land.

Luckily the Jazz know better, but with the deal on the verge of completion, per Ramona Shelburne, there are some takeaways from the Jazz's perspective.

The Knicks will no longer pursue Walker Kessler

The Knicks have been linked to Kessler for some time, ever since it was first reported that they had explored his trade availability. Even though nothing has ever come of it for months, there have still been hypothetical trades sending Kessler to the Knicks.

Now that the Knicks have Towns, that eliminates a Kessler suitor. Granted, it likely would have taken a lot for a deal to happen, but if the Jazz truly plan to get rid of Kessler, then perhaps this would be bad news, as it could give leverage to other Kessler suitors. However, despite all the noise, there really haven't been any reports indicating that the Jazz are hellbent on getting rid of him.

If Kessler resurfaces on the trade market, having one less team in a bidding war could hurt, but there's no indication that he'll be available.

This could impact the Timberwolves picks they owe Utah

With Towns out of the picture in Minnesota, the Timberwolves now have a few questions. Last year's formula worked well enough to have their most successful season in two decades, but now they've drastically changed it.

They traded Towns because 1. Dallas embarrassed him and by extension, the Timberwolves during the Western Conference Finals and 2. Towns is going to be quite the expensive contract to pay for the next few years. Not too long from now, he's owed over $60 million.

The Timberwovles clearly wanted the cap flexibility that would come with trading Towns for Randle and DiVincenzo. However, until further notice, there's no way to know if Minnesota will replicate their success without him. Towns may be a wild card, but Randle is arguably even more in that regard.

Plus, there's no guarantee he stays past 2025. If he doesn't, that could be a massive setback for the Timberwolves, who may have Anthony Edwards and all of his aura, but Jazz alumni Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley are not getting any younger.

This could be good news for the Jazz picks moving forward, as the Timberwolves will be forking over basically their future to the Jazz for quite some time.