With the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors heating up once again, the New York Knicks are back in the spotlight.
The Knicks are reportedly the team that Giannis wants to play for if he leaves the Milwaukee Bucks. ESPN’s Shams Charania also reported that the Knicks and Bucks held trade discussions last summer, but it did not materialize. However, some say “love could be lovelier” the second time around.
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Much of the Giannis-to-New-York rumors have centered on Karl-Anthony Towns being the centrepiece of a trade package. However, Hall of Famer Paul Pierce is going against the grain, saying the Knicks would be better off trading Jalen Brunson for Giannis instead of KAT.
“If I got Giannis and KAT to build for the next five years, we can (win championships). I like him more with KAT than Brunson. You’ve got two physical bigs, one inside, one outside, I don’t need a scoring guard with them two. I don’t need much with them two,”explained Pierce.
Pierce says a Brunson-Antetokounmpo pairing shrinks the floor
According to Paul, Giannis and KAT are easily 25-point scorers every night and when you have a high-scoring pair like that, you don’t really need a scoring point guard. Pierce says the Knicks can make it work by adding a young point guard in the mold of Devin Vassell, Anfernee Simons or Jalen Suggs.
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Pierce also argued that if you pair Antetokounmpo with Brunson, you would be shrinking the floor not only because both are ball-dominant but also because they thrive on drives and close-to-the-basket shots. Paul also referenced a two-big combo that’s playing very well right now, and their team is winning.
“Look at the combination of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein,” added Pierce. “That’s two bigs together. One can spread the floor, and one is inside. That’s a way better version than that. You got both of them, I like it better.”
A deadly two-big combo in OKC
The double-big lineup has been avoided by most teams in the current small-ball, 3-point-heavy era. However, the OKC Thunder have enjoyed significant success with it this season, having played only 323 non-low-leverage minutes last year, posting a net rating of +4.3.
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So far, Chet and Hart have played 311:33 minutes together this season, and the Thunder have a net rating of +19.7 during those minutes. OKC is also a +10.3 percent in net total rebounds percentage in that span. The Thunder are 19-0 this season when both bigs start. Holmgren sat out OKC’s 119-121 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers last November 5, 2025, which also marks their only loss of the season.
However, this doesn’t mean that the Thunder are where they are right now solely because of their double-big lineup. OKC has 2025 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who continues to get better by the day and All-Star Jalen Williams, who is slowly getting his game back after starting the season on the injured list. The Thunder also have the deepest lineup in the league and championship experience from last year’s 2024 title conquest. Having a double-big starting lineup, however, makes things even easier. It remains to be seen which team will win the Greek Freak sweepstakes, but the Knicks are definitely a team to keep an eye out for.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 7, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.