SAY NO TO GIANNIS
I’m going to quote the owner of the New York Knicks. “There were times when (we’ve) sort of reached for that shiny, sparkly object — ‘maybe this is what we need’”, James Dolan said during an appearance on Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart’s podcast last March.
“What I learned over time is that doesn’t work. It really doesn’t. You really have to do the fundamentals, the basics. You’ve got to build a team; you’ve got to build an organization. There is no waving a wand over a team and all of a sudden make it a great team.”
Not only am I surprising myself by quoting the man most responsible for the Knicks inept play over the first two decades of this century — but I am using his quote to urge them to avoid going after Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Giannis has been an All-Star nine times, he’s a two-time MVP, he’s a former Defensive Player of the Year, and he won the Finals MVP in 2021 while leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Championship. At 31, he is still in his prime averaging 28 points, 10 boards and 5.6 assists this season.
But now is not the time.
It takes patience for championship teams to gel. This core group has been together for 149 regular season and playoff games. But only the last 49 with Mike Brown. After an early January slump, losing 9 out of 11 games, they have won six straight while settling in on defense and playing with a tighter 8-man rotation.
ESPN recently projected a variation of the widely speculated three-way deal with Milwaukee and the Portland Trail Blazers. In this one, the Knicks would trade 37.5% of their current eight-man rotation (Mikal Bridges, Deuce McBride, and Karl-Anthony Towns) to acquire Giannis and Jrue Holiday.
The Knicks would be receiving an injured superstar, and a 35-year-old point guard. More importantly, once the deadline passes on Thursday, February 5 at 3p ET, they will have just 31 games left to rebuild team chemistry.
My man Dolan was right — avoid the “shiny, sparkling object”.
If the Knicks blow up their team this week for Giannis, they will also be blowing up their best chance to win an NBA title since 1999.
WHAT DO THE KNICKS NEED AT THE DEADLINE
I believe this Knicks team, as presently constituted, is capable of winning the NBA Championship. I’m also confident that if their top eight players remain healthy, Vegas will favorite them in any playoff matchup except for a potential finals’ showdown against defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Therefore, what do they need at the deadline?
- They need to keep OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Bridges, Josh Hart, McBride, Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, and Towns.
- If possible, due to limited future draft choices, they should hold on to promising prospects Mohamed Diawara and Tyler Kolek.
- Finally, while not necessary, they should look to unload disappointing summer free agent acquisitions Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele in an attempt to upgrade bench depth at point guard and center.
DOES BRUNSON’S KNICKS MATCH UP TO FRAZIER’S?
Walt Frazier’s Knicks have two championship banners, six retired numbers, and one honored coach’s banner in the rafters. While it is hard to compare teams from different eras, since I’m on record as saying this is the best Knicks team since 1972-73, I thought it would be interesting to compare the respective stats of each team’s top eight rotational players.
POS | NAME | AGE | PTS | REB | AST |
PG | Walt Frazier | 27 | 21.1 | 7.3 | 5.9 |
SG | Earl Monroe | 28 | 15.5 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
SF | Bill Bradley | 29 | 16.1 | 3.7 | 4.5 |
PF | Dave DeBusschere | 32 | 16.3 | 10.2 | 3.4 |
C | Willis Reed | 30 | 11 | 8.6 | 1.8 |
F/C | Jerry Lucas | 32 | 9.9 | 7.2 | 4.5 |
G | Dean Meminger | 24 | 5.7 | 2.9 | 1.7 |
F/C | Phil Jackson | 27 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 1.2 |
1972-73 Averages | 28.6 | 103.7 | 47.5 | 26.8 | |
POS | NAME | AGE | PTS | REB | AST |
PG | Jalen Brunson | 29 | 27.2 | 3.2 | 6.1 |
SG | Mikal Bridges | 29 | 15.7 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
SF | Josh Hart | 30 | 12.5 | 7.6 | 5.1 |
PF | OG Anunoby | 28 | 16.4 | 5.5 | 2.3 |
C | Karl-Anthony Towns | 30 | 19.8 | 11.8 | 2.9 |
G | Miles McBride | 25 | 12.9 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
F | Landry Shamet | 28 | 9.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
C | Mitchell Robinson | 27 | 4.7 | 9.1 | 1 |
2025-26 Averages | 28.3 | 118.5 | 45.9 | 25.6 |
A DOZEN GAMES TO WATCH
The regular season concludes on Sunday, April 12 with a home game against the Charlotte Hornets. Here’s a dozen games to watch between now and the start of the playoffs.
2-04-26 — vs Denver (7p) ESPN
2-08-26 — at Boston (12:30p) ABC
2-19-26 — vs Detroit (7:30p) Amazon Prime
2-21-26 — vs Houston (8:30p) ABC
3-01-26 — vs San Antonio (1p) ABC
3-04-26 — vs Oklahoma City (7p) ESPN
3-06-26 — at Denver (9p) MSG
3-08-26 — at LA Lakers (3:30p) ABC
3-15-26 — vs Golden State (8p) NBC/Peacock
3-29-26 — at Oklahoma City (7:30p) NBC/Peacock
3-31-26 — at Houston (8p) NBC/Peacock
4-09-26 — vs Boston (7:30p) Amazon Prime