3 Trade Packages New York Knicks Could Have Made for Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo

ESPN's Shams Charania has been reading (and sharing) some smoke signals on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade front for months.

And on Tuesday, he revealed where some of them may have originated.

"New York emerged as the only team Giannis Antetokounmpo desired outside of Milwaukee in the offseason," Charania posted. "...and the Knicks and Bucks engaged in talks for a window of time."

Of course, nothing materialized. And New York has already spent a fortune in trade assets over the last couple years on the Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns deals.

But in the NBA, the star's desire for a certain landing spot can carry a lot of weight. If Giannis ever decided he really wanted to get there, New York would have a few options Milwaukee would need to seriously consider.

The Simple KAT Deal

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Giannis Antetokounmpo for Karl-Anthony Towns, Pacôme Dadiet, a 2028 first-round pick swap, a 2030 first-round pick swap, a 2032 first-round pick swap and seven second-round picks

If the Knicks wanted to entice the Bucks without wrangling a third team and its draft picks, they'd have to give up just about every shred of assets they have left.

And even that might not be enough.

The pick swaps in 2028 and 2030 are already burdened by swaps with other teams. By the time those are settled, there may not be any value in Milwaukee actually making the swaps. They might only move the Bucks up a pick or two. But that's better than nothing.

And though second-round picks may not carry a ton of weight individually, seven is an awful lot of shots on dark-horse prospects or potential sweeteners for future trades.

As for Towns, he's a solid potential building block for the next era of Bucks basketball, although he's far from a perfect fit with Myles Turner.

If the idea was to follow up a Giannis trade with a full-scale rebuild, unloading both of those big men could lead to a pretty significant haul of picks and/or young players.

A Third Team Takes on KAT

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Bucks Receive: Nikola Vučević, Zach Collins, Noa Essengue, Pacôme Dadiet, a 2029 first-round pick from Chicago, a 2031 first-round pick from Chicago, a 2032 first-round pick swap from Chicago and four second-round picks from New York

Knicks Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Bulls Receive: Karl-Anthony Towns

This one sort of cuts to the chase on the idea referenced above. Instead of waiting to trade KAT in a subsequent, rebuild-focused deal, it redirects him to the Chicago Bulls in this three-teamer.

And while Bulls fans might not be stoked to see this year's first-round pick and multiple future firsts headed out the door, a core with Towns, Josh Giddey, Coby White and Matas Buzelis would make the team a near lock for the playoffs without sacrificing all its longterm upside.

For the Bucks, this trade gives them two expiring contracts (Nikola Vučević and Zach Collins) they can flip in later deals, two prospects and more unburdened draft capital than the previous framework provided.

A Brunson Deal

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Bucks Receive: Fred VanVleet, Josh Hart, Reed Sheppard, a 2028 first-round pick from Houston, a 2030 first-round pick from Houston and four second-round picks from New York

Knicks Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Rockets Receive: Jalen Brunson

Trading Jalen Brunson and officially blowing up the "Nova Knicks" ethos seems about as unlikely as a Giannis trade itself.

But if it meant Giannis in New York, the Knicks might have to seriously consider it.

The deal would leave New York awfully thin in the backcourt, but point Giannis would help on that front. And surrounding him with shooting and length from KAT, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby would make the Knicks attack a nightmare.

The Bucks, meanwhile, would get a better upside play in Reed Sheppard than either of the previous deals provide. It still gives Milwaukee a fair bit of draft assets. And although Fred VanVleet will miss this entire season recovering from a torn ACL, he and Josh Hart could hold some trade value before their contracts end in 2027. (Hart is under contract for 2027-28, but it's a team option.)

Finally, the play for Houston here is pretty obvious. In the wake of VanVleet's injury, leaning into youth and giving Sheppard and Amen Thompson more point guard reps would make sense. But Kevin Durant is 37 years old.

If the Rockets are going to win a title with KD, it needs to happen in the next couple years. The chances probably diminish with each passing season. And Brunson gets them a lot closer to the ultimate goal in 2026 than developmental minutes for Sheppard and Thompson would.