Blazers Encouraged to Go After Karl-Anthony Towns This Offseason

The Portland Trail Blazers are entering a crucial offseason in terms of their overall rebuild. After a successful year that saw tremendous growth from the young core, the Trail Blazers front office will be looking to make some additions.

Portland has a few contracts on the roster that could be moved for stronger assets, and it would behoove the team to move them this summer. One of those is center Deandre Ayton, who has been in trade rumors for a while now.

One new trade idea has Portland move off Ayton to land a five-time All-Star from the Eastern Conference. Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposed a deal for the Trail Blazers to land Karl-Anthony Towns from the New York Knicks.

Here is how the deal would look:

Knicks receive: Deandre Ayton, Matisse Thybulle, the No. 11 pick and a 2032 first-round pick swap

Trail Blazers receive: Karl-Anthony Towns

"Anfernee Simons, Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija look ready to push for a playoff spot now, and Towns would help them do that. His outside shooting would widen slashing lanes for all of the above. And Portland has a defensive culture strong enough to cover for some of Towns' weaknesses there."

Landing a player like Towns could help the Trail Blazers enhance the rebuild process. For all his flaws, Towns is still one of the better shooting big men in the entire NBA.

This past season with the Knicks, he averaged 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. Towns also shot 42 percent from beyond the 3-point line this season.

If Portland wants to take that next step, this could be one route to take things. This deal would allow them to rid themselves of Ayton while bringing in a true "go-to" type of player for the roster.

This deal seems like a win-win, and Portland could benefit from it.

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