Worst-Case Giannis Landing Spot For Celtics Isn’t Team You Expect
It's not the Knicks.
Most Boston Celtics fans assume that the worst-case scenario in a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade would be the Greek Freak landing on the New York Knicks.
However, MassLive’s Brian Robb made a good point on Friday about a potential Knicks-Giannis pairing: it’s not realistic, and that’s because New York lacks the first-round draft capital to trump other offers for Giannis, if and when the two-time MVP legitimately hits the trade block.
When asked about which Giannis landing spot would be the worst outcome for the Celtics, Robb pivoted to another Eastern Conference squad.
“The Knicks is the easy answer here, but I don’t think it’s a realistic one,” Robb wrote. “I just don’t see them having enough assets to get a deal done with a lack of valuable draft picks available. Antetokounmpo would be really screwing over Milwaukee by making that the only place he’d re-sign.”
“If the bidding is open to everyone, the Hawks would scare me a lot if they could land (Giannis) without giving up Jalen Johnson. Atlanta has a ton of good young talent and role players in place already along with a strong coach in Quinn Snyder. Throw Antetokounmpo into that mix (along with some salary cap room to add this summer) and that’s a team that becomes a problem for the Celtics and everyone else in the Eastern Conference in a hurry. Not sure many other teams in the East would have enough talent leftover to be a top contender after giving up what’s required for Antetokounmpo.”
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey published a group of five Giannis mock trades the other day, with the Knicks and Hawks appearing in his article. Bailey had the Hawks offering up Trae Young, Zaccharie Risacher, and three future firsts. Meanwhile, he had the Knicks offering Karl-Anthony Towns, Miles McBride, Pacome Dadiet, three first-round pick swaps, and six second-rounders.
Giannis would improve either team in either of these trades, but Robb’s right — the Bucks don’t have any reason to take the Knicks’ offer, unless they are infatuated to an excessive degree with Towns.
