Before the Timberwolves snuck past the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas Day, the NBA’s ESPN cast spent some time reviewing the early results of the trade that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks and Julius Randle to Minnesota – and Kendrick Perkins had a lot to offer.

“Real talk. This trade from Minnesota may well go down as the worst trade in NBA history,” Perkins said.

Stephen A. Smith responded with, “Come on, man, that’s a little over the top.” Perkins didn’t back down.

“You’re trading away a guy, one of the most skilled bigs, one of the best shooters to ever play the game in Karl-Anthony Towns, who you just went to the Western Conference Finals with. Not only did they trade him away, “You trade him away when he was in his prime and you get a guy back in Julius Randle that could get you 20 and 10, but he’s not a good fit with Anthony Edwards,” Perkins said .

“And when you think about Anthony Edwards this season, he also attacked and publicly advocated for the offense. And everyone wonders why he shoots so many 3-pointers? Why doesn’t he attack the ground? How? If so.” Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert on the floor at the same time, the teams will box and elbow, they will go after Anthony Edwards, they will go under the screens. Julius Randle is not a good fit for Anthony Edwards.

While Randle’s suitability can be debated all day, there’s no denying that Towns was traded in part to help Minnesota get under the second limit of the NBA’s luxury tax, which comes with huge tax penalties and roster restrictions.

The fact that this is one of the worst trades in NBA history is just nonsense.

One of the worst trades in NBA history was when the Clippers gave the Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Galinari and seven first-round picks for Paul George.

How about draft night in 1998, when the Bucks selected Dirk Nowitzki but then sent him to Dallas for Robert Traylor? Ouch. And who could forget 1996 when the Hornets drafted Kobe Bryant before trading him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.

The KAT deal hasn’t worked out for the Timberwolves yet and Towns is having a career year in New York, but it’s far too early to put the blockbuster deal anywhere near the category of the worst trades in NBA history.