Q: Aside from Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware, the Bucks want more young pieces for Giannis Antetokounmpo. If it came down to choosing between Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson or Jaime Jaquez Jr., who do the Heat value most? I would keep Kasparas and include one of the other two if they would let me. I really like this rookie’s two-way talent and playmaking. – Eddie.

A: What has gotten lost in this equation is that this mostly would not be the Heat’s choice. When it comes to a player of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s stature, it is the team trading out the superstar that can determine who and how much. Obviously different teams value different players in different ways. So it would mostly come down to the Bucks’ evaluation of the Heat’s talent, should Milwaukee choose to move in such a direction. Assuming Kel’el Ware would be the Heat’s centerpiece of youth that is offered, it would be a difficult choice for the Heat beyond, only because Jaime Jaquez Jr. becomes extension eligible in the offseason, which opens the debate to future valuation. But if you are asking whether Jaime, Pelle Larsson or Kasparas Jakucionis would be deal killers from a Heat perspective when it comes to Giannis, then highly doubt it. All likely would/could be sent out, need be. In fact, this also could be the opportunity for the Bucks to offload some bad salary, as well, while taking in youthful, cheaper replacements.

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Q: Ira, it’s hard for me to comprehend why teams now covet draft picks over proven, experienced players, since drafting 19-year-old college kids is so hit-or-miss. Back in the day, Pat Riley used to just throw in draft picks as trade fillers. Now in our pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, we may have the best player package but could miss out because we may not have as many draft picks as another team. It makes absolutely no sense to me. – Greg, Jacksonville.

A: The intrigue is the mystery of the unknown. Once a player is drafted, you begin to appreciate his ultimate upside. When a pick has yet to be exercised, there is the abstract of getting the next great thing. As in so many walks of life, hope tends to trump reality. In addition, by acquiring distant first-round picks, they then can be packaged in the future. Plus, players come with salaries attacked, often high salaries. Draft picks that have yet to have been exercised have no impact on a team’s current salary cap or tax. So there is that, as well.

Q: So, this year’s key word used by Erik Spoelstra is “stack.” Kel’el Ware needs to stack more good days together. Orlando stacked too many paint points. Dru Smith said in an interview that the team needed to stack wins together. “Stack” goes with “stick with the process” and “play to our identity.” Whatever that means. – David, Fort Lauderdale.

A: Sometimes you just have to stack the cliches.

This time last year, the stakes were different — and so were the results.

The Knicks had traded for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges the preceding summer, a series of moves signaling New York’s newfound “singular focus” on bringing a championship to Madison Square Garden for the first time in over 50 years, and on the week of last season’s early-February NBA Trade Deadline, the Knicks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers in a matchup the Lakers ran away with following OG Anunoby’s in-game hamstring injury.

The Lakers would go on to trade Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic just moments after leaving Madison Square Garden with a victory. A year later, the shoe is on the other foot.

Now, it’s the Knicks who could very well be positioned to pull off the deal of the century — if not an organizational lifetime — regardless of their 112-100 victory over the Lakers on Sunday. It’s the Knicks who have to prove between now and the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline that a seismic move for Giannis Antetokounmpo would do more harm than good for the championship odds of a team that believes it has bounced back from the doldrums of nine losses in 11 games.

So far, so good. Message received, loud and clear. The Knicks have now won six games in a row. They’ve tied their longest winning streak of the season (it was seven games if you count the NBA Cup Final against the San Antonio Spurs, a game the league does not credit toward season stats or the official win-loss column). And they’re back to moving the ball and playing selflessly on the offensive end.

Mike Brown credited the Knicks’ improved play to having more practice time as the schedule has lightened.

“We’ve had a chance to practice a little bit. But we made changes a little earlier, we’ve gotten a little better with the changes. Guys have been communicating more, but they’re able to do that because they feel a little bit more comfortable with what we’re doing,” he said ahead of tipoff. “Defensively, we made some changes. Offensively too. And, uh, you know. I think because we’ve had a chance to work at it a little bit, the guys have had a chance to get- be involved with it a little bit, the confidence is great. That’s growing as well.”

For the second time in New York’s last three games, Jalen Brunson (12 points, 4-of-15 shooting) had a poor shooting night from the field, yet for the third game in a row, it didn’t matter. For the third game in a row, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby scored 20 or more points apiece.

Anunoby (25 points, 9-of-15 shooting) and Hart (20 points, 8-of-11 shooting) combined for 45 points on 26 shot attempts, and the Knicks got another 23 points and six 3s off the bench from Landry Shamet as Miles McBride missed his third consecutive game with ankle soreness. Anunoby put the final nail in the Lakers’ coffin when he secured an offensive rebound with three minutes left in the fourth and scored on a putback dunk in traffic to extend New York’s lead to 12.

Meanwhile, an improved Knicks defense soured what could be the final appearance at the World’s Most Famous Arena in LeBron James’ storied, first-ballot Hall of Fame-worthy NBA career. Fans lined outside The Garden several hours ahead of tipoff to watch James exit the team bus. They cheered and chanted his name during pregame warmups and introductions and cheered harder during his moments on Sunday, including a blast from the past in a two-handed alley-oop finish on a feed from Marcus Smart.

But the Lakers were without star forward Austin Reaves, and after a 33-point opening period, Los Angeles was unable to sustain its scoring punch. James finished with 22 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, and Luka Doncic added 30 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists on 10-of-23 shooting, but no other Lakers players scored more than 13 points.

The Knicks, who entered Sunday’s matchup with the NBA’s top-ranked defense over their last five games, strengthened their position in the win over the Lakers. They have held five of their last six opponents to 100 or fewer points.

The going is set to get tough from here, but Sunday night was a good sign. The Knicks’ five-game winning streak came against opponents with a combined 100-122 record. With Denver, Detroit and Boston as three of New York’s next four games, the Knicks will see exactly where they stand.

New York City will always play a small part in the Luka Doncic trade that stupefied the NBA.

A few hours before they acquired the generational superstar in a middle-of-the-night deal with the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Knicks on Feb. 1, 2025, in their annual trip to Madison Square Garden.

Lakers head coach J.J. Redick knew before he left for the Garden that day that the trade was nearing the finish line.

“I found the steam room at the hotel and was just in a really thoughtful space, I thought,” Redick recalled Sunday. “And then Coach Ty [Abbott] walked in and was like, ‘What the [expletive] is wrong with you?’ I guess I was stressed out, but I managed it well during the game.”

Sunday marked one year since that whirlwind day. ESPN first reported the trade — which sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick back to Dallas — minutes after midnight EDT on Feb. 2, while it was still Feb. 1 in Los Angeles when Lakers fans found out.

It was fitting, then, that the Lakers were back at the Garden for the trade’s first anniversary — and that Doncic dominated, even in a losing effort, 112-100, against the Knicks.

Playing at MSG for the first time as a Laker, the 26-year-old Doncic dazzled with 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists in 37 minutes.

He had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists in the first quarter alone, including an electrifying 71-second stretch in which Doncic made a 3-pointer, found Rui Hachimura for an alley-oop dunk and then drilled another 3-pointer.

In the second quarter, after Josh Hart made a 3-pointer for the Knicks, Doncic answered on the other end by sinking a step-back 3-pointer — over Hart. Ever the showman, Doncic tapped Hart on the backside after the ball swished through the net.

Doncic delivered an even more impressive highlight late in the third quarter when he unleashed a spin move on Landry Shamet, then stepped back and made another tough 3-pointer.

That happened right in front of Knicks superfan Spike Lee, whom Doncic pointed to on his way back up the court, earning a smile from the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

But Doncic managed only three points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks (31-18) pulled away for their sixth consecutive win. Doncic finished 10-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-14 on 3-pointers.

Helping to fuel the Knicks’ win were 12 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists from Jalen Brunson, who was teammates with Doncic for four years in Dallas.

Much of the attention Sunday revolved around 41-year-old LeBron James, who might have been playing his final game at the Garden, the arena he has long acknowledged is his favorite.

It was therefore a bit symbolic that Los Angeles’ first basket Sunday was a Doncic lay-up off of a full-court pass from James, considering the Lakers’ passing of the torch was put into motion when Doncic arrived last year.

James has said he was out to dinner in the city when he found out about the Doncic deal and that he initially thought it was a “hoax.”

Doncic was similarly stunned, having expected to spend his entire career with Dallas, the team he led to the NBA Finals less than eight months before he was traded.

Mavericks fans revolted, holding protests outside of Dallas’ American Airlines Center and calling for the firing of general manager Nico Harrison. When the Mavericks fired Harrison in November, they were just 16-28 since trading Doncic.

Dallas fans can take some solace in the fact that last year’s post-trade slide helped them net the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft lottery, landing them a new phenom in Cooper Flagg.

But the Mavericks’ loss of the dynamic Doncic remains the Lakers’ gain — and that was on full display Sunday night.

The Chicago Bulls made their first move of the trade deadline Saturday night, receiving two second-round picks and forward Dario Šarić while acting as facilitators in a three-team trade with the Sacramento Kings and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The main core of the trade involved the Cavaliers sending De’Andre Hunter to the Kings in exchange for Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. The Bulls sent forward Emanuel Miller to the Cavaliers, per league sources. Due to Miller’s status as a two-way player, the Bulls also waived guard Jevon Carter to create room for Šarić on the roster.

Šarić appeared in only five games for the Kings this season. He is on the final season of a two-year, $10.6 million contract, which will contribute to the flexibility the Bulls are pursuing in the upcoming 2026 free-agency window.

Miller appeared in only 11 games over two seasons with the Bulls, averaging 2.3 points. Carter, a Maywood native who played college hoops for Proviso East, was a deep rotation player for the Bulls, averaging 12 minutes per game over three seasons in Chicago.