Knicks UNLEASHED

Giannis to the Knicks: Championship Move or Melo 2.0?

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Is a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade the move that finally brings a championship back to Madison Square Garden — or would it repeat the Carmelo Anthony all-in gamble that cost the Knicks their depth and future? In this episode of Knicks Unleashed, we break down: 🏀 Giannis vs. Melo impact on team-building 🏀 What the Knicks would have to give up in a blockbuster Giannis deal 🏀 Whether Giannis + Brunson = instant title favorites 🏀 How this trade could rebuild — or derail — the Knicks’ championship window 🏀 The pros, cons, risks, and long-term fallout If the Knicks go all-in for Giannis… does it finally put a banner in MSG? 🔥 Drop your thoughts in the comments — would YOU make the trade?

#knicks #nyknicks #NBA

SPEAKER_01:

It's good to be back on the mic for episode two of New York Knicks Unleashed. We need to talk about the Knicks, of course, in the quarterfinal cup game against those Toronto Raptors. We want to talk about RJ Barrett being out of still a battles with Bride. Want to talk about OG Ananobi and the find that the NBA has leveled against a certain player for a dirty play. I what when someone does something like this guy did, I don't like saying their name, but it was Desmond Bain, of course, of the magic. Basically throwing the ball at the back of OG Ananobi while he's on the ground. That's cowardice shit. And of course, the NBA officials had had to go to the review, had to check the tape to make sure that was even a foul. How dumb can that be? Also, want to talk about from Giannis to Mello. I want to talk about the Carmelo Anthony trade a little bit. I want to talk about the Giannis possibilities of New York and what it could mean. And might it be a reflection of the Mello deal? But first we have to get into the NBA quarter cup finals of the NBA Cup. Whatever the fuck it is. This is they're taking a page out of European football, also known as soccer, where they have this tournament now in the middle, not even the middle of the season, in the beginning half of the season for this useless NBA Cup, which literally gives you nothing but fucking bragging rights. Of course, the Knicks are in the cornerfinals, quarterfinals, like up against the Toronto Raptors tonight at 8:30 in Toronto. RJ Barrett's still out with the knee injury. Miles McBride, who was seen with the walking boot after the game the other day, is also out as well. Of course, we talked about it yesterday. Negative on the X-rays. He had the MRI on Monday. We're still waiting to get a full update about how long he will be out. The Knicks are 0-3. I can't remember if they're 0-3 and 0-2. I think they're 0-3 when McBride is not in the lineup. So we got to kind of wait and see what happens there. But the NBA came down on Desmond Bain of the Orlando Magic with a$35,000 fine for throwing the game ball with force at OG Ananobi. I love it. In an unsportsmanlike manner. It was a bullshit, chicken shit move by Desmond Bain. Let's just say what it was. Let's just say it as it is. And I am shocked to death that OG Anonomi did not get up. And and I I know you do you don't want to have um, you know, you don't want to perpetrate violence on anyone, but you gotta defend yourself. Uh you got Boogie Cousins coming out, feel even said that he feels, I'm not saying punch him in the face, but maybe slap the shit out of him. I've said this before. MSG right now is like it's like it was in the early 2000s. This is our fucking house. You don't come to our house and start shit. And I have to agree with Boogie Cousins, yeah. You you you you you you you do what you gotta do.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's play the uh the tape, shall we? Desmond Bain and OG and this was the craziest thing I think I've ever seen. Take me through it, guys. What am I looking at here? Have you ever done assault battery? That's assault, brother. What's up with you, bro? So listen, everyone, OG, OG say, what's wrong with you, bro? Everyone knows you do this if you're falling out of bounds, you're up in the middle. You did this one. You did this one. You're falling out of bounds. Where is this falling out of bounds at? Look, look, look, this. You look like a very balanced man to me. Why would you do that? Yeah, there's just no, I can't rewatch this and think he's off balance that I really can't. This is kudos to OG for not literally.

SPEAKER_02:

No, it's not kudos to OG.

SPEAKER_00:

What do you want OG to do?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'm not saying I'm not saying punch him in the face and maybe slap the shit out of him. That's crazy. That's crazy. But now, as a biggest, that's one of the craziest things in NBA. I'm not going for this movie. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00:

Is there anger? Is it personal? But Biggs, it's obviously.

SPEAKER_01:

Slap the shit out of him. Boogie, two thumbs up, two thumbs up to the boogie. Because that's what you gotta do. You protect your house. You protect your home court, you protect yourself as an NBA player. I'm not saying OG I went out like a bitch, but damn. Show a little fucking heart. Be Josh Hart. Years ago, and it seems like years ago now, and I love it because I'm not I'm not slighting other uh New York Knicks content creators because of the fact that I haven't been on the New York Knicks mic as long as some other pla people have. I've been on the Giants Mike a much more longer, but I've been a Knicks fan since 79. So I love when uh when younger Giant content, excuse me, Knicks content creators talk about how they've seen they're like 24 years old and then says, I've been with all the things that I've seen in the lifetime, you know, as being a Knicks fan, it's like what over the last eight years. One of the biggest trades, of course, ever to come down, one of the one of the franchise changing trades was the February 2022, excuse me, February 22nd, 2011 trade of Carmel, Carmelo Anthony over to the New York Knicks. It was one of those moves where where literally, I've said it before, I'm gonna say it again. Carmelo forced this trade to the Knicks. He did it because the CBA was going to be changing next season, and when he got his extension or if he signed a free agent contract next that following season, he was going to get less money because of the new CBA. So I'm not saying it was only reason or rationale to push his way out of Denver, but this is one of the reasons why he why he did it. That is the fact is that he was going to lose money if he did not get out in two thousand in that during that 2011 season. So the Knicks get Carl, of course, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Bills, Sheldon Williams, Anthony Carno, Blackman comes back to the Knicks and Corey Brewer, who was waived shortly after. The Denver Nuggets received uh Danello Galinari, West, uh excuse me, uh Wilson Chandler, uh uh what the fuck's that guy? Uh Raymond Felton got Timothy Mogloff, I can never say his name. A 2014 first-round pick, which uh which was later uh taked and then drafted. Um sorry, I got distracted there. Somebody just texted me about something. A 2012, 2013, 2000 uh second round picks, along with$3 million in cash. People forget there was a third team in that deal, which was the Minnesota Timberwolves, because they needed to get rid of that expiring contract, the Knicks did of Eddie Curry to get the cap space. They also moved on from Anthony Randolph, and also more uh cash considerations went over to the Timberwolves. And you looked at this deal on paper, it was literally the Knicks gutting the interior of their roster. It was literally them pushing a duo, a win now moment with Amari Steidelmeyer, who at that time was having an MVP season. Most people forget in those 28 games that Carmelo Anthony came over to the Knicks, the Knicks went 14 and 14. Yes, they did make the playoffs, but they went 14 and 14. They gave up not only starters, but they gave up their in the majority of depth. Now, I like I liked bringing back Chauncey Billups. Blackman and Carter to me were nothing. Williams played sparingly at times, but you literally, like I said, giving up Galinara, giving up Wilson Chandler. To me, you were giving up two starters who played in the NBA forever. Raymond Felton at the point in time was having a career season. I've never, the Knicks never draft well in the first round outside of, I don't know, Patrick Ewing. And that is a joke, of course. But they literally, I was never worried about the picks, but I was literally about worried about the fact that you took an entire roster. You took a team that was winning, and you put in a superstar. And I'm at that point in time, Carmelo was probably anywhere between the second and third best player in the league. And you got that superstar. You created that dynamic duo. You have a superstar in your prime, you know, and and having these guys together a year later or two years later, it facilitated Tyson Chandler coming, get you know, coming over to the Knicks. And and that's that's the way you have to look at it. And that's the way it you know it went down. But it literally, at times, it it basically the Knicks lost flexibility for years afterwards. They they never put together a true contender outside of that Melo, Stademeyer, and Chandler one season. It preventing them to the it really prevented the Knicks for a period of time of the ability to build themselves into a sustainable championship contender. But Mello was Mello. He was the face of the franchise. He came in here and basically he did do what he say was he'd say that he was going to do. You know, if you take a look at the Nuggets side, you know, the Nuggets, I think long-term won the won that deal because it allowed them to maintain flexibility with their roster. It it gave them, you know, it gave them key pieces that were on this team forever while they never went pushing forward to a a championship, but it just allowed them the leeway to do different things and and become something, you know, and become not a perennial winner, but a winner in the NBA. The Knicks to me were the short-term winner of that deal because of the fact that, like I said, you had like a good four, you had like a good three to four season window with Mello. That was, you know, it was it was exciting in New York. It was fun to be a New York Knicks fan again. It was fun. I loved what Mello is probably one of my favorite players. Now listen, I go back to I go back to Trent uh Trent Tucker and Rory Sparrow. But before then, my favorite player was Bernard King. You know, I love Ken the Edible Bannister. But it it it was a great, I mean, Mello to me was a great Nick. Some people I think at times kind of try to take that away from him because of how the marriage ended. But it was a great, it was, he was a great Nick. And and in the in the short term, it did the deal, did what it was supposed to do. It made the Knicks relevant again, but in the long term, it really was to the detriment of the franchise. Now, with Giannis wanting to come here, with Giannis saying, I want to come here, and I don't know if Milwaukee is gonna take a look at his um his pleas to go to Manhattan and try to make his wish come true because we don't have the first round picks to throw into this deal because of the five that we sent out for bridges. We don't have the picks. There are gonna have to be a lot of swaps. And the problem is this if you if you subtract Giannis from Milwaukee and then you put him on the Knicks, more than likely Milwaukee's gonna have worse draft points, excuse me, be in better position to get a better pick with their own picks, and the Knicks will probably be picking lower in the you know in the low 20s. So there really doesn't make any sense to swap. You would have to sweeten the deal with a whole bunch of number twos, which and you could potentially facilitate if you're a Milwaukee into some first-round picks, and you know you're gonna have to send Carl Anthony Towns. That that's gonna be a key component of the piece, and you're gonna have to add another contract to make this completely work, and you're gonna have to take back Kyle Kuzman, which I don't have a problem with, but you're gonna have to either include OG Ananomi or Bridges. Now, because of the Bridges extension that he signed in February, we can't move him till February. So if you want to wait to that period of time, here's my concern. And and I talked to the Venerable James Williams about this the other day. What if the Knicks all of a sudden just go on a run? What if they go on a run from now to February, where you know they they just they just go on one of those miracle runs? Are you then gonna take a look at the trade and make this trade if you want to include bridges and break up the continuity that you have to add Giannis? You can make the trade now if you take OG Ananobi and Carl Anthony Towns and put it into the package. You can make the trade now. And honestly, I personally, if I'm a Nick fan, if I can get out of that$200 million OG Ananobi contract, I'm happy with that. I think Carl Anthony Towns is does not get the the love that he deserves at times to get here in New York. Because yes, he does play soft. Yes, at times he does disappear, but he is a seven-time all-star. He does things well. He is a guy that's gonna get you 25 and 12, and that's that's hard to find in that middle. He also protects that center lane. So when you have someone like Jalen Brunson, you know, driving to the lane, he's not gonna take a beating. If you take a look at the magic game, I spoke about this the other day. Brunson took a beating driving to the basket. Because while Mitchell Robinson does things well, he does not have that size to protect Brunson as he's cutting to the hole. So if you're gonna make this deal, and I'm gonna tell you right now, if all I have to give up is Carl Anthony Towns and OG Ananobi, some swaps of one and some bunch of twos to get Giannis, I'm making the deal now. Until Milwaukee comes, unless when Milwaukee comes to their fucking senses, I'm making the deal. I'm I'm running over there to make this deal. And even if you have to go back and you have to wait till February to throw in bridges, again, I would have to see where the Knicks are at, but you you have to make that deal. You're gonna have to be concerned about the fact that your starting center is going to be Mitchell Robinson. And we, you know, he is he he he is Mr. Glass at times, but it's it's a trade, I think, at this point in time. If those are the pieces that you are truly giving up, will it be a major disruption to the franchise? No. Right now, no. I can't tell you in February, I could also tell you in February that the Knicks could hit a skid. And then it makes 100% sense if you want to move Cat and Bridges. So there's so much in play here. But if you asked me, Tim, December 9th, Tuesday, 2025, would you make that trade right now? I said, hell yeah. I would make that trade. We're still gonna have to figure out some depths. I would love to get Kyle Kuzman back because I do need so I do need some more scoring off the bench. But it would be an it would it would not even be anywhere close to the mellow trade. Because like I said, the mellow trade gutted the roster, limited the Knicks flexibility, had two paired two superstars together. That even when we made that trade, I was like, I just don't see these guys playing well together. I can see Giannis and Brunson working together. I would be worried about the center position, and I would be worried again still about the Knicks depth. But to me, like I said, it's a trade. If you asked me right now, you make it. I don't think it would have the same impact that the mellow trade had in reference to the future of this franchise. I think the biggest issue right now with would be the bridges trade, which probably is gonna be the one that's gonna have the most, uh be the most detrimental to the franchise. But I think if you can make that trade for Giannis now, I would do it. I wouldn't even think about it, I wouldn't even fucking blink. Oh, more episodes are coming down the pike. So make sure you stay tuned. We'll see what happens with the Knicks, of course, against the Toronto Raptors tonight at 8:30 in that NBA Cup game. Oh, dear lord. Sometimes the shit that the NBA does, I just don't fucking get it. Make sure you like, make sure you subscribe, make sure you click all notifications when you do like and subscribe to the channel. Make sure you're following the podcast. We're gonna be doing a lot of on-camera stuff like the New York Giants Straight Talk Podcast. We're gonna have some special NBA guests on, so make sure you stay tuned for that. And as always, this is Tim. This is Nyx Unleashed, and I'm out of here.