The New York Knicks may have their eyes on some bigger fish than just the players that could be available this NBA offseason. The Athletic’s Fred Katz put together a list of potential long range targets the Knicks could be exploring in future offseasons.
Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo headlines this group as the Knicks’ “dream scenario,” per Katz. The Knicks insider does not believe this is an option for this summer, but could be an idea with a slim hope to monitor in 2025.
“Antetokounmpo is the Knicks’ dream scenario, as he would be anyone’s,” Katz wrote in a June 17, 2024 story titled, “Devin Booker? Brandon Ingram? Which stars could the Knicks target and how would they fit?” “The sharks are circling after the Bucks’ disappointing 2023-24, which ended in an injury-induced first-round playoff defeat to the Indiana Pacers. But these are the same stalkers that have lusted after Antetokounmpo for years. All the two-time MVP has done during that time is re-sign with Milwaukee over and over again.
“An Antetokounmpo trade is not coming this summer,” Katz continued. “But the Bucks won only 49 games this past season. He and Damian Lillard never found their chemistry. The team is stripped of its draft picks and much of its future. The rest of the league is waiting to see if another underwhelming season would allow it to pounce.”
Antetokounmpo’s three-year, $175 million contract is slated to run through the 2027-28 season. If the Knicks wanted to attempt to sign Antetokounmpo outright, the star has a player option for his final year that would allow him to hit free agency in 2027.
The challenge for the Knicks (outside of the obvious fact that the Bucks want no part of trading their superstar) is that as their payroll grows, it makes it more challenging to absorb big contracts. It feels like Antentokounmpo is linked to New York annually, only for the star to remain in Milwaukee.
“If shiny new contracts for Brunson, Randle, Anunoby and more send the Knicks over the second apron in 2025-26, then a hypothetical trade for Booker or Antetokounmpo becomes even more difficult than in the scenario detailed above, since Phoenix and Milwaukee could both sit above the second apron, too,” Katz added. “Teams in that territory are not allowed to aggregate salaries.”
The Knicks face their own challenges this offseason starting with attempting to re-sign OG Anunoby if he exercises his player option to test free agency. Big man Isaiah Hartenstein is also expected to garner attention around the league.
It is hard to imagine an NBA offseason where the Knicks are not linked to stars, even if few rumors ever come to fruition. The Ringer’s Howard Beck reported that the Knicks are still in search of another star despite their recent playoff run.
“One thing has not changed, however: The Knicks now, as ever, are in a perpetual hunt for another glitzy star—and Dolan, as ever, expects one,” Beck detailed in a May 23 story titled, “Behind the Scenes of the NBA’s Most Unlikely Revival.” “’That is factual,’ said a source with ties to the Garden. The Rose-Wesley team ‘promised him stars,’ the source said. ‘He didn’t hire them for their (experience) running a basketball team.’”
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