Jason Burgos
A new rumor about the asking price in a potential summer trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo is bad news for the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors.
There has been no bigger story in the NBA this season (maybe Kawhi-Aspirationgate) than the saga of where Antetokounmpo will be playing next season. Just before the trade deadline last month, the Milwaukee Bucks actually started taking offers on the two-time NBA MVP. However, when the dust settled, the nine-time All-Star remained in Wisconsin.
Reports suggest that while the team listened to offers, they weren’t serious about moving the greatest player in team history, and were just getting a sense of the market ahead of a trade in the summer, when more teams could get involved with better offers.
The NY Knicks and Warriors have been linked to an Antetokounmpo trade the most over the last six months, and the latter was believed to be very aggressive before February’s trade deadline. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Golden State’s “offer included four unprotected first-round picks.”
NY Knicks & Warriors don’t have the assets to make a Giannis trade
However, it allegedly came nowhere close to something the Bucks would actually consider. The NBA insider reports that “Multiple sources across the league said the Bucks’ asking price was enormous, with an executive from a third team describing the Bucks’ process as ‘gauging the market’ and their price as ‘all our draft picks and good young players.'”
That is bad news for both the NY Knicks and the Warriors. For New York, the report continues to add to a narrative that the only way they can get the superstar forward is if he forces a trade to Gotham. The Knicks only have four first-rounders in the next seven years, and lack the young players the Bucks would want as part of a real rebuild after a trade.
The Warriors seem willing to mortgage the next decade if it can get them Antetokounmpo. But they also don’t have the young talent that would intrigue Milwaukee. It could even be debated if they have veteran talent the Bucks would want outside of Stephen Curry.
Either way, the NY Knicks and Warriors don’t seem in a position to meet the Bucks’ alleged asking price in an Antetokounmpo trade.
