There are plenty of things to take away from the New York Knicks signing Mikal Bridges to a four-year, $150 million extension. One of the biggest implications of all just so happens to impact the rest of the NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo clearly isn’t going to get traded this offseason.
Sure, this has always been the most likely outcome. Giannis has not seemed like someone angling for an imminent trade request, and the Milwaukee Bucks almost certainly wouldn’t have waived-and-stretched Damian Lillard to help make room for Myles Turner if they didn’t think it significantly increased the chances their two-time MVP would stick around.
Speculation has persisted anyway, fueled in part by a somewhat noncommittal answer from Giannis himself when asked about his future. The Knicks are among those teams still lurking—waiting, hoping, that he’ll ask for out, and perhaps deliver a list of preferred destinations that includes them.
Granted, New York is at a stark disadvantage compared to other prospective suitors. It cannot trade a first-round pick until next summer, and has no blue-chip youngsters to dangle as tantalizing centerpieces. Any push for Giannis will be founded around the idea that Milwaukee must keep competing since it doesn’t control its own first again until 2031, and that the Knicks’ non-Jalen Brunson veterans can help the Bucks do just that.
This is where the Bridges extension comes into play.
Mikal Bridges cannot be included in trades for six months
Since Bridges signed an extension that raises his 2026-27 salary by more than 20 percent, he cannot be dealt to another team for six months. While this still makes him eligible to be traded just before February’s deadline, it precludes him from getting included in any offseason deal.
The Knicks could have extended Bridges without regard for how it impacts their Giannis offer. Locking him up gives them much-needed clarity on the cost of the current core moving forward, and it could have easily cost them more than $200 million to re-sign Bridges had they waited for him to hit free agency in 2026.
But if you’re New York, or any team crossing its fingers for Giannis to become available this summer, you’re not making any wholesale decisions without considering how it affects your chances, however slight, of landing Milwaukee’s superstar.
You better believe, then, his availability factored into the Bridges extension. Or rather, we should say, his lack of availability.
The Knicks can theoretically build Giannis packages that don’t include Bridges. OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Mitchell Robinson all remain in play. But Bridges always loomed as one of their best trade chips. They just took him off the table. That’s not something you do when your best offer is already questionable, and if you believe Giannis is trickling onto the chopping block this summer.
New York, it seems, has reached the conclusion that Milwaukee's megastar isn't going anywhere before February, if not until next offseason. The rest of Giannis' admirers should take notice—if they haven't already.