Knicks Reportedly Passed on Acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo Twice

The New York Knicks agreed on two deals ahead of the NBA trade deadline, sending Guerschon Yabusele to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Dalen Terry before flipping the latter to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a package for Jose Alvarado.

New York got off of Yabusele without having to attach any extra assets, such as second-round picks, and the deal was aided by the fact that he agreed to rework his contract in order to remove his player option for the 2026-27 season, per SNY's Ian Begley.

Yabusele proved not to be a good fit for Mike Brown’s system and the Knicks were able to make another deal with Terry's expiring contract by landing Alvarado.

A big takeaway for fans, though, could be the trades the Knicks didn’t make, such as not acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks when they had the chance.

Knicks could already have Giannis Antetokounmpo on the team

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo warming up. — Feb 4, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during warmups prior to the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Fiserv Forum. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

During an appearance on Get Up on ESPN, Brian Windhorst was speaking about New York and their chances of competing for a championship this season after defeating the Denver Nuggets in double overtime the previous night.

While Windhorst did eventually share his opinion on the team’s title chances, what will draw the most attention is what he shared in regard to Antetokounmpo. According to the NBA insider, if the Knicks really wanted the former MVP, they would already have him, but they like the current makeup of the team too much to break things up.

“They could have had Giannis Antetokounmpo last summer, and they probably could have had him now, but they don’t believe they should mess up this team,” said Windhorst.

"The Knicks are as strong and as good of position as they have been in the last 30 years to win it."@WindhorstESPN weighs in on the Knicks and their chances to win an NBA championship this season ✍️ pic.twitter.com/J5cjtKG5wa
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 5, 2026

Messing up this team probably would mean trading away Karl-Anthony Towns and some combination of OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride to make the money work and be fair compensation, along with every draft asset the team holds.

A stance like that certainly puts a lot of pressure on the front office and players currently on the team to go out and play at a high level. Anything short of a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would be seen as a failure after New York made it there last season but were defeated by the Indiana Pacers.

Should the Knicks not go as far as they did in the 2025 NBA Playoffs under Tom Thibodeau, exploring a blockbuster trade for Antetokounmpo could potentially be explored again in the offseason.

But, this is a group that the front office likes a lot and would love to see things through with. Currently riding an eight-game winning streak, this certainly looks like a group capable of competing with the best teams in the NBA for a championship.

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