The New York Knicks would have to include Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, and/or Josh Hart in any potential trade involving Giannis Antetokounmpo. Anunoby is the name that always comes up in discussions of the Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks’ proposed “Greek Freak” swap.
ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel noted that negotiations start at Bridges and Anunoby, but doesn’t think New York’s front office tried that hard to land Antetokounmpo.
“Any path for the Knicks to come close to offering the Bucks the value needed to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo would need to be multi-team deal,” Siegel wrote.
“NY has virtually no draft capital and would need to trade guys like Bridges/Anunoby just to have a shot at creating such.
“The way this Giannis-Knicks story reads is a major missed opportunity for the Knicks.
“While they don’t have the assets to pull off a Giannis trade, it doesn’t even seem like they tried.
“Hard to imagine they will get another chance if Giannis requests a trade in the future.”
You can’t blame Leon Rose and the rest of the Knicks front office. As The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III noted, the Bucks may ask for anyone short of Jalen Brunson. Edwards named Towns and Hart specifically.
“Additionally, according to the report, the conversations between the two teams occurred in August. Bridges signed his extension on Aug. 1, making him ineligible to be traded until just before the trade deadline. So, assuming Jalen Brunson is off the table, the Knicks would have had to move a combination of Towns, Anunoby and Hart. The combination of those players and bottom-of-the-barrel picks, in my opinion, isn’t blowing the Bucks away,” Edwards wrote.
Breaking up the roster and creating a super two around Antetokounmpo and Brunson is a risky endeavor. Antetokounmpo isn’t a great fit with Mitchell Robinson in a potential New York front court. His and Brunson’s next contracts will make it hard to bring in new talent. Free agents haven’t been sacrificing money to play for the Knicks.
Given the price for Antetokounmpo, New York may ultimately pass. Giving up draft capital would’ve been preferable to gutting an Eastern Conference Finals core. Besides, the Brooklyn Nets may be more inclined to make a franchise-altering move given the lack of established players on that roster, anyway, if Antetokounmpo needs to scratch his Big Apple itch.
