Basketball on one of the tentpole holidays is supposed to be a celebration in the spotlight.
It is supposed to be the day to put your best foot forward in front of a national audience. It is supposed to come at a point of the season when you are putting everything together.
The New York Knicks celebrated an NBA Cup title more than a month ago. It was the highest the franchise has felt in several decades. It seemed to be the clearing house for New York to be the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. The path was clear for the Knicks' ascendance.
But on Martin Luther King Day on Monday, in front of a national audience against the presumptive Rookie of the Year in Cooper Flagg, the Knicks were getting run off the court. Trailing by 30 points, boos rained down on the Knicks.
Considering their 7-11 record since returning with the NBA Cup, including the second-worst defense in the league since Dec. 17 at 119.6 points allowed per 100 possessions, it is hard not to blame Knicks fans for their harsh response.
New York has gone from a surefire Eastern Conference contender to third in the East and only 1.5 games ahead of the Orlando Magic in sixth, even after Orlando's own struggles since the trip to Vegas.
At least the Magic can blame injuries in that time. New York has been mostly healthy.
And so the Knicks' woes in the past month have them perhaps asking bigger questions about their roster and their project. And the potential for New York to make a major deal is going to bring a lot of teams into their orbit.
Steve Popper of Newsday reported there are whispers around the league that New York might make Karl-Anthony Towns available ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, and talks "have included other teams, including Memphis, Orlando and Charlotte." Towns was the central figure in the Knicks' rumored -- and still readying -- pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The question is whether the Knicks believe they can right the ship and regain their Eastern Conference favorite status, whether they can hold their water for the big trades in the offseason or whether they believe they must act immediately to fix things.
In either case, the Magic have been dragged into this vortex. The Knicks' struggles and their eye for big trades is going to drag a lot of teams through the rumor mill.
Why Towns?
Karl-Anthony Towns is not a good fit for the Orlando Magic. And it is highly unlikely that the Magic are pursuing a Towns deal.
Even if the team had given up on Paolo Banchero, there are many hurdles to clear to make something like that happen. And it would be extremely ill-advised.
Towns has essentially become a scapegoat for all of the Knicks' defensive woes.
He has never been a strong defensive big man. Remember, the Minnesota Timberwolves gave up a king's ransom of draft picks to acquire Rudy Gobert to help him.
Towns is averaging 21.0 points per game and 11.6 rebounds per game this season. But he is shooting only 35.8 percent on 4.8 3-point attempts per game. His scoring and shooting numbers are his worst since his rookie year.
Worse still, the Knicks have a 114.7 defensive rating with Towns on the floor this year. A mark that is more than a point per 100 possessions better than the team's overall average. But since returning from Vegas, the Knicks have a 120.5 defensive rating.
It appears Towns has become more of a scapegoat than anything. And an unusually poor offensive season has made his defensive deficiencies that much more obvious.
The trick for any trade is that Towns is owed $53.1 million this season, $57.1 million next season and $61.0 million with a player option in 2028. For a Magic team that is already facing the tax and the aprons, a trade for Towns would be nearly impossible.
Orlando is hard-capped at the first apron this season anyway and cannot take on significantly more money. New York is a first apron team and can only take back less money in any trade.
A trade for Towns would be a bad fit on the court and a nearly impossible task to make legal with all of these restrictions.
The Salary Dump Question
So why are the Orlando Magic reportedly involved in these discussions?
The Magic's main goal at this year's trade deadline is to reduce their payroll by $5.6 million and get under the luxury tax to avoid starting their repeater tax clock. That has led to the most wide-ranging understanding that the Magic are most likely to try to trade Tyus Jones in a salary-dump trade.
The only substantial rumor that has been spread ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline was Marc Stein reporting the Magic have fished around the league looking for some place to park their struggling backup point guard.
If the New York Knicks are indeed beginning to think about constructing a deal to move off Towns or some other big deal, they likely want to know which third teams will be available to help with matching salaries.
Orlando would certainly prefer to be paid with a bit player or second-round draft capital to accomplish its goals. It would be easier than trying to convince a team to take on a contract completely into cap room.
The Magic would be an excellent third team in a trade like this. And that is how Orlando is probably going to act at the deadline. If nothing materializes, they will still seek to shed that salary to get under the tax.
All of this is only sparked by the Knicks' sudden and frustrating struggles since their breakthrough moment in Las Vegas. As often happens in the NBA, one team's surprise struggle has a way of pulling other teams into the whirlpool.
The Magic are headfirst into the maelstrom.
They are not likely interested in helping the Knicks get a player like Antetokounmpo. This is still a direct competitor at the top of the Eastern Conference, after all.
But the Magic seem available to be a third team if an when a deal happens in the next few weeks.