Trade with Nets handcuffed Knicks from acquiring this superstar

 

The Knicks and the Nets are seldom trade partners. When both sides of the East River agree to a deal, it is newsworthy. 

So when Brooklyn's rising playmaker Mikal Bridges was sent in a blockbuster move that brought five future first round picks to the Nets last summer, it raised a lot of eyebrows. 

Leon Rose pushed all his chips to the middle of the table to bring in fellow Villanova product Bridges to play alongside Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. 

What the Knicks executive didn't think about at the time was that the move precluded him from acquiring a true superstar down the road. Bridges was extended this summer and the future core of the Knicks is intact.

Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Giannis Antentekoumpo was linked the the Knicks with ongoing trade talks taking place over the last couple of months. 

New York emerged as the only team Giannis Antetokounmpo desired outside of Milwaukee in the offseason, sources told ESPN, and the Knicks and Bucks engaged in talks for a window of time.

Inside the clouds leaving Giannis' future hanging in the balance: https://t.co/yxcmDnzQ6K

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 7, 2025

 The harsh reality for the Knicks is they gave away the future draft picks that would have brought the Greek Freak to MSG. New York has yet to win a division title, conference title or NBA title with Brunson, Hart and Bridges leading the way.  

Acquiring Antentekoumpo would have planted the Knicks firmly as the favorites in the Eastern Conference, but without him they'll be in a dog fight with Cleveland, Orlando and Indiana in a quest to capture the East.