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Giannis Antetokounmpo is officially up for grabs, and the New York Knicks are expected to be heavily involved in the negotiations taking place between now and the trade deadline. Yet, their best chance of convincing the Milwaukee Bucks of sending him where he clearly wants to go may be predicated on the two-time MVP staying put until the offseason.
ESPN’s Shams Charania first brought word that the Giannis sweepstakes are officially underway. The 31-year-old has apparently “informed the Bucks for months that he believes the moment has come to part ways,” and Milwaukee is now “more open than ever” to shopping him.
As Yossi Gozlan of the Third Apron notes, the Knicks are among the teams who should be considered frontrunners for Giannis’ services. But if that’s the case, it would behoove the Bucks to hold off on moving their superstar now because of New York’s draft-pick situation:
The Knicks and Heat seem like the natural frontrunners for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks can extract more from these teams in the offseason.
The Heat can trade two first-round picks now and four in the offseason.
The Knicks can trade zero now but up to two in the offseason.
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) January 28, 2026
The Knicks will be able to move their 2026 and 2033 picks once the league’s calendar flips to next season. They could also include first-round swap rights in 2030 and 2032, effectively giving the Bucks control over four first-round picks, in addition to whatever players would be sent Milwaukee’s way.
Acquiring Giannis this offseason could get more complicated
Ideally, the Knicks would land Giannis prior to the February 5 trade deadline. Offseason deals are typically easier, but in their case, immediately is more convenient.
For as close to the second apron as New York is now, it is nevertheless below it. That allows the front office to combine multiple contracts in a single trade, so long as it’s not bringing back more money than being sent out.
This minimal flexibility gets harder to maintain over the offseason. The Knicks project to be just $16.3 million below the second apron, without factoring in a potential new deal for Mitchell Robinson. Between paying him and filling out the rest of the roster, they could easily blow past that threshold.
Acquiring Giannis would still be possible. It’d just also be messier. While the Knicks could combine contracts and ensure they’re finishing below the second apron as part of the trade, cutting salary in a blockbuster deal may require them to fork over even more compensation. And if they wind up needing to avoid the second apron altogether, Robinson could be collateral damage.
That’s the other thing: New York’s salary-matching tools get a little weirder over the offseason. Mikal Bridges will be getting a $9 million bump, which could help the math work in any potential deal, but Robinson’s expiring contract would no longer be in play.
This may not faze the Knicks. They’ll prefer to keep Robinson if Karl-Anthony Towns gets shipped out for Giannis. At least now, though, they have the option of moving him to grease the wheels. They’d forfeit over the summer, unless sign-and-trade scenarios are on the table.
And by the way, this says nothing of the additional suitors who could emerge from the woodwork over the summer. Asset-stacked teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks seem less likely to go all-in for Giannis right now. That could change for one or more of them this offseason, depending on how the playoffs shake out.
The Knicks have no choice but to wait this out
There’s another obvious benefit to getting Giannis this season: New York wouldn’t have to give up its 2026 and 2033 firsts, because it legally can’t. Getting a top-five player in his prime while still having draft picks to maneuver with this summer would be a special kind of coup.
Yet, the timing of all this isn’t up to the Knicks. Even if Giannis picks them—and he already might have!—their leverage isn’t infinite. Short of convincing the Portland Trail Blazers to send back Milwaukee’s own draft rights, they can’t reasonably hope to win the Giannis sweepstakes without having a single first-rounder to send Milwaukee. The Bucks would do better to delay a Giannis-to-New York deal until its rival can put more assets on the table.
This doesn’t mean the Knicks shouldn’t try to accelerate the timeline. They should. They will. They are. But the clearest signal that they have a real shot at trading for Giannis may actually entail him not getting traded at all.