The entire NBA world is waiting to see when Giannis Antetokounmpo is finally going to request a trade – and where he's going to go when it happens. Jake Fischer may have just dropped a hint as to how the Portland Trail Blazers can help the New York Knicks land the Greek Freak, and it involves Mikal Bridges. Although the Knicks trading five first-round picks for Bridges doesn't necessarily look like a heist right now, people would be forced to change their minds if he was the key to Giannis landing in New York. The Trail Blazers' interest in Bridges could be what makes that happen.
The Trail Blazers see any Giannis trade as a chance to improve
When the Trail Blazers traded Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, they received several years' worth of draft control in return. That means that in any potential situation where the Bucks are moving on from Giannis, Portland could offer Milwaukee something that nobody else can: their own draft picks.
Fischer wrote about this for The Stein Line, saying that Portland's front office is aware of this unique advantage and has been looking to capitalize on it.
"Portland still controls Milwaukee's draft capital in 2028, 2029 and 2030 thanks to the teams' Jrue Holiday-for-Damian Lillard swap. And I'm told Blazers officials have always viewed Antetokounmpo's potential Milwaukee exit as a chance to improve their own roster by jumping into a multi-team deal," Fischer remarked.
Bridges could be unique key to Bucks-Knicks deal for Giannis
The most important part of this for the Knicks is the unique value they can bring to the situation. In this situation, Fischer says that's one of their two-way wings in Bridges. While the five first-round picks they surrendered to the Brooklyn Nets last offseason are often pointed to as a negative inflection point in the Knicks' path toward contention, this could be the exact situation that vindicates New York for that valuation.
"There is absolutely a down-the-road world where the Blazers could try to butt into, say, Milwaukee/New York talks if Giannis-to-the-Knicks ever got serious. File this away as well: League sources say Portland has long admired New York's Mikal Bridges going back to Lillard's first stint as a Blazer," Fischer wrote.
The Knicks would realistically also need to trade somebody like Karl-Anthony Towns to render Milwaukee's return up to snuff for a player like Antetokounmpo, but many around the league have wondered what else they'd need to give up to make something work.
This is a pretty concrete indication that, while the price would be high for the 2021 Finals MVP, there is somewhat of a path to that acquisition starting to clear up.