NBA Rumors: Knicks, Nets linked to potential Giannis trade, but is it realistic?

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are off to a 1-5 start and currently sit in last place in the Eastern Conference standings, just four years after winning the NBA Championship.

Their futile start has led to increasing speculation that Giannis – the two-time NBA MVP and eight-time All-Star – could ask to be traded if things continue to go south.

“Teams are circling – and hopeful,” a Western Conference team executive told CBSSports.com.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened before the trade deadline,” a “top executive of a team that could potentially be in the mix” told CBS.

Still, another Western Conference executive told NJ Advance Media he doesn’t think Giannis will be traded this season — if at all.

“No,” said the director. “Not until this summer at the earliest.” That executive named Miami, Brooklyn, Houston and the LA Clippers as teams he heard were linked to Giannis.

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Another Western Conference League source told NJ Advance Media of Giannis: “The only places I can see him going are Miami or (the) LA (Clippers).”

As for the Knicks, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that “more than one rival team” has “wondered out loud” if they traded for New Jersey native Karl-Anthony Towns in an effort to eventually use him in a deal for Giannis.

But ESPN’s Bobby Marks told NJ Advance Media that the Knicks couldn’t “trade Towns directly because Milwaukee would take back more money.” The Bucks are reportedly in the dreaded second apron, which bans teams, among other things take back more salary in a transaction than they send out.

Marks suggested that “Brooklyn would have a better chance with draft picks.”

But the Western Conference source said he didn’t think the Knicks or Nets were likely, pointing out that the Knicks would be without a center if they somehow traded Towns.

“Who are the five men?” he asked.

That source also pointed out that following the loss of Jrue Holiday to the rival Boston Celtics, it was unlikely the Bucks would facilitate a trade of a two-time MVP to the Knicks.

As for Brooklyn, they are loaded with draft picks and are in the hunt for projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, but the Western Conference source said, “Giannis wants to win too. Brooklyn will not win a single victory for the next three years.”

The source added that Brooklyn has already tried – and failed – with a parade of superstars, including Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving James Harden and Ben Simmons, and before them Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

“Brooklyn is done getting stars,” the source said. ‘They’ve had them all. Its construction will take two to three years.”

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter covering Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his website at ZAGSBLOG.com.