Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted during the offseason that he contemplated his future with the Milwaukee Bucks, and the team was reportedly willing to trade him under the right circumstances.
ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported in May that Antetokounmpo was open to playing for a team other than the Bucks for the first time in his career. Milwaukee received plenty of interest in Giannis, but it has since been revealed that the two-time NBA MVP only wanted to play for the New York Knicks if he were to be traded.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” Tuesday morning, NBA reporter Brian Windhorst revealed that the Knicks could have had Giannis if they wanted the nine-time All-Star badly enough.
“I know everybody tried to whistle past the graveyard and try to pretend this didn’t happen, but you know that Giannis basically said he wanted to be a Knick? The Knicks have been waiting for 15 years to get somebody to say they want to be a Knick,” Windhorst said. “Because the Knicks built this team the way they did and whatever the offer that they made wasn’t good enough, Giannis is not a Knick.
“Now, I know that he says he’s gonna be in Milwaukee and everything, nobody denied that report. Those talks happened. The Knicks were in position to get Giannis and they didn’t get him, either because they didn’t offer enough and because they believe in this team, which is a totally acceptable answer.”
“The Knicks were in position to get Giannis and they didn’t get him…the Knicks could have had Giannis under a certain set of circumstances.” – Brian Windhorst pic.twitter.com/k4XKHfuWbB
— Awful Announcingr (@awfulannouncing) October 21, 2025
Any deal for the Knicks to acquire Antetokounmpo would be complicated by second-apron restrictions. That is likely what Windhorst was referencing with his talk of how the current roster is constructed.
Then, there is the question of how many first-round draft picks the Knicks would be willing to surrender in a deal for Giannis. It is entirely possible that Milwaukee’s asking price was unrealistic.
Giannis had another outstanding regular season this year with 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. He was even better in the playoffs with 33.0 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, but it was not enough for Milwaukee to win a series. The Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in five games in the opening round.
It is possible the Knicks and Bucks could revisit trade talks centered on Giannis at the February deadline, but that will likely depend on how the season has gone for both teams to that point.
