Should Leon Rose reboot Knicks' roster to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo?

New York Post

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00:00If the Knicks have to give up an arm and a leg to trade for Giannis,

00:04then is it still going to be NBA Finals or bust?

00:06Let's talk all things Giannis, Mikael Bridges,

00:09and of course things the Knicks with Alex Chitaros of Knicks Fan TV.

00:13Alex, what's going on, man?

00:13I know they play the Jazz tonight,

00:16but anybody want to talk about the Utah Jazz.

00:20Everybody wants to talk about Giannis.

00:22Recent reports say that the Knicks have a 28% chance

00:26of actually trading for Giannis.

00:27He's 14-7 with a quarter of the season already in the books,

00:32plus this team has been nicked up with injuries and for load management.

00:37We haven't seen what this team could be or could do,

00:42so is Giannis a must when it comes to trading it for him

00:46and bringing him into New York?

00:49Look, he's a must-have player,

00:51but he's not a must-trade-at-all-cost type of guy, okay?

00:54I would love to have Giannis on this team,

00:56but when you look at how the Knicks are currently constructed

00:59based on what they are salary cap-wise and their cap flexibility

01:03and the assets they have to trade for him,

01:06he's not somebody who can do anything at all costs to go get him

01:10just because if you do do that,

01:12you're then depleting your depth even more,

01:14which was a concern last year.

01:16A little questionable still even this season

01:17whether or not you still need another backup point guard,

01:20a backup center, you know, more wings.

01:22So if you do go trade for Giannis,

01:24you're then depleting your war chest even more,

01:26and then it would feel like the whole mellow situation again

01:30where you trade up everybody to go get this guy,

01:32but do you actually have enough to go compete

01:34for multiple years afterwards?

01:35So he's a guy that I would love to have.

01:38He's a must-have talent,

01:39but he's not a must-trade-at-all-cost type of situation right now.

01:42And I'm thinking Leon Rose is thinking the same sentiment

01:46or what you're saying exactly,

01:48but what if he gets that call from James Dolan

01:52and James Dolan is like,

01:54make this trade happen at all costs.

01:57Who then or what then are you parting ways with

02:00to bring in the Greek freak?

02:03And don't give me one of those NBA 2K26 trades

02:07with the salary cap turned off.

02:09Give me like one of these real trades

02:11that we could see Shams tweet or something of that nature.

02:16I mean, look, if the reports are true

02:19from what Shams had that I'm pretty sure he said

02:23it was Giannis and Kuzma that were offered up,

02:26then you got to be thinking that to match that type of money,

02:29it's probably an OG and Macau Bridges type situation.

02:34Another type, you know, would be Carl Anthony Towns.

02:37You trade Macau Bridges and one of the younger guys.

02:39I don't know how much they'd be willing to offer up

02:42with that to take that in return,

02:44but, you know, it'd have to be one of those three players.

02:47It's going to involve Cat, OG, and Macau

02:49in that deal to go get him.

02:51Some combination of either the first two I said

02:54or Cat and somebody else.

02:56But the real thing that Milwaukee would probably want

02:58is draft picks, which the Knicks are limited on.

03:01So the Knicks couldn't just do that outright by themselves.

03:03They would need to bring in a third team

03:06to come help them do that.

03:08And that would be the more difficult part.

03:10Who wants to help New York do that?

03:12All right, so if they do have to kind of reset the roster

03:17and ship everybody up out of here to bring Giannis in here,

03:20you talk about how that kind of depletes that roster.

03:23Is it still finals or bust on this season

03:26if they do trade for Giannis?

03:30If they trade for Giannis, would it be finals or bust?

03:33Yeah, I mean, if you do that type of trade,

03:34it has to be finals or bust.

03:36You're going all in for a guy like that

03:38if you make that type of deal,

03:38saying this is the guy at all costs that we needed

03:41in order to get to that next level and it's guaranteed.

03:43So I would say, yes, it is finals or bust,

03:46which is why I would be hesitant if I'm Leon Rose

03:48to deplete even more of the depth

03:49because in order to get that,

03:51I mean, think about the guys I just mentioned.

03:53Can you imagine trading Macau Bridges and OG and Anobi

03:55in a deal to get Kuzma and Giannis in return?

03:58I mean, we've touted Wingstop

04:01and we're seeing how Macau is having, you know,

04:03a bounce back season after being up and down last year.

04:06And he's having an efficient, productive season.

04:09We saw how OG was starting the year prior to getting injured.

04:12He was on an all-star type level campaign.

04:15Why would you trade up two guys

04:16who are capable of playing at an all-star level

04:18for one guy who I get is a Hall of Famer?

04:22And then you get a good role player

04:23who is an NBA champion in Kyle Kuzma

04:26or any sorts of like what you're thinking

04:27on the Milwaukee Bucks side.

04:29But to me, it just feels like you're then lessening

04:32the impact of the roster

04:33because you're giving up two really good players for one

04:36and it's like you still don't get everything

04:39that you need to cover all your bases.

04:41So I would be very hesitant to do that

04:44just because if it's still a championship

04:46or bust type of season right now,

04:48it feels like that amongst Knicks Nation,

04:50especially with the wording that Leon Rose

04:53had this offseason that their sole focus

04:56is to win an NBA championship.

04:57I wouldn't go all in to deplete your roster,

05:01all your assets to then make it even more difficult

05:03to build on moving forward.

05:06You mentioned Mikael Bridges

05:07and how he's having a pretty strong year this season.

05:10Well, we actually gave him some love

05:12in our back page today.

05:13He's putting up numbers comparable

05:15to some of his career years that he's had.

05:18Last year, we saw moments.

05:19Like you said, this year, we see consistency.

05:22What is it about Bridges this year?

05:24Do you think it's more of the player

05:27or do you think it's the X's and O's

05:29of Mike Brown's scheme

05:30that's allowing him to shine like this this season?

05:33I think it's both, Brandon.

05:34I think it's both why he's being able to flourish

05:37in this way.

05:38I think, one, it's being more comfortable.

05:40You have another year under your belt.

05:41You got the contract extension

05:42so you can feel confident that New York wants you

05:45and that they want you to be here.

05:47They see you as a main part

05:49of what they're trying to accomplish.

05:51So you got to feel confident about that.

05:53When I was in Summer League this past summer,

05:56all I saw was Mikael Bridges sitting next to Mike Brown

05:59and it gave me that idea that, you know,

06:02Bridges was trying to figure out

06:03how he was going to fit in there into the system

06:06and then how Brown wanted to utilize him.

06:08So I believe that they were just trying

06:10to get comfortable, trying to understand each other.

06:12And even when you see the clips

06:13of Mike Brown of just like encouraging Mikael,

06:18you just see that Mikael is getting that support

06:20that it seems like he wasn't getting last year

06:22just from like an emotional standpoint.

06:25So I think that's one.

06:27And then two, he's being featured

06:29in the way that he was out in Brooklyn.

06:30He's getting opportunities to initiate the offense.

06:33He's being found in rhythm, whether it's on three,

06:36whether it's just curling around screens

06:37and getting his midi, attacking out in transition.

06:41And it's all of that right now.

06:42And I mean, my God, man, the guy is just like,

06:44he's averaging 17 points, shooting 54% from the field.

06:48He is shooting a career high right now, 43% from downtown.

06:54You know, as long as he gets the field goal,

06:56the free throw percentage up to over 90%.

06:58We're talking about a 50, 40, 90 season for Mikael Bridges.

07:01He just has to get to the free throw line a little bit more,

07:03but man, he is having a hell of a season.

07:05And then you got to incorporate the assist,

07:07which is, you know, up there as well for a career high

07:09over four assists per game.

07:11And then rebounding is right there

07:13on what he's been able to average four and a half as well.

07:15To me, that's why it makes it so hard

07:16to put him in that trade for Giannis

07:19because you're seeing the coach

07:20that can get the most out of him.

07:22But I mean, we are talking about the Greek freak here.

07:24So it's just business on that end.

07:27If he does get shipped away.

07:29Last but not least, CP3, free agent.

07:31You making the call or no?

07:34I am leaving that phone untouched.

07:36I'm not making no call, Brandon.

07:37It is dead silent.

07:40It's on D&D.

07:41Put me on, do not disturb.

07:42If he calls me, I'd be like,

07:44oh, sorry, man, I missed your call.

07:45Oh, man.

07:47I'm good, man.

07:48And this is like Chris Paul,

07:50another Hall of Famer type career,

07:52like excellent point guard.

07:54I think for what the Knicks,

07:55I do know that the Knicks need a backup point guard.

07:58But from what it seems like,

08:00what's going on in LA,

08:01it seems like he was expecting more minutes

08:04than what he was currently earning.

08:06You know, I don't think New York has that opportunity

08:08to give him that here

08:09just because, you know,

08:10Bruns is going to get a lot of that,

08:12the lion's share of that, of the touches.

08:14And then on top of that,

08:16I think you got to make sure

08:17the personality fits too, okay?

08:19And we've heard for many years,

08:21he has a very abrasive type personality.

08:23So if you're not willing

08:24or not capable of working with Chris Paul,

08:28I don't think you want to disrupt

08:29what you have in the locker room.

08:30So I'm good on all of that.

08:32I'm good on all of that.

08:33I always hit him with the new phone.

08:34New number, who this?

08:36New number, who this?

08:38My guy, always a great time

08:39chopping it up with you, man.

08:41Appreciate you coming on this morning.

08:42Appreciate you.

08:44Appreciate you as always, Brandon.

08:45Have a good one.

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