Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing his 12th season in the NBA, after turning 30 years old on December 6. His career is likely already already accomplished enough to get him into the basketball Hall of Fame, with two MVP awards, six All-NBA first team selections, nine times on an All-Star team and most importantly, an NBA championship in 2021.
Antetokounmpo has done it all with one franchise, the Milwaukee Bucks. The NBA title in 2021 was only the second in Bucks history, coming 50 year after their 1971 championship when they were led by another league MVP, a 24-year-old, 7’2″ center who had recently changed his name from Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
But could the 2024-2025 season be Antetokounmpo’s last one in Milwaukee? That was the once-unthinkable possibility raised by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania on Thursday, when he appeared on the network’s Get Up morning program. Charania raised the possibility that Antetokounmpo, who is averaging a career-high 31.5 points per game so far this season, may ask out of Milwaukee once the current campaign is over.
Antetokounmpo Remains Focused on Winning
“Everyone knows Giannis Antetokounmpo loves the Bucks, but I’m here to tell you, he loves winning more and that’s why everyone within that Bucks organization, they know what’s at stake this season,” Charania said. “When Giannis looks around and he looks at the Bucks current roster, he looks at sustained long term winning. Where will we be able to find that? And he has said publicly on the record, if he feels like that’s not attainable anymore in Milwaukee, he will look elsewhere.”
But where would “elsewhere” turn out to be? According to Nathaniel Holloway of Athlon Sports, Antetokounmpo could find his new home at the “Mecca” of basketball, Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks.
The Knicks are another celebrated franchise that has little to show for its longevity. One the NBA’s original teams in 1946 â when the league was called the BAA, or Basketball Association of America â the Knicks, like Milwaukee, have only two NBA championship trophies to show for their efforts.
Those came in 1970 and 1973. Since then, the Knicks have reached the NBA Finals only twice more, in 1994 and 1999, and have advanced as far as the Eastern Conference finals only five times. But the team feels like it is on the verge of a breakthrough, currently occupying the No. 3 seed in the East, just 2 1/2 games behind the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics in second place. Their 37-18 record heading into Friday’s games put them on pace for their winningest regular season since 1997 when they won 57 games.
Oddsmakers See New York as Likely Destination
“While the Knicks do look like they are going to be a championship contender this season with their core of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns,” wrote Holloway, “they could also look become an even better squad in the offseason if they are able to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks.”
Holloway is not alone in expecting the Knicks to target Antetokounmpo in the offseason, should he choose to force his way out of Milwaukee. The Bovada sports book sees New York as the favorite to land the veteran mega-star.
The +400 odds in favor of the Knicks are followed by another New York team, the Brooklyn Nets, at +450. The two New York franchises are way ahead, in the oddsmakers’ view. The Miami Heat (+600), Los Angeles Lakers (+800) and Los Angeles Clippers (+900) all trail as possible futire homes for Antetokounmpo.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Giannis Antetokounmpo Move to Knicks Predicted if Star Demands Offseason Trade appeared first on Heavy Sports.