How the Karl-Anthony Towns-Julius Randle trade changed NBA title odds

Players have barely begun reporting to training camp for the 2024-25 NBA season and already we’ve had our first major shakeup of the season.

On Friday night, the New York Knicks acquired Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves for a package featuring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick.

The Knicks were already considered among the title favorites before the deal. At BetMGM, New York tied for the third-best odds at 9-1 alongside the Philadelphia 76ers before the trade. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder (+675) and the defending champion Boston Celtics (+310) were listed ahead of the Knicks.

After the trade, New York moved to +700, still behind the Celtics and Thunder, but the Sixers dropped to +1000. As of Friday night, the Knicks had received 6.2 percent of all NBA title wagers at BetMGM and accounted for 8.8 percent of the handle.

The move reunites (a seemingly stunned) Towns with head coach Tom Thibodeau after he led the Timberwolves from 2016-2019.

Minnesota, which held 11-1 odds to win the title before the trade is now 10-1 to claim the champion and accounted for 6.6 percent of BetMGM’s NBA title handle.

The trade did not have an immediate impact on the MVP odds of New York’s Jalen Brunson (+1500) or Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards (+1400), however that could change in the coming days as we learn more about how each team plans to use their acquisitions.