Giannis Dismisses Knicks Trade Rumors, Says He Tries to 'Stay Away From' Speculation

Following Tuesday night's 121-111 win over the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo brushed off the idea that he had interest in a trade to the Knicks during the offseason.

When asked by a reporter if it was true that he communicated a desire to go to the Knicks with Bucks management, Giannis responded, "Who said that? ... I'm here representing my team. That's it. We beat the Knicks. ... I didn't read that article, try to stay away from all the rumors, speculation and trade and all this."

Earlier this month, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Knicks were the one team Giannis expressed interest in getting traded to during the offseason amid rumors and speculation that he potentially wanted out of Milwaukee.

Per Charania, there was a "multi-week process" of talks between the Bucks and Knicks, but the Bucks didn't feel the Knicks made a strong enough offer, and the Knicks didn't believe the Bucks were serious about trading Antetokounmpo.

Since winning the NBA championship in 2021, the Bucks have not made it past the second round of the playoffs, and they have experienced three consecutive first-round exits.

That coupled with star guard Damian Lillard tearing his Achilles during last season's playoffs led to speculation that Giannis would perhaps try to find a way out of Milwaukee.

Regardless of what Antetokounmpo initially wanted to do, the Bucks managed to keep him in the fold, and they also re-signed several key players, including Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and Taurean Prince.

On top of that, the Bucks made the aggressive move of waiving the injured Lillard and signing former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner, who was arguably the best unrestricted free agent on the market.

Early returns on those moves have been good, as the Bucks are off to a 3-1 start, which is tied for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

On Tuesday, the Bucks took care of business against a Knicks team that was a popular pick to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals entering the season.

Knicks-Bucks Full Highlights

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Giannis was a huge part of the victory, as the two-time NBA MVP and one-time NBA Finals MVP led all scorers with 37 points on 16-of-22 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.

For now, it appears as though all is well between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, and they will look to keep rolling Thursday when they host the Golden State Warriors.