Championship-or-bust seasons have become an unfamiliar occurrence for the New York Knicks over the past few decades, but the team will aim to raise the Larry O'Brien trophy in 2025-26 after breaking through to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
Unfortunately, their front office's lack of awareness may have led to one of the most regrettable trade negotiation decisions in franchise history.
Heading into 2025-26 with their superstar scoring duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns at the helm, New York reportedly had a golden opportunity to land one of the NBA's most dominant players of all-time, Giannis Antetokounmpo, through a blockbuster trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The problem is that the lights may have been too bright for their top brass, and recent updates have indicated that the Knicks may have wasted their only chance at acquiring the 2021 NBA Finals MVP by not pushing hard enough for a league-altering deal this past summer.
"The way this Giannis-Knicks story reads is a major missed opportunity for the Knicks," ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel shared via X on Tuesday morning.
"While they don't have the assets to pull off a Giannis trade, it doesn't even seem like they tried."
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"Hard to imagine they will get another chance if Giannis requests a trade in the future."
It's possible that the Knicks might not have expected to be in a situation where trading for the 9-time All-Star was a possibility, especially after it was revealed by ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday that Antetokounmpo's only desired destination other than Milwaukee was New York.
Even still, that does not excuse their front office's malpractice in the form of refusing to put pedal to the metal and see where a potential trade dialogue could lead.
By all accounts, it appears as though New York missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to land a somewhat disgruntled future Hall-of-Famer at the peak of his powers.
In 2024-25, the 7-time All-NBA First Team selection authored one of the most impressive individual campaigns ever, registering 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.2 blocks while shooting 60.1% from the field, placing as an MVP finalist in the process.