Just in case Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn\u2019t already have one foot out the door in Milwaukee, Doc Rivers is here to give him a little nudge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking with reporters ahead of the Bucks\u2019 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, Rivers said that Joel Embiid is the most talented player he ever coached<\/a>. Seriously. That happened. Here\u2019s the full quote:<\/p>\n \u201cI was telling a very, very, very Hall of Fame player that I coached that Joel\u2019s the most talented player that I ever coached. And he was like, \u2018What?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018He is.\u2019<\/p>\n Question for no one in particular: Is Doc trying his darnedest to coax Giannis into requesting a trade, or is he just hoping to get himself fired? Or maybe it\u2019s both?\u00a0<\/p>\n Either way, the Knicks should be thrilled.<\/p>\n Giannis\u2019 situation in Milwaukee is getting weird<\/p>\n No, Giannis won\u2019t demand a trade to New York just because Doc might think Embiid is the more talented player. But it can\u2019t hurt. Especially given the general awkwardness of his situation with the Bucks.<\/p>\n Between Milwaukee tumbling down the standings, Giannis\u2019 calling out his team<\/a> prior to his latest calf injury, and oh, I don\u2019t know, the two-time MVP actually asking to get shipped<\/a> to New York this past offseason, his future seems far from settled.\u00a0<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter that he\u2019s said he will not request a trade<\/a>. Having second thoughts about your current squad’s direction is basically a rite of passage for one-team superstars.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also, let\u2019s be real, Giannis isn\u2019t fooling anyone with his previous assertion that he can\u2019t control<\/a> what his representatives tell Milwaukee. His agents aren\u2019t even giving the faintest hint of a trade request without his blessing. Nobody goes that rogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n To be fair, Rivers\u2019 comments about Embiid aren\u2019t ironclad proof of a disconnect. To be even more fair, they certainly aren\u2019t going to help matters\u2014for the Bucks, anyway.<\/p>\n Anything that gets Giannis contemplating his future for the Knicks<\/p>\n We all understand the lay of the land right now. If the Bucks are forced to trade Giannis, there\u2019s no way they want to send him to New York. The Knicks cannot offer a single first-round pick until this summer, and even then, a bunch of potential suitors have the ability to offer much better packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, Giannis is going to have a say in where he lands. His current contract runs through next season, with a 2027-28 player option. That arms him with a ton of leverage. If he says he\u2019ll only sign an extension with the Knicks, fewer teams will be inclined to call his bluff, or cobble together a first-rate offer for his services.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is in many ways a reductive way of looking at trade negotiations. That doesn\u2019t make it inaccurate. For their part, the Knicks appear to be placing real stock in Giannis\u2019 leverage. They wouldn\u2019t have interest in trading for Jrue Holiday, his former teammate, if they didn\u2019t think it\u2019d make them a more attractive landing spot<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Basically, the Knicks are attempting to stockpile smaller victories in hopes they coalesce into a more monumental win: The arrival of Giannis. Rivers\u2019 indirect Embiid-over-Giannis comments are far from their biggest W. Given the current state of affairs in Milwaukee, it\u2019s not an insignificant one, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just in case Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn\u2019t already have one foot out the door in Milwaukee, Doc Rivers is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,102,121,3871,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-566391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-milwaukee","11":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","12":"tag-milwaukeebucks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}