Nov 8, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) controls the ball against New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Bill Simmons Pitches Wild Knicks Trade

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The New York Knicks are in need of a fix. Every team that walks away from an NBA season without holding the Larry O'Brien trophy has been accustomed to think this way, given that's what every team is working all year to accomplish.

Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest of their Knicks friends came up short, losing the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, and one prominent member of the NBA media is already sniffing out potential solutions that can please unsatisfied franchises with similarly antsy players.

Bill Simmons, founder and CEO of The Ringer, got right to work booting up the trade machine during the week off between the Pacers' Game 6 win and their first matchup against the Finals-bound Oklahoma City Thunder. He envisions a few pathways for the Knicks to land the hottest star on the hypothetical trade market, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

"If Giannis did ask for a Knicks trade," he offered, "...it's really hard and has to be a three-teamer. I think it's gotta be Towns and OG [Anunoby] together, or Towns and [Mikal] Bridges together, and you need a third team, and I think the third team would have to be the [San Antonio] Spurs."

"The Spurs would be getting either OG or Bridges, the Bucks would end up with Towns and [Devin] Vassell and multiple first round picks from San Antonio, and then the Knicks would get Giannis, but they would have to take a couple contracts."

Simmons not only clarified that such a trade is unlikely due to how much Milwaukee covets their multiple-time MVP, but also spoke on his own behalf in stating, "I would not trade Giannis."

The analyst is infamous for his mock trade pitches, but even he has little to go on outside of rumored discomfort. Antetokounmpo's situation in Milwaukee is stalling with co-star Damian Lillard out with a torn Achilles tendon and the rest of his team looking unimpressive as a championship-level core, which is what he's grown accustomed to after winning it all in 2020-21.

It's no coincidence that Simmons included Towns as chief trade bait for the Knicks to offer, even after just one season of their partnership. His overall playoffs were something of a mixed bag, very indicative of who he's been as a player across his career, while Bridges and Anunoby still hold some asset value as two-way wings who can each start on great teams.

Antetokounmpo would nearly instantly transform New York into the projected top contender in next year's Eastern Conference as the most dominant singular force in the league, but as Simmons is sure to point out, such an exchange is still unlikely knowing what we know now.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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