Anthony Rivardo
The Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought on June 13, taking down the Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The reward for winning it all is a phone that won’t stop ringing about Giannis Antetokounmpo, with the Bucks reportedly wanting a resolution before the June 23 draft and New York lingering on his radar, per Jake Fischer.
Here is the answer New York should give: no. The Knicks just proved their formula works at the highest level. Trading for Giannis means dismantling the exact thing that won the title, and a superstar swap doesn’t come with another banner attached.
The chemistry is the asset, and it isn’t replaceable
This roster won because the pieces fit, not because it had the most raw talent on paper. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart are all under contract next season, a continuity most contenders would trade real assets to manufacture. Brunson literally bought that continuity, leaving roughly $113 million on the table by signing a four-year, $156.5 million extension so the front office could keep the group together.
You don’t break up a championship core to find out if a different one is better. The Knicks spent years assembling a group that knows where everyone is supposed to be in the fourth quarter of a Finals game. That knowledge took a title run to build. It would take another one to rebuild, with no guarantee the result is as good.
What Giannis actually costs
The price isn’t just picks. It’s a star. The Knicks are already pressed against the cap, projected to sit about $3.5 million below the first apron and $16.5 million below the second, per Bleacher Report’s cap breakdown. To match Antetokounmpo’s salary and satisfy Milwaukee, New York would have to send out one of its core max contracts, almost certainly Towns, Bridges, or Anunoby.
Look at what that subtracts:
| Knicks core (2025-26 salary) | Role in the title run |
|---|---|
| Karl-Anthony Towns ($53.1M) | Floor-spacing big, matchup nightmare |
| OG Anunoby ($39.6M) | Best perimeter defender, two-way wing |
| Mikal Bridges ($24.9M) | Switchable wing, playoff shotmaker |
| Jalen Brunson ($34.9M) | Closer, franchise cornerstone |
Move Anunoby, and the defense that strangled playoff offenses loses its anchor. Move Towns and the spacing that unlocks Brunson’s drives disappears. Move Bridges, and the wing depth that survived a brutal Eastern bracket thins out.
Add Giannis, and you also add his interior-heavy game to a roster already paying Towns to play center, plus the looming question of his own long-term contract. You’d be paying a premium to create a fit problem you don’t currently have.
A better star doesn’t guarantee a better team
Giannis is one of the five best players alive, and adding him would make New York the betting favorite the day the trade went through. Favorites lose every June. The Knicks just watched a team built on cohesion and defensive identity beat rosters with more star power, and they were that team.
Antetokounmpo is also on the wrong side of 30 and would cost the Knicks the youth, depth, and draft capital that keep a contender’s window open past one season. Trading a proven champion’s supporting cast for a single aging superstar is how franchises mortgage a sustainable run for a one-year swing.
Continuity is the smart title defense. Run it back, let the young pieces and the mid-level additions round out the bench, and trust the group that just defied 53 years of history. The Knicks don’t need to chase the best player on the market. They already have the best chemistry, and that is the hardest thing to find.
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