There has been one team constantly at the top of any list of potential suitors for Giannis Antetokounmpo. That is none other than the New York Knicks. In a perfect world, the Knicks would pair Antetokounmpo alongside their dynamic duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns. Of course, financially, the Knicks would have to give one of their higher-end contracts. In mock trades, Towns has been the odd man out. However, NBA legend Paul Pierce threw a curveball in his Knicks trade package for the Milwaukee Bucks superstar.
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Every team in the NBA would love to have a player as talented as Giannis. The issue is that any team that acquires Antetokounmpo would have to part ways with plenty of assets, which could include gutting a good portion of their roster. At that point, if there is no longer adequate talent to form a championship contender around Antetokounmpo, then a trade doesn’t quite make sense.
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett debated on this topic, trying to find the best possible home for Antetokounmpo. Their debates raged on until they landed on a team located in the Big Apple.
“I think you’ve got to go back to the Knicks,” Pierce said on Ticket & The Truth. “I think you’ve got to look at the Knicks cause that was something that surfaced over the summer.”
Out of the remaining 29 teams, the Knicks are a special case. In early October, ESPN insider Shams Charania reported that the Knicks were Antetokounmpo’s only desired destination. Of course, the Bucks would try to honor one of the franchise’s greatest players by sending him to his preferred team.
It so turns out the Knicks do have the assets to meet the financial requirements for a trade. The only problem is that they are lacking in draft capital. A slew of first-round pick swaps could resolve that issue.
Towns’ contract would make up the bulk of that trade. However, Pierce isn’t a big fan of parting ways with the versatile big man. Instead, he has his eyes on swapping Giannis for a different Knicks star.
“I would like to pair Giannis with Towns, actually. [I would trade] Brunson,” Pierce revealed.
Even the producer seemed shocked at Pierce’s comments. Garnett didn’t hesitate to let his close friend and co-host hear it after the outlandish statement.
“Hell no. Brunson is bigger than KAT. You’re tripping… I like [Giannis with KAT], but I like [Giannis] with Brunson more,” Garnett proclaimed.
The fit between Towns and Giannis would be great. Antetokounmpo thrives with spacing, which Towns can certainly provide. That is a big reason the Bucks went out of their way to add Myles Turner in the offseason.
However, Garnett believes Brunson’s ability to alleviate the offensive burden from Antetokounmpo could result in a fiery combination between the two. That duo may be enough to propel the Knicks to their first NBA Finals since 1999.
One might argue that a Brunson-Giannis fit might be too similar to the failed Damian Lillard-Giannis fit we saw in Milwaukee, and see the reasoning Pierce is coming up with. Either way, the whole debate is a moot point unless Giannis officially asks the Bucks to move him.
