Why this trade works for the Bulls and Raptors
The Chicago Bulls are in a season of transition, adding young players to build out a new core as they move on from the old guard. DeMar DeRozan is gone, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are prominently on the trade block, and players like Josh Giddey and Coby White are in place for the next chapter.
Where they are extremely thin is in the frontcourt, with Patrick Williams and little else in the way of young talent. MarJon Beauchamp had his team option declined by the Bucks and will hit free agency next summer, but the Bulls could give him some extended run this year and see if he can show signs of growth. Tossing a second-rounder into the deal in exchange for a long look at a recent first-round pick is a perfectly fine trade for them.
For the Toronto Raptors, the ask is a little higher. Pat Connaughton has fallen off a cliff as a productive player due to both age and injuries, and so the Raptors are being asked to not only take on his $9.4 million salary for this season, but the same amount again for 2025-26.
Given that the Raptors are almost certainly going to have a full cap sheet next summer and won't project to use cap space, they might be willing to entertain this deal for the payment of two second-rounders. They may hold out hope to rehabilitate Connaughton and flip him for value or as matching salary in a trade next summer.
Why this trade works for the Bucks
In essence, it probably does not.
That's not to say it isn't a decent offer from the New York Knicks - and ultimately, the best that they can do. They are trading nearly every young player they have left to the Bucks alongside a handful of second-round picks -- and of course, an All-Star center in Karl-Anthony Towns.
The reason this deal may work for the Bucks is that it gets them out of the second luxury tax apron, opening up their flexibility in moving on from the rest of the roster. They can better execute deals involving their other veteran players and maximizing the value of the return by shedding the trade restrictions of the second tax apron.
Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet have both shown flashes even as rookies and would give Milwaukee two young guards to start building out a backcourt of the future. Jericho Sims could be developed as a future starter at center in the post-Brook-Lopez era. The first-round pick from Washington is protected and very likely to end up converting to two seconds, so it's somewhat like the Bucks are getting six second-rounders back in the deal.
The largest difficulty here is that the Bucks are essentially locking themselves into keeping Karl-Anthony Towns around as a foundational part of whatever retooling they are taking part in. Because they owe their own draft picks for the next half-decade, it doesn't behoove them to outright tank. Towns gives them a high floor to continue competing, but they won't have the flexibility of cap space or multiple players to pivot - they will almost certainly be a Towns team moving forward.
In the end, it just seems likely that someone else will beat this offer from the Knicks. Someone will offer a blue-chip young player or expiring money or truly valuable first-round picks, or likely a combination of all three. There may not be a player as accomplished as Towns, but the overall value will be higher.
The Bucks could say yes to this trade, but it's not likely that they do.