ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported Thursday that he was "surprised" at the amount of executives who believed the Minnesota Timberwolves won their trade with the New York Knicks, who acquired Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a future first-round pick from the Detroit Pistons.

"I was kind of surprised over the last week at how many executives I talked to who felt like the Timberwolves won this trade," Windhorst began on NBA Today in a response to a question from ESPN's Malika Andrews on how Julius Randle now fits with the Timberwolves.

"Which is not something you would expect to hear when most people would agree the best player in the trade went to the Knicks.

"But I think what they are reacting to is that the way the Wolves were able to rebalance their roster in this trade.

"Get Julius Randle, get DiVincenzo who helps them off the bench, give Rob Dillingham, their lottery pick, some time where's he maybe not needed as much out of the gate, and also reduce their long-term payroll for a guy in Karl-Anthony Towns, who had a really big contract."

The Charlotte Hornets were also included to complete the three-team deal, getting three second-round selections (two from New York, one from Minnesota) as well as DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown and Duane Washington Jr. from the Knicks. The draft rights to James Nnaji also went from Charlotte to New York.

Time will tell on who won the trade, but on the surface, it looks like a good deal for both sides.

The Timberwolves got two talented players, one who should slide into power forward and the other who should become a key piece off the bench.

And as Windhorst said, the Timberwolves get a ton of future payroll flexibility with the move, as Towns is on a four-year, $220 million contract extension that runs through 2027-28.

But Towns is a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player who could very well be the missing piece the Knicks need for a championship run. Towns, who turns 29 in November, averaged 21.8 points on 50.4 percent shooting, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists last season.

The 39.8 percent three-point shooter should do a great job spreading the floor and helping the Knicks' offense remain efficient (last year's team was No. 7 in offensive efficiency).

These two teams will notably match up in the preseason on Oct. 13 but face off for real on Dec. 19 (in Minnesota) and Jan. 17 (in New York).