The New York Knicks have been star-hunting for some time, but their hopes of landing the league’s biggest name might have officially come to an end.
This summer has been an intriguing one for the Knicks, to say the least. After New York made the Eastern Conference Finals last season, it chose to fire Tom Thibodeau, eventually leading to Mike Brown taking over as the team’s bench boss.
With Brown in charge next season, the Knicks are expected to be one of the top contenders to come out of the East. Considering the team has mostly kept its core together and added Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson this offseason, there is some real optimism about what 2026 could bring.
Out of the Giannis sweepstakes
On Sunday, ESPN’s Shams Charania announced that Giannis Antetokounmpo would be staying in Milwaukee to begin next season after his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo agreed to a deal to return to the Bucks.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo is signing a guaranteed one-year, $2.9 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell ESPN. Antetokounmpo played for Bucks from 2019-24. This also means after a summer of exploring options, Giannis is staying in Milwaukee to start the season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 31, 2025
As Dan Favale of FanSided recently noted, that almost certainly ends the Knicks’ hopes of landing Antetokounmpo. While the Mikal Bridges extension earlier in the summer had already complicated any hopes of landing the two-time MVP, Antetokounmpo’s commitment to the Bucks seems to be quite firm after this signing.
Although the Knicks would likely be among the top suitors if Antetokounmpo ends up on the market at some point in the near future, that simply won’t be the reality this offseason. Considering the Bucks have been one of the top teams in the league throughout Antetokounmpo’s tenure, they’re also quite happy to be keeping their superstar around.
