Although the Milwaukee Bucks will not be competing in this year‘s Eastern Conference Finals, the NBA Playoffs have serious implications for the franchise's future. The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers will duke it out with much more than just a trip to the NBA Finals in the balance.
For Cleveland, it’s an opportunity to prove that the franchise doesn’t need LeBron James to be taken seriously. On the flipside, the New York Knicks haven’t won an NBA title since the 70s, facing ridicule from the basketball world and their own fan base alike. The stakes couldn’t be higher, which could majorly help or hurt Milwaukee’s chances of receiving a haul back for franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, should he be traded this offseason.
No team has been linked to Giannis more openly than the New York Knicks. The Greek Freak loves the Big Apple, and he’s not afraid to say it. From his longtime fascination with Madison Square Garden to his frequent visits to Manhattan, it's clear he has a reverence for New York. It's been reported numerous times that if he were to finally and officially ask for a trade, the Knicks land atop his list.
But what reason would they have to trade for Giannis if they make it to the NBA Finals this year? The best trade packages tend to come from desperation, and with both of these teams on the precipice of a Finals appearance, there is a chance that New York and Cleveland — two of the teams with the best trade packages — will be taken out of the equation before ever truly getting involved.
New York and Cleveland reaching the Conference Finals might be bad news for the Bucks, but hope is not lost.
Giannis is a singular talent known around the world for his remarkable skill and unwavering work ethic. At this stage of his career, however, teams may not be willing to give up as much as they should to acquire his services. With both the Knicks and the Cavaliers reaching the Conference Finals, the Giannis sweepstakes and Milwaukee's hopes of a bidding war may be in peril.
Memory is short in the NBA, and what you accomplished this season tends to dictate where your team will go next. Unless one of these teams is utterly embarrassed, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which either franchise blows up its roster or future draft capital to add Giannis.
In a vacuum, a Giannis pairing with either Jalen Brunson or Donovan Mitchell should be terrifying for the league and top of mind for these teams' front offices. But if their rosters are strong enough to sniff a Finals appearance without him, who's to say they need Giannis to contend for the Larry O'Brien?
If neither of these teams gets involved in Giannis trade talks, it could open the door for other teams to overspend in an Antetokounmpo trade package, thinking it's time to strike while the opportunity is available. Furthermore, if none of the trade offers are good enough for Milwaukee to accept, it might actually help them work things out with Giannis this summer and put this saga to rest by offering him a hefty supermax contract extension. Sometimes, playing the long game works out.
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