Let’s be clear about something. The winner of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade is still to be determined.

That won’t be decided until the playoffs, which, in reality, is why the Timberwolves made the blockbuster deal with the New York Knicks in the first place.

The early returns for the Timberwolves certainly haven’t been encouraging, though, and nothing hammered that home more than Towns making his highly anticipated return to Minnesota on Thursday night at Target Center.

After shaking hands and kissing babies before the game, Towns went out and absolutely throttled his former team in his homecoming, putting up 32 points and 20 rebounds while leading the Knicks to a 133-107 win over the Timberwolves.

It got so bad that the Timberwolves waved the white flag with 10 minutes, 34 seconds left. The lifeless crowd had already started to head for the exits, while Towns stayed in the game a little bit longer and continued to dominate.

As impressive as the performance from Towns was in a vacuum, it was even more impressive when considering all the emotions surrounding the game itself.

After lounging on the Knicks’ bench during player introductions while he admired a heartfelt tribute video being played in his honor, Towns took a deep breath, rose to his feet, and basked in the standing ovation from the home crowd.

Those who have followed Towns closely over the course of his career half expected the moment to consume him. Maybe a couple of silly fouls shortly after tipoff. Maybe a few aggravating turnovers while trying to do too much. Maybe a combination of both.

Instead, Towns showed his maturation as a player, letting the game come to him, not forcing anything, and taking control in the process.

It started with Towns walking into a straightaway shot from the top of the key like he did so many times during his time with the Timberwolves. That seemed to get him going and he managed to keep it rolling from there.

He let out a roar after muscling his way to a hoop. He showboated to the crowd after hitting a shot from long range while fading out of bounds. He smiled near half court as the game slowly turned into a laugher.

The domination from Towns — which featured him playing Rudy Gobert off the floor — was completely contrasted by the struggles of the players for which he was traded on that fateful night over the summer.

Though he started the game scorching, Julius Randle slowly started the implosion for the Timberwolves with an egregious turnover, then continued it by laying brick after brick after brick like he was a mason.

As for Donte DiVincenzo, well, he couldn’t hold on to the ball to save his life, continuing to look like The Monstars from Space Jam stole his talents.

All the while, Towns continued to dominate pretty much every single time the ball was in his hands. He scored with relative ease, grab rebounds like he was competing against his nephews, and threw some saucy passes for good measure.

With the game getting out of hand, Towns hit another shot from long range, then looked directly at the Timberwolves’ bench.

You can’t help but think some of his former teammates missed him in that moment.

The fan base that showered him with praise before the game certainly did.

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