Damian Lillard Milwaukee Trade: Is Knicks' Giannis Dream Dead?

By trading for Damian Lillard, the Milwaukee Bucks have fulfilled Giannis Antetokounmpo's desire to see better efforts thrown toward a championship, which the New York Knicks can't appreciate.

The basketball world's long recurring nightmare is over.

No longer will Damian Lillard hypotheticals and rumors dominate the NBA's gossip grapevine, as ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the longtime Portland Trail Blazer is on his way to the Milwaukee Bucks to play with Giannis Antetokounmpo. The three-team deal also involves the Phoenix Suns and has DeAndre Ayton and Jrue Holiday coming to the Pacific Northwest while Portland starter Jusuf Nurkic heads to the desert

While the basketball-loving public may rejoice over the suspension of Lillard-based hypotheticals, the New York Knicks may have to tear up some of their blueprints.

Trading for Lillard was probably always a pipe dream for the backcourt-obsessed Knicks, even if some tinkering could've made it work, but the Bucks' acquisition of Lillard may affect their other prospects moving forward.

The obvious ramifications on the 2024 Eastern Conference playoff bracket are scary enough: as the Knicks seek to climb up the leaderboard, Milwaukee has undoubtedly re-established itself as the Eastern Conference's top buck, fulfilling Antetokounmpo's desire to see the team take its pursuit of a second championship in the decade more seriously. By killing off Antetokounmpo's relative excuses (trading for Lillard, replacing head coach Mike Budenholzer with Adrian Griffin), the Bucks now have every reason to believe that the Greek Freak will be interested in sticking around for the long term.

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That's bad news for anyone who had prepared to re-purpose their No. 34 Eddy Curry Knicks jersey as an Antetokounmpo thread. The Knicks always seem to linger in superstar gossip but landing such headliners has been a bit of a challenge. After Antetokounmpo publicly called upon the Bucks to be more proactive, the Knicks emerged as a realistic destination with Jalen Brunson and (possibly) All-Star Julius Randle in tow. Reports and prognostications from media figures from Brian Windhorst and Bill Simmons did nothing to dispel those notions. 

Trading for Lillard, however, is a sign of Milwaukee widening its presumed championship window, which means they'll be in no mood to field the Knicks' offers laden with picks and prospects, barring complete basketball disaster. It's fair to assume that the Knicks will continue their pursuit of an established marquee name, but it almost certainly won't be Antetokounmpo.

New York will have several high-profile opportunities to vent their frustrations on the Bucks this season: the teams are stationed in the same group for NBA In-Season Tournament play (which tips off on Nov. 3 in Milwaukee) and are also slated to do battle on Christmas Day.