The Knicks had been pursuing Karl-Anthony Towns for a year or more, but kept getting a “no” response.

The Knicks finally got Karl-Anthony Towns in a trade with the Timberwolves, but it wasn’t easy. A lot of people weren’t even sure the pursuit was real.

None of that mattered to New York, which refused to deny it, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic .

“The Knicks were really pursuing Karl-Anthony Towns, and that’s been going on for over a year or two. He’s been an interesting guy,” Charania said on the Throwbacks podcast . “You think Donovan Mitchell , you think Karl-Anthony Towns.

“Obviously, they were able to get Jalen Brunson , they got Mikal Bridges pretty quietly during draft week. This pursuit of Karl-Anthony Towns has really picked up steam in the last couple of weeks, when the Knicks started calling Minnesota for him, making offers, making concept offers. They just got hard ‘no’s, over and over again.”