Putting the Knicks' franchise-altering trades into perspective for Yankees fans

Most Yankees fans are feeling the energy right now as the New York Knicks are one victory away from winning their first NBA championship in 53 years. The Knicks will battle the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, following a miraculous, come-from-behind win for New York in Game 4.

The hero of Game 4 for the Knicks was OG Anunoby, whose tip-in with less than two seconds remaining in regulation sealed the deal for New York. The Knicks trailed by 29 points at one point in the game, which was the largest deficit overcame in a Finals game! Many NBA fans and analysts believe that Anunoby could end up winning NBA Finals MVP, depending on how the rest of the series shapes up.

New York's star center Karl-Anthony Towns is also in the running for the award. He's been awesome in the Finals thus far, outplaying Spurs megastar Victor Wembanyama for extended stretches.

Trade acquisitions OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns are shining for the Knicks in the NBA Finals

Both Anunoby and Towns were acquired by the Knicks via trade within the last three years, which is a testament to New York's front office. In the minutes following Game 4 (featuring Anunoby's iconic play), one Knicks fan declared that the Knicks had officially "won" the trade that delivered them Anunoby. The deal, which happened in the middle of the 2023 season, sent then-Knicks guards RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley (along with a 2024 second-round pick) to the Toronto Raptors for Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn.

While we're here, let's have some fun with this and analyze both the Anunoby trade (outlined above) and the trade that landed Towns in New York. As part of this bit, I'll compare each trade to a recent MLB equivalent.

Finding an MLB equivalent for the Knicks' OG Anunoby trade: The Mets trading for Freddy Peralta

I liken the Anunoby trade to the New York Mets' recent deal for Freddy Peralta, which saw the Mets receive Peralta and Tobias Myers from the Milwaukee Brewers for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat.

Anunoby is Peralta in this comp — the established star who is very much still in his prime. Meanwhile, Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, being two young prospects, can be compared to Barrett and Quickley, who were two young guards with a ton of promise when the Knicks traded them.

This was, in both cases, a New York team trading away two young assets (with uncertain but promising futures) for a prime-aged "sure thing". Anunoby had already established a reputation as a two-way demon wing in the NBA, and he already had an NBA championship ring with Toronto. Peralta was coming off the best season of his career with the Brewers and was a two-time All-Star.

The jury is still out on the Mets' trade (it's still early). Meanwhile, the Knicks definitely got the best player in their deal (Anunoby), but that was assumed at the time, and it's worth noting that Barrett has been really good for the Raptors. Quickley? Not so much. Seeing as the Raptors were not in win-now mode at the time of the trade, the deal ultimately made sense for both sides and has been beneficial for all parties.

Finding an MLB equivalent for the Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns trade: The Astros trading away Kyle Tucker

The Towns trade was a three-team deal that the Knicks pulled off (to everyone's surprise) a couple of weeks before the 2024-25 NBA season. While the Charlotte Hornets were involved for money reasons, the main assets involved (other than Towns) were then-Knicks players Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom were shipped off to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This was a particularly heartbreaking moment for DiVincenzo, a former Villanova Wildcat, who suddenly became the banished member of the "Nova Knicks". DiVincenzo has to be watching the current NBA Finals with wildly mixed feelings. He's also nursing a torn Achilles at the moment.

Anyway, what's the MLB equivalent of this transaction? I'm going to go with the Cubs-Astros Kyle Tucker trade from December 2024, which saw Chicago land Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and Cam Smith for Tucker. When the Astros traded Tucker, it was due largely to upcoming financial concerns (look what Tucker's making now). But then again, if Houston had loved Tucker's fit with them, they probably would have paid top dollar. In other words, Tucker left something to be desired, from their perspective.

A similar description can be applied to how the Timberwolves viewed Towns in the year or so leading up to trading him. While Minnesota had advanced far in the playoffs with Towns as their second-best player behind Anthony Edwards, Towns' frustrating performances in the postseason (replete with a recurring habit of committing dumb fouls) ultimately convinced Minnesota to go in a different direction, despite his immense talent.

The trades have worked out differently. With the Knicks now on the verge of a title, the equivalent MLB outcome would have been if Tucker stayed in Chicago another year and they ended up winning the World Series with him playing a crucial role. That obviously didn't happen, but for the purpose of this exercise, it's probably the best parallel we can draw.

Now if only Brian Cashman can make two impact deals at the trade deadlin to propel the Yankees like Towns and Anunoby have propelled the Knicks ...

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