Though it is not a hard deadline, Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam has said that, one way or another, the team would prefer to settle the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo before the NBA Draft. That approach makes sense. Many of the teams in the market for Antetokounmpo have reasonably high picks in this year's draft (which is set for June 23-24), and the Bucks would probably like to be able to make those picks themselves rather than waiting until after the draft to trade for players chosen by different front offices. With 27 of their 29 potential trade partners eliminated from the postseason, they have most of the league available to negotiate with.
Not among those 27 teams, however, is the team that has arguably been linked most closely to Antetokounmpo since last offseason: the New York Knicks. Reports have suggested that the Knicks were initially Antetokounmpo's preferred destination, and that while trade talks didn't progress far, they did at least occur to some degree. New York's stunning 13-game playoff winning streak, which included a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals against the Spurs, has slowed those rumors almost to a stop.
But, according to Jake Fischer and Marc Stein, the Bucks may not quite be ready to say die yet. Fischer and Stein reported Tuesday that "there is an increasing belief leaguewide that they would prefer to wait until after the NBA Finals before completing a deal to see if the Knicks end up squandering a 2-0 series lead." The thought, seemingly, would be to see if the Knicks decided to re-engage following a gut-wrenching Finals loss. Whether or not they would do so, we cannot say.
Why a Knicks-Giannis trade seems unlikely
Even if the Knicks do wind up losing the Finals, they will finish this game no more than two wins shy of the championship. Their roster has lived up to the lofty Finals expectations set by owner James Dolan, and the core players have meshed together exceedingly well during this postseason run. Even if Antetokounmpo is better individually than any player on New York's roster, he's a tricky fit with several of their core players and would likely cost multiple essential pieces in a trade. Trading for Antetokounmpo would functionally mean breaking up this version of the Knicks. Barring a truly embarrassing collapse, it's hard to imagine New York biting on such a trade.
Nonetheless, the mere concept here is fascinating in the broader context of Milwaukee's attempts to trade Antetokounmpo for fair value. Almost any construction of a Knicks trade would likely include Karl-Anthony Towns. That is notable because, only around four months ago, The Athletic reported that if Towns was traded, "the return is expected to be salary-matching players and, maybe, small draft compensation." His supermax contract, declining offensive production and inconsistent defense had seemingly drastically reduced his trade value compared to his younger years in Minnesota.
But now, Towns is coming off of a historic postseason, and perhaps more importantly, he has held his own against Victor Wembanyama in the NBA Finals. Does this suggest that Towns has meaningfully increased his trade value? Would the Bucks want to keep him themselves or flip him elsewhere as teams panic about building a team capable of competing with Wembanyama moving forward? Antetokounmpo is a better player than Towns, but Towns is theoretically easier to fit on many rosters because of his shooting and improved defense.
State of the Giannis bidding war
The Bucks wouldn't wait for the Knicks unless there was something they wanted from them, specifically, at least more than what they could get from other suitors. The reporting thus far has suggested that the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers are the two teams pursuing Antetokounmpo most seriously. Could New York -- with minimal draft capital or youth to offer -- really put a better offer on the table than either of them, even if it wanted to? Is Milwaukee trying to drum up a bidding war where one doesn't currently exist?
Remember, the Bucks were able to acquire Damian Lillard in 2023 in part because Miami was seemingly hesitant to put its best package on the table. Maybe Milwaukee needs to get another suitor into the mix who appeals enough to Antetokounmpo to scare the Heat into offering more.
The dynamics of any trade this complicated aren't fully possible to understand in the moment, and for all we know, there are mystery teams in the running that may either be trying to trade for Antetokounmpo or that Antetokounmpo is trying to force his way onto. Nonetheless, the concept of waiting for the Knicks certainly throws a wrench into that preferred timeline for the Bucks.
The NBA Draft begins on June 23. If the Knicks lose the Finals, their defeat will come in no fewer than six games, and Game 6 of the Finals is on June 16. If there is a Game 7, it would come on June 19, giving the Bucks only three full days before the draft to negotiate with the Knicks if they do indeed reenter the picture. Doing so given how close they've gotten to the title seems unlikely, and the Bucks may just be dotting i's and crossing t's here. Why trade the best player in franchise history without fully understanding his market?
For now, the Knicks remain focused on winning the championship. All offseason business will have to wait until after the series ends, no matter how inconvenient that might be for the Bucks.
