If Giannis Antetokounmpo is not on the table, the New York Knicks should not even consider trading Karl-Anthony Towns. And it doesn't seem like Giannis is on the table — for the Knicks, or anyone else, for that matter. A KAT + Miles McBride + many, many picks package does work financially for both sides, but Milwaukee is probably looking for even more than that (or trying everything to not trade Giannis at all).
Things haven't been rosy for the Knicks the past few weeks, and I won't pretend that to be the case. But if you ask me, a team that just made its first conference finals in 25 years struggling in January probably isn't reason for said team to trade its second-best player.
And sure, that player is struggling! KAT just hasn't found his rhythm this year after an All-NBA season last year. He's shooting the ball worse (just over 35 percent) than he usually does, and his defensive production has been pretty rough at times. That doesn't mean the Knicks should trade him — in fact, even suggesting so is completely silly.
If everyone takes a deep breath and tells themselves that it's not DEFCON 5 when the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference going through a cold stretch at the midway point of the season, that would be awesome. Because it's not, I swear — even though a blowout loss to the Mavericks might make it feel that way.
Trading Karl-Anthony Towns would be a massive mistake
That won't stop the rumors from coming. I don't know if any of the rumors of KAT being on the trade block are legit, but I do believe Fred Katz when he says that Towns' value on the trade market is down — all the way down to something similar to Trae Young's return package, as Katz said on his podcast.
Maybe it goes without saying, but trading an All-NBA center for a package that would be roughly equivalent to CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert would rival the Luka Doncic trade as one of the worst front office decisions in NBA history.
Towns is under contract through next season (and maybe the year after if he picks up his $61 million player option) and it won't be long before this cold stretch is forgotten. I say that with confidence. Shipping him off for scraps would be a baffling development. If there isn't a superstar coming back in a Karl-Anthony Towns trade — and right now it sounds like there would not be — then there should not be a Karl-Anthony Towns trade.