{"id":703801,"date":"2026-06-14T16:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T16:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703801\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T16:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T16:04:08","slug":"kenyon-martin-would-still-trade-karl-anthony-towns-for-giannis-antetokounmpo-despite-knicks-title-no-team-has-repeated-because-they-have-remained-stagnant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703801\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenyon Martin would still trade Karl-Anthony Towns for Giannis Antetokounmpo despite Knicks title: “No team has repeated because they have remained stagnant”"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN’s\u00a0Stephen A. Smith<\/a>\u00a0pulled out the\u00a0Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>\u00a0card once again after the\u00a0New York Knicks<\/a>\u00a0lost Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, saying he would trade\u00a0Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a>\u00a0and Mikal Bridges<\/a> for the two-time MVP.\u00a0 Smith then insisted on trading for Antetokounmpo while talking to\u00a0Magic Johnson<\/a>\u00a0on “First Take” on Friday.<\/p>\n

Now, former No.1 pick\u00a0Kenyon Martin<\/a>\u00a0has joined the conversation and has an even more outrageous take. During the recent episode of “The Arena”, K-Mart argued that the Knicks should trade Towns for Giannis, despite New York winning the 2026 NBA title.<\/p>\n

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“No matter if the Knicks win or lose the Finals, I am trading KAT for Giannis. That man is an upgrade. No team has repeated cuz they have remained stagnant. Giannis is still a Top 5 player in the NBA right now,”\u00a0Martin explained.<\/p>\n

Winning is the main objective<\/p>\n

The rumor of Antetokounmpo to the Knicks has persisted since last season and refuses to die, despite the Knicks’ success. New York and Milwaukee<\/a> reportedly discussed a Giannis deal in August 2025, but talks did not progress. It was revisited when Antetokounmpo was allegedly on the trading block before the deadline, but ownership decided to wait until after the season to make that move.<\/p>\n

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Last month, Bucks owner Jimmy Haslam said he hopes to settle the Giannis issue before the 2026 NBA Draft on June 23rd. With the NBA Finals ending, Martin wants the Knicks to join the Giannis sweepstakes using KAT as the centerpiece of their offer.<\/p>\n

When his co-host Brandon Jennings<\/a> asked who then would be the guy in New York if the Knicks successfully pair Giannis with Brunson<\/a>, Martin replied:\u00a0“It’s not a d\u2014k swinging contest. It’s about winning. Who cares?”<\/p>\n

“Jalen Brunson is going to be Finals MVP. Whatever comes to him next year, as far as endorsements, love, that’s coming to Jalen Brunson, no matter what. I’m saying, Giannis has already experienced that. He has a championship and Finals MVP. My no.1 goal now is to win another championship. The team win is the main objective here,”\u00a0K-Mart added.<\/p>\n

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Related: “You got a $100,000 car, but your momma still living in the same place?” – Why Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t respect people who don’t take care of their families<\/a><\/p>\n

Magic Johnson had a different perspective<\/p>\n

While Martin has a good point about no champion team repeating since the Dubs with KD in 2018, and that a healthy Giannis is individually an upgrade over KAT, Lakers<\/a> legend Magic Johnson offered a different view about the Knicks. While speaking with Stephen A., Magic explained\u00a0that he does not want to break up the core of the current team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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“I don’t wanna hear no talk about Giannis, or no other player coming to this team,”said<\/a>\u00a0Magic.\u00a0“This is a great team. I’ve watched a lot of basketball. The way these guys love each other. Play for each other. Pull for one another. You’re not gonna see this anywhere else. They don’t out-talent you\u2026The grit, the toughness, that’s how they beat you. Together.”<\/p>\n

“You keep ’em together and make small changes,”\u00a0Johnson added.\u00a0“This team knows how to play so well with each other,\u00a0 and off of Brunson.\u00a0 Everybody is comfortable in their role. KAT could start for another team tomorrow. But he’s comfortable with being the second guy to Brunson. OG can go to another team and be a star. But I’m good. I can play my role. Bridges, I’m good.\u00a0 And Hart, no 2 guard, rebounds like Josh Hart. So you’ve got the pieces, and they’re all happy, Stephen A. And they know how to play with Brunson, and off of Brunson.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s hard to argue with a man who won five NBA championships with one team that had the same core during their championship run. And yes, while Kenyon’s proposal makes sense, it would be prudent for the Knicks to listen to a five-time champion over a guy who never knew what it takes to win a championship, much more back-to-back titles.<\/p>\n

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Related: Karl-Anthony Towns reacts to being called the NBA’s best shooting big man<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jun 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN’s\u00a0Stephen A. Smith\u00a0pulled out the\u00a0Giannis Antetokounmpo\u00a0card once again after the\u00a0New York Knicks\u00a0lost Game 3 of the 2026 NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[259286,47518,359,36782,304119,6306,8726,36784,8263,355,361,2116,99,3692],"class_list":["post-703801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-brandon-jennings","tag-brunson","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-kenyon-martin","tag-lakers","tag-magic-johnson","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-milwaukee","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sports","tag-stephen-a-smith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}