NBA Rumors on Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Buzz, Potential Landing Spots for Knicks Star

There is buzz around the NBA that the New York Knicks might consider trading Karl-Anthony Towns ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline, Newsday's Steve Popper reported Tuesday.

Popper wrote that "whispers around the league have begun to speculate about the possibility of the Knicks moving him," although one source told him "the Knicks have not shopped Towns or brought him up with any teams."

According to Popper, Towns' name came up when the Knicks were discussing a potential deal for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

"Now league sources said talks have involved other teams, including Memphis, Orlando and Charlotte," Popper wrote.

Towns is averaging 21 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists through 40 starts during his second season in New York. He is under contract through at least next season and holds a $61 million player option for 2027-28, per Spotrac.

NBC Sports' Chris Mannix said Monday the Knicks aren't expected to move towns, even if the Bucks decide to shop Antetokounmpo.

"The answer, from what I'm told, is no," Mannix said about whether Antetokounmpo's status would change Towns' status on the trade block. "The Knicks are not looking to do a deal involving Karl-Anthony Towns. They're not looking to do a deal involving Mikal Bridges.

"They are, frankly, not looking to do deals involving any of their core guys... My sense is that the Knicks are going to try to ride this out with this group for the rest of the season, and hope that their chemistry, their continuity, the fact that they were a conference finalist last year, that helps power them in the postseason."

Anything short of a trip to the NBA Final would be a disappointment for the Knicks, who fired longtime head coach Tom Thibodeau last June after the franchise's first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years ended in a six-game loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The Knicks are still on track for another playoff run after a 25-18 season start that has the team sitting third in the Eastern Conference.

New York could slip lower, however, if the team's ongoing slump continues. The Knicks have won just two of their last 11 games, and they extended their ongoing losing streak to four straight with a Monday night loss to the visiting Dallas Mavericks.

Towns and Jalen Brunson each contributed 22 points in Monday night's loss, but no other starters reached double-digit point totals as Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart were each held below 10 points in the loss.

The Toronto Raptors (25-19), Philadelphia 76ers (23-18), Orlando Magic (23-19) and Cleveland Cavaliers (24-20) are all within 1.5 games back of the Knicks, raising the possibility New York could drop toward the edge of the playoff bubble if the losing streak continues over the eight games remaining before the trade deadline.

At least for now, it sounds like the Knicks are planning to let the team's current core work out how to break the slump as the franchise looks to run things back this spring.