Steve Popper: Giannis Antetokounmpo's price too high to make Heat legitimate threat to Knicks
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson dribbles the ball against the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo on Oct. 28, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Credit: Getty Images/Patrick McDermott
For years, decades really, the Knicks were the hunters.
On this night, they were crossing their fingers and hoping a lottery pick would change their fortunes. The front office would work the phone lines, chasing a star until the inevitable letdown. But when the Bucks finally moved Giannis Antetokounmpo just before midnight on Monday night, it ended a chase that the Knicks were no longer a part of, content to keep their own NBA championship squad together.
The other teams are hunting them and, while blockbuster deals are taking place, it’s hard to imagine that anyone has caught the Knicks yet.
The problem, the same one that the Knicks would have faced when they were trying to pry Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee, is that the cost to obtain a top-five player like him is prohibitive. Dealing for Antetokounmpo, as tempting as it was to bring another superstar’s talents to South Beach, came at a high price. No one could put together a deal for him and still keep enough talent in place to match up with the Knicks well-balanced starting five. While the doubters may pick apart whether Jalen Brunson is a 1A — he is — the Knicks built a team with five high-level starters as good as any in the NBA, a group that is still under contract for next season.
The Miami Heat are now in the same place that the Bucks were, just with warmer weather. Dealing away a massive package of players and picks, Miami’s well-regarded front office will have to figure out a way to stock the roster around Antetokounmpo. Bam Adebayo pairs nicely, giving the Heat a defensive front line that presents an imposing wall around the rim. And offensively, they are both threats - Antetokounmpo as good of a scorer driving downhill as anyone in the game, and Adebayo, a player capable of scoring 83 points in a game.
But what are they left to surround them with? Norman Powell is an unrestricted free agent and Andrew Wiggins holds a player option. Bobby Portis accompanied Antetokounmpo in the deal, but figures to come off the bench as he did in Milwaukee. The Heat put four of their rotation pieces in the deal and, with two others possibly departing in free agency and the salary cap squeezing even the imagination of their creative front office, it’s hard to imagine building a team much better than what Antetokounmpo had in Milwaukee last season — a Bucks team that finished 32-50.
And the Bucks, while grabbing a handful of low-cost players of some use, appear ready for a full rebuild. Tyler Herro, the established former All-Star in the mix of pieces, already is believed to be on the market for a reroute — the Bucks trying to turn his scoring and shooting ability into more future assets. Milwaukee was unable to put a useful team around Antetokounmpo, dismantling a contending team through a series of wrong decisions and poor drafting. They have moved from a sub-.500 team with a superstar to a sub-.500 team that you’d be hard-pressed to find any team in the NBA willing to swap rosters with — the No. 10 and 13 picks in Tuesday’s draft something they can’t miss on.
Some of the betting sites have placed the Boston Celtics as the top choice to emerge from the East, but they have their own issues. The Celtics were all in on chasing Antetokounmpo with an offer of Jaylen Brown and a pair of first-round picks, which now places them in the awkward position of either welcoming Brown back into the fold after openly dangling him or the more likely scenario, trying to find another deal worth surrendering a disgruntled All-NBA talent.
Detroit, the regular season top seed, has room under the cap to add shooting, although the first priority is figuring out a number that works to bring back Jalen Duren. They have a decision to make on whether to bring back Tobias Harris, an unrestricted free agent. Indiana returns Tyrese Haliburton after a season rehabilitating from a torn Achilles, and could jump back into the mix.
Boston already tore down the championship squad of three seasons ago when faced with the reality of the salary cap implications of a pricy roster. The salary cap is the real opponent the Knicks were faced with almost as soon as the confetti settled along lower Manhattan after Thursday’s parade, the front office faced with the task of trying to figure out how to hold as much of the roster in place as possible.
Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan’s claim that the team won’t go into the second apron is a greater threat to a trip back to the Finals than any of teams swapping stars this week. The Knicks have already begun the work of trying to squeeze every dollar possible around the margins with Landry Shamet and Mitchell Robinson, a pair of key rotation pieces who are unrestricted free agents. Jose Alvarado pushed back his date to opt in or out of his player option, which would portend a deal coming with a lower starting salary but more guaranteed years and total salary, helping both sides. Jordan Clarkson could be a low-cost addition later this summer. And reports indicate that the Knicks are close to finalizing a deal with Mo Diawara to keep the promising rookie in place for four years with a starting salary of just over $2 million.
The challenge for the Knicks right now is in the mirror, working with the still-celebrating roster of players to try to run it back.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
