I'd do that trade in a vacuum, though Durant is not an optimal fit for an assist-punt strategy. 6 APG from a forward is a lot, and more than I'd want even from my point guards if I were punting assists. (Mitchell, incidentally, is a pretty good PG-eligible player to have for an assist-punt.) You already have the best first-round player for an assist-punt in Towns. If you wanted to go after another I would target Kawhi, as long as you're not too scared by him missing games.

I should add that Embiid and Vuc are both guys you should consider trading if you're fully committed to an assist-punt. They're both over 3.5 APG which is a lot for a center. If you could turn one of them into Kawhi and one of them into Capela + something, that's what I'd try to do.

David with the sweet info.

This is going to be a multi-step process. If you're TRULY punting assists, start moving your guys that have bonus value BECAUSE of assists for other guys that have value because of other categories.

Sure, you can trade for Durant, but then try to flip him for guys that fit your build better. I did that in one league where I traded for Paul George in a punt points build, but then turned him into RoCo and Butler.

Use the tools at BasketballMonster to see how turning assists ON/OFF impacts your player values.

I should qualify what I wrote above to say that I'm not sure KAT actually comes out as the #1 guy if you turn off assists (I suspect that AD and Steph might still be 1-2 just because of how overwhelmingly they dominate other categories). I just meant that KAT has the lowest assists per game of all the first-round studs, so he's an ideal guy to build that punt strategy around. Certainly use the BMonster tools if you have access for them.

I'd also add that, without having seen the rest of your roster, it's possible you're not as close to having to punt assists as you might think, given that you already have some out-of-position assists in two of your centers. It could be that that just one trade for a high-assist guy (doesn't even have to be a stud; a mid-round guy like Teague could do the trick) could make you competitive again in the category, and might be simpler than having to make multiple moves to go all in on an assist-punt. Would have to see the rest of your roster though.

Thank you for the great insight David and Dan. Interesting and much appreciated. I already have Kawhi too!

My team is quite deep I think

KAT
Kawhi
Embiid
Vucevic
Mitchell
Covington
JJJ
Otto
Horford (got him on waivers)
Rubio (got him on waivers)
Markannen
Dunn
Harris
Juancho

Perhaps I should be looking at doing a embiid and Rubio for PG-13 and someone else instead of targeting Durant.

Do the deal.

Kawhi
KAT
Durant.

Basically doesnt matter who you have from there, you win.

If you decide KD isnt ideal for your build he is worth alot more on the trade market.

Or flip one of your mid tier guys for assists as david said. Need to maintain strategic flexibility when it comes to securing first round assets.

Well you've got Rubio, you've got Dunn . . . you have *some* assists there; enough that I think it would be more trouble than it's worth to make all the moves you'd need to go into a full punt. You don't have to punt a cat just because you're not dominant in it. Winning a cat 30% of the time is better than winning it 0% of the time.

So I'll agree with Vegemite Toast and say just make the trade for Durant. You'll be loaded with top 10 players and you'll be in great shape.