The Knicks ’ Giannis Antetokounmpo timeline just got moved to the front of the line — and that’s a problem, because New York isn’t ready for the moment it has spent years trying to create.

In the version of reality the Knicks were banking on, Antetokounmpo would play out this season, see whether the Bucks could avoid a fourth straight first-round flameout, and only then decide whether to force his way out of Milwaukee. New York would have had time — a full season, well beyond the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline — to evaluate its roster, preserve its assets, and build the cleanest possible runway for the kind of franchise-altering swing they’ve been dreaming about since the day Jalen Brunson signed.

But that’s not the world we live in. And it’s definitely not the world Milwaukee lives in.

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