In the last 24 hours, dreams of Giannis Antetokounmpo heading out to the New York Knicks in some sort of mid-season blockbuster have been all the rage after reports surfaced that the megastar and the Bucks were discussing their future together.
With the fact that Leon Rose and company reached out to Milwaukee this past offseason to inquire about his availability, coupled with NBA insider Brian Windhorst flat-out revealing Giannis told the Bucks that "he wanted to be a Knick," many are under the impression that the two-time MVP will be Big Apple-bound if he demands to be dealt.
However, the optics of New York pulling off such a transaction are far from simple to pull off. In fact, The Ringer's Bill Simmons recently deemed the idea as being nearly impossible.
Bill Simmons flushes hopes of Knicks trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo
During a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the eponymous host, along with guest Max Kellerman, was discussing what teams around the league could realistically make a trade for Giannis this season.
When it came to the Knicks, Simmons rather quickly shot such a scenario down.
In such a situation, the inclusion of Karl-Anthony Towns would be a must, as his deal being offloaded to make room for Giannis' appears to be a seamless swap on the surface.
Though the idea of losing their All-NBA pivot may be a bit disheartening, for an all-time great who's still in his prime and averaging a whopping 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and just shy of two stocks on 63.9 percent shooting from the floor and a career-best 43.5 percent shooting from deep, in their hopes of going all in on a title push, it could very well prove to be well worth it.
However, while the big man's $53.1 million salary would bring the finances to near-matching values (Giannis earning $54.1 million this year), with the new CBA, teams in the second-apron need to swap identical paydays and are unable to trade multiple players in the same deal.
In other words, considering New York is roughly $4 million over the second apron as is, the exchange would literally be illegal per the league's guidelines, and, in turn, is deemed by Simmons as "too complicated" to maneuver around such hurdles.
Simmons believes that, instead, a "less complicated" swap could be had with the Mavericks involving Anthony Davis for Towns, while Kellerman nauseatingly suggested a pursuit of LeBron James from the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sadly, as things currently stand, both seem to be far more plausible than any in-season deal for Giannis.