A new trade pitch aims at the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks would send Karl-Anthony Towns to Boston. Paul George goes to the Knicks under this trade scenario that swaps them straight up amid Towns’ stalled contract talks.
The one-for-one deal, posted to FanSpo‘s trade machine but originating on Spotrac, arrives as Knicks owner James Dolan’s hard line on the second apron puts a price on keeping New York’s championship core together.
The machine flags the trade as cap-legal. Towns earns $57 million this season, George $54.1 million, a $2.9 million gap that tilts toward Boston. Both contracts run two years, each ending with a player option for 2027-28.
The model also projects six more wins for the Celtics and six fewer for the Knicks. There is a catch, though. New York would sit at 13 standard contracts after the deal, one short of the required 14.
Karl-Anthony Towns’ New York Knicks Contract Talks Hit a Wall
Towns and the Knicks have made no recent progress on an extension, and a deal before training camp opens Monday looks unlikely, according to ESPN‘s Shams Charania and Vincent Goodwill. Absent an extension, Towns faces a choice next summer between a $61 million player option and unrestricted free agency.
“The big factor throughout all of this is that owner James Dolan has made it clear publicly that the team does not want to go into the second apron, and the team will not go into the second apron going forward,” Charania said on the ESPN program “NBA Today,” as quoted in a Yardbarker report.
Center Mitchell Robinson already left New York for Boston in free agency, according to a CBS Sports analysis.
Towns qualifies for an extension worth up to $277 million over four years. Talks have centered on first-year salaries between $45 million and $50 million, SNY’s Ian Begley reported. A Jalen Brunson extension, which would kick in for 2028-29, hangs over everything, as NBC Sports noted on Wednesday.
Paul George, Karl-Anthony Towns Bring Contrasting Resumes
Towns, born Nov. 15, 1995, in Edison, New Jersey, played one season at Kentucky before Minnesota made him the No. 1 pick in 2015, according to his official NBA.com biography. He won Rookie of the Year honors and the 2022 Three-Point Contest before a 2024 trade sent him to New York.
The 7-footer averaged 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds across 75 games last season. Then he helped the Knicks topple the San Antonio Spurs for their first title in 53 years. He is a six-time All-Star.
George turned 36 in May. The Palmdale, California, native went 10th overall to Indiana out of Fresno State in 2010, then piled up nine All-Star selections, six All-NBA teams and an Olympic gold medal.
George appeared in only 37 games for Philadelphia last season, averaging 17.3 points, and missed 25 more while serving a league anti-drug policy suspension, The Associated Press reported.
The Sixers moved him to Boston in July as part of the Jaylen Brown trade. George then gave up a $3.9 million trade bonus, leaving his cap number at $54.1 million this season and $56.6 million on the 2027-28 option, according to Boston.com.
In the scenario, Boston pairs a 30-year-old floor-spacing center with Jayson Tatum and Robinson. New York shaves $2.9 million this season and sets aside the Towns extension question altogether, in exchange for a 36-year-old wing.
Training camp opens Monday. Towns’ future in New York remains unsettled.
Celtics Blockbuster Trade Pitch Lands Karl-Anthony Towns for Paul George