Kevin Durant for Karl-Anthony Towns

[SUPERVILLAIN]

Summer 2025. Straight swap.

KD will be 37 next season but he is better than Towns. Knicks would have a better shot at winning the title with KD than Towns.

Towns makes more sense for the Suns than KD because their team is going nowhere with the current core. They move KD for a legit All-NBA level player in his prime.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/2717/kevin-durant
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/17829/karl-anthony-towns

[taikibansei]

Knicks would have a better shot at winning the title with KD than Towns.

Maybe true a few years ago, but this is flat-out wrong now. No interest at all in trading any of the core to take on the 37-year-old Durant (who will be paid 54 million next year...and likely want a final huge contract on top of that).

[cgf]

Suns win this easily. KAT is arguably already better, and he's not 37.

[shrink]

Towns has been longtime best friends with Devin Booker, so this could help him accept the departure of KD’s talent, and help retain his loyalty to the Suns down the road.

If MIN wanted to do right by the loyal Towns, trading him to his hometown NY to a rising Knicks team was a good way to do it. But the Wolves board also discussed that KAT would probably also like PHX.

[shrink]

I would also point out that while people point to Durant’s age to signal the risk of a potential decline, KAT has been a significant injury risk the last four years as well. If we discuss the downside risk of KD, it’s also proper to mention the downside risk of Towns, and the multiple expensive years on KAT’s deal.

It’s hard to compare different types of players, but is KAT better than KD offensively? Defensively?

Towns is a great player, and if he stays healthy, those extra supermax years are a lot easier to swallow, and may add trade value compared to KD’s expiring. But Durant is a terrific player as well. Interesting stuff.

[Texas Chuck]

Towns has been longtime best friends with Devin Booker,

Assumed this would come up. And actually proud of this board that we've by and large stopped forcing trades based on who is friends or who is from the same country the way we used to all the time. And to be clear, I do not believe the OP was guilty of this here.

As always for me, KD trades come down to KD. Does he want New York? Does New York want him? If so, this deal makes some sense and then let the fans of each team argue why they are the team deserving incentive.

But if he doesn't want NY, I do not believe they would trade him there. Ishiba is working not only to set this all-in culture, but also a fan and player friendly one. Dumping KD in the name of the best deal would hurt that. I think he believes he can recruit stars repeatedly. He might be wrong, but I think that's going to be the plan there.

[jayjaysee]

I would say Phoenix has to add value. And it’s a decent anoint. The age difference should really matter.

NYK isn’t as mortgaged as Phoenix, but they have traded all of their own picks and shouldn’t ignore that for the (likely/possibly) one year upgrade of KD.

[taikibansei]

Some posters here seem to be comparing past versions of KD with past versions of KAT. While I get it--KD has had the far better peak and career--I'm not sure such a trade would be an upgrade for the Knicks this season...let alone moving forward.

KAT has been an absolute monster for us this season, averaging 24.6/12.9/3.2 (.587 eFG%, .633 TS%). While yes, KD (even at age 37) still plays somewhat better defense, I'd argue that overall KAT is KD's equal now--or close enough that trading for him this season wouldn't tip things significantly in our favor. And when you factor in their respective ages--not to mention that KD will expect to be paid significantly for his final contract (likely to exceed KAT)--I don't see what's in it for the Knicks without multiple frps thrown in (which Phoenix no longer has).

I just don't see a possible trade, to be honest.

[Texas Chuck]

Some posters here seem to be comparing past versions of KD with past versions of KAT.

Which of shrink, jayjaysee, cgf and I did that here iyo?

jay said Phoenix owed real value.
I made no comments towards value, other than the typical fans of each team always think their guy is worth more than the average poster
shrink covered it pretty evenly as well.
cgf went heavy towards Towns

Just an odd take considering the actual responses. What am I missing?

[taikibansei]

Some posters here seem to be comparing past versions of KD with past versions of KAT.

Which of shrink, jayjaysee, cgf and I did that here iyo?

jay said Phoenix owed real value.
I made no comments towards value, other than the typical fans of each team always think their guy is worth more than the average poster
shrink covered it pretty evenly as well.
cgf went heavy towards Towns

Just an odd take considering the actual responses. What am I missing?

KD will be 37 next season but he is better than Towns. Knicks would have a better shot at winning the title with KD than Towns.

It’s hard to compare different types of players, but is KAT better than KD offensively? Defensively?

I am responding to the first post and answering the two questions posed in the second post. Personally, I think there's no question that KAT this season is the better player than KD (or at least so close as to make this trade at best a wash).

This is not just a "typical fans of each team always think their guy is worth more than the average poster"-type thing either. Again, this season, what's the argument that KD represents a significant upgrade over KAT overall?

If I'm being biased and/or missing something, then please, enlighten me. I just don't see it--but I do see it if people are still thinking about last season's KAT. Indeed, the discussion would make perfect sense then.

[Texas Chuck]

If I'm being biased and/or missing something, t.

I'm not accusing you of that. My post was directed at nobody. You know as well as I do every fanbase is going to collectively value their players higher than the board as a whole. That's all I was referring to. Each individual poster deserves the benefit of the doubt and gets it from me until they prove they shouldn't.

I just disagree that anyone was posting based on 29 year old KD. I think everyone who responded knows exactly what version of KD this is.

I think its a matter of team construction to some degree, right? Are the Knicks better with KD and a defensive center(maybe Robinson?) than with Towns? I think maybe. And its at least worth a consideration. That's a win now team.

If we are basing it just on this year, then I think its actually pretty close, but yeah I'd agree Towns has had a better season. But I'm always looking beyond that when evaluating a deal. I'm interested in can I make each team better off for having done it. I can at least see arguments for both sides here.

[SkyHook]

I chose even, though if pressed I'd choose Phoenix as the winner of the trade.

[One_and_Done]

Terrible trade for the Knicks. Who is going to play the 5 for them? Also KD will be 37, somewhat of an injury risk, and not a Thibs kind of guy. The Knicks should only be trading for KD if he's the final piece. Unless they get a different coach and a plausible 5 man he's not. If they could do those things I'd think about it though.

[Pattycakes]

It’s terrible value for Towns, but considering New York stole him to begin with, maybe it’s the gift that keeps on getting given away

[JayTWill]

Not a big fan of the Knicks trading KAT for a 37 year old KD since i'm not sure it puts them any closer to being a true contender but it would open up the possibility of significant capspace in 2026 if the team wants to pivot from its current core.

I like KAT as a player but I don't love him on a supermax contract with his injury issues. I also don't love pairing him with Brunson and Thibs. I have thought about trades involving KD and KAT but with KD going to a 3rd team with the Knicks receiving multiple pieces to possibly fill out the roster and fill multiple holes.

[shrink]

I’m a big Towns fan, but even though he is having a great season, he isn’t quite as good as Durant. I think some people forget how good Durant is, because he’s been so good for so long, and he has these types of seasons every year. Someone posted KAT’s impressive numbers, but I’ll put KD’s next to his

KTowns: FG 52.3%, FT 82.6%, 3P 42.4% on 4.9 3PA, eFG% 58.5%, 12.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 24.5 PPG
Durant: FG 52.7%, FT 83.9%, 3P 43.1% on 6.0 3PA, eFG% 60.0%, 6.0 RPG, 4.3 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.3 BPG, 26.8 PPG

Towns gets rebounds when he plays center, but he is also one of the NBA’s worst rim defenders, and gives up a ridiculous shooting percentage at the rim. His defense is not “a little worse that Durant’s,” it’s a negative, but it’s the price a team pays to get his offensive production.

Setting all the production stats aside, the trade value really comes down to one question - risk of decline. How much do you trust Durant to continue to produce these numbers, versus how much do you trust Towns to stay healthy for three additional years on his supermax? The Knicks bet on KAT staying healthy despite him missing more games than Embiid the previous five season. If he’s on the floor, that gamble pays off with star talent, and unproven playoff potential, even if it’s expensive. If he isn’t, that contract becomes very toxic.

Since NYK is willing to put its chips behind Towns, I think they say no. Because PHX needs to trade Durant somewhere, I think they may say yes. Still, I think they would be better off breaking Towns up into a couple younger players and assets, rather than continue to try to navigate three maxes in a second apron world.

[Johnny Tomala]

Towns has much better value than KD.

[eminence]

KAT is flat out better at this point. Value is not close.

[brackdan70]

KAT has a much higher impact on winning at this point. He also (I think) fits with the current Knicks team quite well. NY shouldn’t touch this, even if assets are added from PHX.

[Astaluego]

KAT has a much higher impact on winning at this point. He also (I think) fits with the current Knicks team quite well. NY shouldn’t touch this, even if assets are added from PHX.

KAT also has a considerable impact on defeats, being terrible defensively playing at 5 is a big problem, in my opinion.