The Los Angeles Lakers have missed a dominant big man since trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in February 2025. But a new trade pitch published Thursday and aimed at the Lakers and New York Knicks would land one of the NBA’s most dynamic 7-footers in 30-year-old Karl-Anthony Towns, giving up their own newly acquired, 7-foot-2 Walker Kessler and a blockbuster package of three other players in one deal.
In the proposal posted on FanSpo‘s trade board, Los Angeles would receive Towns, who earns $57,078,728 this season. New York would take back Kessler ($30.1 million), Quentin Grimes ($13.9 million), Jarred Vanderbilt ($12.4 million) and Adou Thiero ($2.1 million), according to FanSpo. That package totals $58,641,798, leaving the Knicks $1,563,070 over the limit for a first-apron team. Grimes also cannot be traded until Dec. 15. But those details, presumably, could be worked out before the proposed trade ever became reality.
Towns was born in Piscataway, New Jersey, spent one season at Kentucky and went No. 1 overall to Minnesota in 2015. The 7-footer won Rookie of the Year, made six All-Star teams and has averaged 22.8 points and 11.1 rebounds across 720 games.
He averaged 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds in 75 games last season, then 15.9 points and 10.6 rebounds in the playoffs, according to ESPN, as the Knicks went all the way to the NBA championship, the first for the legendary franchise since 1973.
Kessler’s Contract Complicates Towns Trade Pitch
Kessler, 25, was born in Atlanta, won the 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award at Auburn and went 22nd to Memphis before heading to Utah in the Rudy Gobert trade. The 7-foot-2 center has averaged 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 201 games, according to CBS Sports. He played five games in 2025-26 before season-ending surgery on a torn left labrum.
Utah sent him to Los Angeles on July 1 in a sign-and-trade for unprotected 2031 and 2033 first-round picks plus 2028 and 2030 swaps, according to Hoops Rumors. Kessler signed for four years and about $130 million, with a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.
Grimes, 26, signed for four years and $60 million this summer, according to Andscape‘s story on Grimes’ new contract. Vanderbilt, 27, earns $12.4 million this season and holds a $13.3 million player option for 2027-28. Thiero, the 36th pick in 2025 by Brooklyn, signed a three-year, $5.95 million deal with the Lakers, according to Spotrac contract details.
Who Wins the Proposed Karl-Anthony Towns Trade
Los Angeles would shed about $1.56 million and swap four contracts for one, leaving Luka Doncic at $49.8 million and Austin Reaves at $41.2 million. New York would stay a first-apron team, trade two years of Towns for four years of Kessler and sidestep an extension that could start near $68 million, according to The KOT Show‘s breakdown.
Los Angeles gets a 7-footer who has shot 39.7% from three for his career, while Kessler has made 26.6% from deep and 54.5% at the line. New York gets a younger center and lob threat but loses floor spacing and shot creation.
FanSpo‘s model projects the Lakers at five more wins and the Knicks at five fewer, crediting Los Angeles with the better end. A legal version needs roughly $1.5 million less incoming salary for New York after Dec. 15, when Grimes becomes eligible to move.
Lakers Trade Pitch Lands Karl-Anthony Towns for 4-Player Package