Teams ideally want to have any deals lined up before the NBA draft in a few weeks, which has the NBA trade rumor mill speeding up daily.
Knicks’ path to Antetokounmpo
Of course the Knicks are interested in trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo. If he decides it's time to move on from Milwaukee (a decision likely to come closer to the NBA draft), 29 other teams are going to call Bucks GM Jon Horst and kick the tires on a deal.
There is a hypothetical path for the Knicks to land Antetokounmpo, but it's a long and winding one: New York hires Jason Kidd away from Dallas, then Antetokounmpo tells the Bucks he only wants to be traded to the Knicks to reunite with his former coach and still friend Kidd, then the sides work out a deal.
Good luck with that.
First, Dallas needs to give New York permission to speak with Kidd, which is no lock. One source told NBC Sports that approval was unlikely, and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic reported the "expectation" is that the Knicks would deny the request.
That said, Kidd and the Knicks share a "mutual intrigue," ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported. Kidd did not like being out in front of the Luka Doncic trade (can you blame him?), Edwards reported. Is that frustration enough to leave coaching Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving (out much of next season recovering from a torn ACL), and Anthony Davis? Even if the Mavericks give permission for the talks and Kidd agrees to go to New York, he is still under contract with the Mavericks, which means the sides need to figure out what draft compensation to send back to Dallas in this deal (typically a first-round pick). The Knicks are not exactly flush with future picks.
Even if the Knicks land Kidd, Antetokounmpo then would have to decide he wants a trade out of Milwaukee — something other teams are increasingly convinced may not happen, or if it does he won't hit the open market for a bidding war. Other front offices are very much in a "wait and see" mode while making a "Plan B" if he is not available, a handful of league sources have told NBC Sports.
The Knicks need Antetokounmpo to decide he wants a trade and only to New York (to play with Jalen Brunson and Kidd). There is a rumor that New York is putting together a massive offer for Antetokounmpo, but what is that going to look like? A Karl-Anthony Towns-based trade could be constructed (KAT and Giannis make within half a million of each other) with a third team, but if the Bucks move on from Giannis they are going to rebuild and will want a massive haul of picks and younger players, not a Towns-based package. The Knicks don't really have young players and picks to offer, while other teams do (including that team across the bridge in Brooklyn). Finding a trade that gets Antetokounmpo to Madison Square Garden and makes sense for the Bucks is... challenging. To put it kindly.
Still, this rumor persists and is not going away.
Durant to the Knicks? It’s complicated, too
Assuming the Antetokounmpo dream is just that, the Knicks would have interest in Kevin Durant — they made an offer for him at the trade deadline but it went nowhere, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.
Is this a trade the Suns would want? Again, the easy Knicks trade for Durant involves Towns (they have similar salaries, although a third team would be brought in), but the well connected John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says the Suns would want a trade to be based around one of the Knicks' wings, OG Anunoby or Mikal Bridges. For a Knicks team looking to add depth for next season that could be complicated, but that would be the path to a deal.
Durant to Raptors?
If Antetokounmpo becomes available by trade, the Toronto Raptors are a team to watch. They want him and there is some level of mutual interest from the Greek Freak, something we have reported before.
But what if Antetokounmpo doesn't hit the open market? Then expect the Raptors to pivot and be one of the teams in the Durant trade market, something Marc Stein reported at The Stein Line.
"The Raptors, furthermore, would figure to have a more realistic shot at assembling a competitive trade offer for Durant compared to the mammoth offers that the Bucks would inevitably seek for Antetokounmpo's services."
Cavaliers “open minded” about Garland trade?
If one thing was clear in the Cavaliers' second-round loss to the Pacers, it was how much Darius Garland means to Cleveland's offense and the team's title chances. He played in just three games against the Pacers and was clearly slowed by the toe injury he tried to play through (he shot 34.2% for the series, 16.7% from 3). The Cavaliers needed him healthy to have a chance against the Pacers.
Which makes the idea that the Cavaliers would trade Garland a strange one. Add in Garland undergoing surgery to repair that toe injury, which likely has him out for the start of next season, and a Garland trade seems to be an even longer shot.
However, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said it's possible on ESPN Cleveland.
A number of teams, including Orlando (where he would be a fantastic fit) are reportedly interested.
The Cavaliers won 64 games and may believe it will be a more wide-open East next season, following the Jayson Tatum injury in Boston. The Cavs may think, "If we run it back and stay healthy this time, we can make the Finals." However, if a big enough trade presented itself (Antetokounmpo?) and that was the price, then Cleveland would have to consider including Garland in the deal. Also, the Cavaliers will be into the second apron next season and ownership could look to trim some money from the bottom line.
Most likely though, Garland is a Cavalier next season.
Suns want to trade Beal
Another note from Gambadoro in Arizona, the Suns would like to trade Bradley Beal this summer but, just like at the deadline, the combination of his no-trade clause and the fact he is owed $110.8 million over two more years may make that impossible.
Don't be surprised if Beal gets a fair amount of run for new coach Jordan Ott at the start of next season, as they try to rebuild his trade value.
Spurs open to trading No. 14 pick
As if the San Antonio Spurs haven't had enough lottery luck in recent years, they jumped up to get the No. 2 pick in this year's NBA draft. The expectation in league circles is that the Spurs will not trade that pick and will use it to select Rutgers' point guard Dylan Harper, forming a talented but crowded backcourt with De'Aaron Fox (who will receive an extension this summer) and Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. It would take an Antetokounmpo-level trade for them to give up the No. 2 pick.
The Spurs also hold the No. 14 pick and are open to packaging that pick with a player to acquire someone who can help the team start winning now, reports Kevin O'Connor at Yahoo Sports. It would be a smart move by San Antonio, the question is who is that wing player (the team is pretty set at guard and center)?
• Another draft note: Look for the Thunder (picks 15 and 24) and the Nets (8, 19, 26 and 27) to try and package those picks to move up in the draft, reports Jake Fischer at The Stein Line.
Celtics taking Jrue Holiday calls
This isn't a surprise — we know Boston is trying to trim payroll heading into a largely Tatum-less next season and Jrue Holiday was one of the names mentioned as on his way out — but the Celtics are listening to calls, reports Fischer.
There are a lot of playoff teams Holiday would help, but at age 35 next season, and owed three years and $104 million, the market for him may not be as robust as the Celtics hope.
