Report: Former Cavs executive played big role in Knicks executing Karl-Anthony Towns trade

The New York Knicks pulled off a stunning trade just days ago when they sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves for star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, and it looks like Towns will strengthen their championship hopes.

Former Cleveland Cavaliers executive Brock Aller reportedly played a key role in putting together this blockbuster trade.

“The nuts and bolts were largely performed by Knicks vice president of strategic planning Brock Aller, who has a long history of making multistep complex deals dating to his days in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office,” wrote Brian Windhorst. “Aller handles much of the strategic moves for the Knicks and does most of the complex trade negotiations.”

Many people have the Knicks as one of the leading favorites to win the NBA title this season behind the defending champion Boston Celtics, who are the overwhelming frontrunners in the minds of most. They have gone through an amazing metamorphosis in a short amount of time from a borderline playoff team to an elite squad.

Aller has been with them since the spring of 2020. Prior to that, he was the Cavs’ senior director of strategic planning starting in 2014 when he was hired. He remained in that role for three years, and during that time, the LeBron James-led Cavs reached the NBA Finals three straight times while winning it all for the first time in 2016.

Aller was promoted to senior director of basketball operations in 2017, where he oversaw the rebuilding process that was triggered when James left Cleveland in the summer of 2018.

When Kyrie Irving asked to be traded in 2017, the deal that sent him to the Boston Celtics yielded the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, which the Cavs used on guard Collin Sexton. Sexton was later one of the key pieces that brought them Donovan Mitchell in a blockbuster trade two summers ago.

In 2019, they took Darius Garland with the No. 5 pick, and he and Mitchell have formed one of basketball’s better and more dynamic starting backcourts.

As the start of the 2024-25 season approaches, Cleveland is searching for a way to take the next step and become an elite team along with the likes of the Knicks and Celtics.