New Blockbuster Three-Team Trade Idea Sends Karl-Anthony Towns to the Jazz, Knicks Land Lauri Markkanen

Although it's always difficult to predict exactly how the offseason will affect the upcoming NBA season, it seems clear that the Eastern Conference is going to be up for grabs. The Indiana Pacers won the conference last year in one of the most surprising championship runs in recent memory, but they are going to be without Tyrese Haliburton for the year. The Boston Celtics have always been a force in the Eastern Conference, but Jayson Tatum went down with an Achilles injury in the second round and will miss the upcoming season. The Bucks made a big move to add Myles Turner, but they had to cut Damian Lillard to do it. In short, the only three teams that seem to be locks for postseason returns are the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That leaves an opportunity for several teams to take advantage.

The Atlanta Hawks are certainly doing their best to seize that opportunity. After trading for Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis and drafting Georgia power forward Asa Newell, Atlanta reached a pair of huge free agent signings. The Hawks signed a marquee free agent in Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a four-year, $62 million deal in a sign and trade that sent a 2027 2nd-round pick (via CLE) to the Wolves. Then, the Hawks signed free agent guard Luke Kennard to a one-year, $11 million deal. They also got an unprotected first-round pick from the New Orleans Pelicans in a draft-night trade. Given the massive injuries in the Eastern Conference next season, it seems that the Atlanta Hawks are going for it and making moves to put themselves in position to contend. One area they could still use some depth is at small forward or another ball-handler.

While the New York Knicks made the Eastern Conference Finals by pulling off a surprising upset over the Boston Celtics, it's not entirely clear if they plan on running it back with a few minor bench additions. Immediately after the loss, there was reportedly some frustration with center Karl-Anthony Towns per a report from Fred Katz and James Edwards III of the Athletic.

“Publicly, Knicks players made veiled comments all season about poor communication causing their inconsistencies. Behind the scenes, they and coaches expressed frustration with Towns’ defensive habits—less concerned with his talent level and more with his process on that end. Too often, Towns executed incorrect coverages without communicating why he did it. After it became a theme, players worried Towns didn’t grasp the importance of the matter.”

If Towns' defensive issues were as big of a problem as the article suggests, it's possible that the team would consider moving on from their star big man this summer. He is already locked up on a massive, 4 year, $220.4 million dollar contract that began in 2024-25. Next season, he has a cap charge of $53.1 million dollars, which accounts for around 34.4% of the Knicks' cap per Spotrac. The Knicks might be better served breaking that space into multiple contracts that can add to their depth and give them a higher ceiling heading into 2025-26. New York also hired a new head coach this summer in Mike Brown and while he did say he "wasn't planning on trading his wings", he made no such promises about Towns.

The Knicks are only $3.7 million below the second apron as things currently stand and they have only 12 roster spots filled. Without two-way players, that means they have three roster spots to fill and not a lot of flexibility to fill at least two of those spots. It's entirely possible New York just carries those roster spots into the season, but considering how short-handed their depth was last year, it bears wondering whether the Knicks would opt to trade their center in order to add two or three rotation players into those spots.

If they do explore trades for Towns, would the Utah Jazz be interested? They have ample amounts of cap space, already have a long contract on their books in Lauri Markkanen and seem to have plans of being more competitive in the West next season. Even with his flaws, Towns could be their franchise player and boost them towards respectability in the West.

So how about a trade where each of these teams tries to fill a need?

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks or any other teams should do or will do. That is all.

Atlanta Hawks Receive: Tyler Kolek

New York Knicks Receive: Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Walker Kessler

Utah Jazz : Karl-Anthony Towns, Pacome Dadiet, 2026 1st-round pick, 2030 1st-round pick swap (via NYK), 2032 first-round pick swap (via NYK)

Why the Hawks would do this deal: Kolek has shown signs of brilliance as a passer, but he needs to get better as a shooter and defender before he can be trusted as a regular season, let alone postseason, rotation player. However, the Marquette guard scored 23 points in the first half of New York's only Summer League win. He could develop into a solid backup point guard on a cost-controlled deal and the Hawks are risking very little to find out. The Hawks don't have an immediate need at backup point guard if Keaton Wallace and Kobe Bufkin can both stay healthy, so they can afford to wait on Kolek to develop.

Why the Hawks would not do this deal: Kolek only shot 17.1% from deep and as a small guard, his shooting needs to be better for him to be a viable NBA player. It may be too much of a development project for Atlanta to take on.

Why the Knicks would do this deal: Even though they are swapping one expensive contract for another, Markkanen's deal comes in at cap hits of about $7-8 million dollars less each season than Towns. Furthemore, it never breaks 30% of the cap while Towns' deal never goes below 32% of the cap. That's even before getting into what this deal would do for New York on the court. Being able to deploy Mitchell Robinson and Walker Kessler in tandem with each other, coupled with O.G Anunoby as a help defender, would be a ferocious combination on defense due to both Robinson and Kessler being excellent rim protectors who can dominate the boards. However, the real prize of this deal is what Markkanen could do for them. Markkanen was one of the most desirable players after the 2023-24 season due to a fantastic season where he averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds on 63% TS, 40% from three on eight attempts per game and 41.4 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. Even his down season last year still yielded 19 points and 5.9 rebounds on 42.3/34.6/87.6 shooting splits despite struggling with injuries for most of the year. He's a massive wing who can line up at either SF or PF, firmly in his prime at 28 years old and he's already signed for the next four seasons. New York could deploy lineups that surround Jalen Brunson with capable shooters without losing anything from a rim protection standpoint. It would also allow them to play Josh Hart as part of their bench unit, which would be enormous for New York's depth. Keyonte George is also an intriguing add for the Knicks - he shot 34.3% from deep on high volume (7.6 attempts per game) and has the size at 6'4 to be a viable defender. Still only 21 years old, he gives the Knicks some young depth that they desperately lack. This deal would also give New York some more breathing room under the second apron, shaving about $2.6 million from their payroll.

Why the Knicks would not do this deal: They did just make the ECF with Towns at center and it's possible that they consider this to be an overly aggressive move given that Towns has only played one year with the team. Furthermore, they would be cashing out all their remaining draft picks and rule out the slim possiblity of a Giannis trade.

Why the Jazz would do this deal: Adding Karl-Anthony Towns would be a massive face-lift for a struggling Jazz offense. He averaged 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds on 52.6/42/82.9% shooting splits and shot a blistering 42% from deep on 4.7 attempts per game. Although Kessler is a great rebounder, Towns had the best rebounding season of his career last year and posted a TREB% of 21%. Given that the Jazz finished 22nd in 3P% last season, there's no question that Towns can improve their spacing. The combination of Towns and young center Kyle Fillipowski, while defensively flawed, has some potential on offense and that's even before considering what the young backcourt of Isaiah Collier and Walter Clayton Jr could do by playing off of the spacing Towns creates. Having Ace Bailey as a help defender would also give them a pretty intriguing group of players to possibly challenge for a play-in spot in the Western Conference. They also get intriguing first-round pick swaps with the Knicks in 2030 and 2032 that could be top-five picks once the Knicks' contention window closes.

Why the Jazz would not do this deal: Towns is on a more expensive contract than Markkanen and he's still not a quality rim protector. They would be sacrificing a good bit on defense and going all-in on their offense, which might backfire tremendously. George is also an intriguing young guard and is only 21 years old.

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