{"id":1995262,"date":"2026-06-17T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1995262"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T11:30:00","slug":"the-bounce-will-giannis-be-traded-this-week-and-the-drama-at-no-2-in-the-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1995262","title":{"rendered":"The Bounce: Will Giannis be traded this week? And the drama at No. 2 in the draft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Bounce Newslette<\/b>r<\/strong>\u00a0\":basketball:\"<\/span>\u00a0| This is The Athletic\u2019s<\/em> daily NBA newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

On this date in 1994, the New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. They took a 3-2 series lead behind a monster 25-point, 12-rebound and eight-block performance by Patrick Ewing. But nobody was really talking about that. Why? Because the news broke during the game that Al Cowlings was driving O.J. Simpson in the infamous white Bronco as the police chased them. Funny enough, it made a lot of us miss Anthony Mason going after Hakeem Olajuwon<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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Freak Week<\/h3>\n

A Giannis Q&A with Bucks expert Eric Nehm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many teams in the league appear to be operating under the assumption that the Milwaukee Bucks are close to trading away Giannis Antetokounmpo. To whom, you ask? Uh \u2026 I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not sure anybody knows. I\u2019m not even sure the Bucks know.<\/p>\n

The Miami Heat have been on Giannis\u2019 radar for years, and word around the trade deadline was they had the best offer on the table (Kel\u2019el Ware, Tyler Herro, draft picks and maybe more). That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s necessarily enough to pry him away from Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

There have been rumors lately that the Boston Celtics want to put more pressure on the rim by acquiring Giannis. However, they\u2019d have to move Jaylen Brown to do that, and they won a title two years ago with him and Jayson Tatum together. A lot of other teams want to be in the mix, but they have to feel comfortable that Giannis will sign a contract extension with them.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s going to happen? Will it happen soon? Nobody better to ask than Eric Nehm, The Athletic<\/em>\u2019s Bucks guru.<\/p>\n

Are you certain that the Giannis situation will be resolved (at least with an agreement in place) within the next week?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nehm: <\/strong>The reason there\u2019s a belief that this will be settled by next week is the artificial deadline that Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam laid down at the introductory news conference for new coach Tyalor Jenkins on May 6. But there is no rule or contractual deadline dictating this has to be done before the NBA Draft gets underway on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo cannot sign an extension with the Bucks until Oct. 1, so the draft deadline is a manufactured one. But it is quite logical. If the Bucks are going to trade the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo this offseason, getting it done in time to get additional selections in this year\u2019s draft makes sense.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Do you think it\u2019s down to Miami or Boston as the likely trade partner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nehm: <\/strong>Those are the two most likely teams, yes. But that doesn\u2019t mean they are the only two places that the Bucks could send Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

As we reported last week here at The Athletic<\/em><\/a>, one of the defining traits of this offseason\u2019s batch of trade discussions surrounding Antetokounmpo is a hesitancy from many teams to get caught up in a bidding war for the two-time NBA MVP, only to see him put on a different team\u2019s jersey. The fear being that they could potentially offend their own players with trade rumors and then not end up with Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

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How likely is it that Giannis decides he doesn\u2019t want to leave and he agrees to the extension in October?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nehm: <\/strong>I don\u2019t think that question is framed correctly. I know that people overwhelmingly make this about Antetokounmpo, but the only way he can leave is via a trade, so the decision is really up to the organization, not him.<\/p>\n

Just before the trade deadline, Antetokounmpo told me that he wanted to be in Milwaukee, but he wanted \u201cto be here to win, not fighting for my life<\/a> to make the playoffs.\u201d Every time Antetokounmpo has put that type of pressure on the organization in the months before he can sign an extension, the team has made a big \u2014 typically by trading a pile of future first-round picks \u2014 and successfully shown that they are serious about contending for championships.<\/p>\n

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The organization has that opportunity once again. On draft night, they can trade three first-round picks, and they have enough contracts to make a trade for another star player. They could use the full non-taxpayer mid-level on another contributor. If they trade future picks away again and stay on the path that they\u2019ve been on since 2018, they could get back to being a playoff team.<\/p>\n

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The Bucks would need to prove they\u2019re serious about trying to contend before he would sign an extension.<\/p>\n

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The last 24<\/h3>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Remember him?<\/strong>\u00a0Ian O\u2019Connor says there\u2019s a forgotten man who deserves some credit for the Knicks\u2019 title. His name is Tom Thibodeau<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0 Shooting stars. <\/strong>Our John Hollinger has his list of top free-agent shooting guards. No. 1 is Austin Reaves<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcc8 Best since MJ. <\/strong>The Knicks-Spurs Game 5 NBA Finals game averaged 24.5 million viewers. That\u2019s the most since 1998<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd25 Heater. <\/strong>The NBA has momentum after a buzz-worthy playoffs, Nick Friedell writes. Now the league needs to keep it going<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf9f\ufe0f Giveaway! <\/strong>NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani wants you to see the Knicks\u2019 parade. He\u2019s giving away 600 tickets<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f Lakers legend. <\/strong>Lawrence Tanter has been the Lakers\u2019 PA announcer since 1982. He just announced his retirement<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Stream the NBA on Fubo (<\/em>try it for free!<\/a>)<\/em>\u00a0and catch out-of-market games on\u00a0<\/em>League Pass<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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No. 1 Knick?<\/h3>\n

Brunson\u2019s case to be New York\u2019s finest<\/strong><\/p>\n

After leading the Knicks to their first title in 53 years, Jalen Brunson is riding a wave that not many people in NBA history can match. Brunson\u2019s leadership and clutch finals performance gave the Knicks a championship that the city is still celebrating and will be celebrating for a long time. It immediately led to the conversation of whether this title catapulted Brunson to the honor of Greatest Knick of All-Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brunson doesn\u2019t rank in the top 10 in a lot of Knicks all-time categories. He\u2019s 55th in games played, 36th in minutes played, 17th in shots made, fourth in 3-pointers made, 16th in assists and 17th in total points. Since he\u2019s only been there four seasons, that\u2019s still incredible.<\/p>\n

And consider these rankings:<\/p>\n