It’s never too early to discuss NBA off-season trade rumors. I mean, everybody else has, and some have even begun, so let’s get this party started, shall we?
Ten teams failed to make the playoffs, all except for two have been eliminated as we saw, somewhat surprisingly, the cream of the NBA crop rise to the top with the also-rans, inevitably looking to copy OKC’s model for success. Good luck with that.
The Milwaukee Bucks, on the other hand, were done early. Kaput, finito, or however you say toast in Greek. The Indiana Pacers made sure of that. The Bucks went to the Giannis well one too many times. Despite his filling up a stat sheet like few others in can (33 ppg, 15 rpg, 7 apg, 61FG%), the last memory we’ll have of Giannis is him being heckled by Tyrese Haliburton’s father.
Before we start packing his bags, it bears note that Giannis is still under contract with the Milwaukee Bucks through 2027-28 where he’ll be making a cool $54, $58 and $62 million over those next three seasons. But, as we’ve learned with Luka’s stealth and shocking departure to Los Angeles, any superstar can be traded, and any superstar can demand a trade. It’s just a matter of making the numbers work.
With Milwaukee’s future looking bleak and their championship window seemingly nailed shut, Giannis has officially announced he’s open to looking elsewhere, especially considering all the heavy lifting he had to do for his Bucks this season. Add the fact that Damian Lillard’s Achilles has no timeline for repair and Giannis, who has previously expressed an interest in leaving Milwaukee, may force his hand. Considering he’s only 30 years old and as freakish as ever, there will be plenty of suitors.
The Lakers have been rumored to want to dabble with the Freak. And why wouldn’t they? The Purple and Gold generally get their pick of the litter. This would take some massive cap restructuring, including LeBron re-signing for considerably less money, which is likely not going to happen. The Knicks and Nets would also be interested but the Knicks would have to do some serious juggling (they already have, i.e. fired coach) and Brooklyn, well, their roster is as depleted as Milwaukee’s. Joining the Nets seems like a lateral move at best, only with more ornery, unappreciative fans. Houston’s been rumored but one gets the feeling the Rockets are okay with their progress. They’d have to part with too many of their promising young pieces to land another athletic big who can’t shoot a mid-range jumper. Orlando had been included in these glorious rumors, but this franchise just made their move, adding Desmond Bane and shipping off draft picks. Oklahoma City’s name has been thrown into the mix but why would they break up a team that just posted one of the best regular seasons in NBA history, boasts a well-balanced, signed roster and stands on the verge of a title? Golden State has also been mentioned but as magical as Steph Curry remains, how much longer will he be around? The Raptors? Come on. Who willingly wants to play in Toronto? Giannis will undoubtedly think long term and in his own best interests with Milwaukee’s blessing, but the Bucks will want something in return. They won’t trade him for pennies on the dollar.
This leaves us with one team who can already fit him under their cap, a young team who’s knocking on the door of contending. Adding Giannis would not only make them instant contenders but also a frightening cover and an immediate must watch, assuming you like basketballs routinely smacked up into the rafters. Giannis headed to this team would ensure that we’d be seeing them on television all the time, launch worldwide jersey sales to record heights and place this franchise back where their former Hall of Fame players, and former coach, worked so hard to put them.
I speak, of course, of the San Antonio Spurs. I’m no Spurs fan (although Timmy D, Tony Parker and Ginobili were damn fun to watch) but I am hereby leading the campaign to get Giannis Antetokounmpo to San Antonio. There’s not a team in the NBA that wouldn’t circle the date they had to travel to Texas to try to get a shot off.
Unlike the suitors mentioned above, the Spurs already have room under their cap to make a move like this. They wouldn’t have to massively restructure anything, just move some pieces around to figure out who’s expendable, which is everyone but Wemby and De’Aaron Fox to make a deal of this magnitude. Victor Wembanyama has yet to get paid his max, still under his rookie contract, and they have time to ensure his financial happiness as the salary cap will soon shoot up. Make no mistake, Wemby will get his record-setting deal but until then, the franchise can sign another megastar and there aren’t too many more megas out there. While we sit and wait on Wemby to purportedly become the league’s best player with other young superstars like Anthony Edwards, SGA, Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Haliburton and Luka Doncic doing their best to make sure he doesn’t, why not place Wemby alongside another long, daunting, tree-like player who has already won an MVP, a Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
I’m a Magic fan and while Yahoo’s Dave Holcomb’s suggestion of Giannis (and pieces) for Wagner (and pieces) trade proposal once whet my whistle, this trade is unlikely. As a basketball fan, I’d rather see teams try to score against a front court of Wemby and Freak for the next three to five years. Those two could historically redefine rim protection. Can you imagine a world where Giannis is NOT the best defensive player on his team??
I’m old enough to remember Hakeem playing alongside Ralph Sampson. This was back when we thought Sampson would be the better player. (We were a tad off on that one.) That frontcourt lineup was impressive, as was trying to score against Parish and McHale, Duncan and Robinson or any other formidable 4-5. Giannis and Wemby would be altogether different, two guys who, fingertip to fingertip, cover a fair amount of court.
The Spurs would have two long, athletic bigs who can also cover the perimeter. Giannis’ workload would dramatically decrease extending his career. The Spurs have locked in De’Aaron Fox and might be able to keep Chris Paul for another year on the cheap, along with signing whoever else they please, for what vet wouldn’t want to play alongside those two basketball savants.
We should also factor that, from what I’ve seen, Giannis doesn’t like to play against Wemby. Victor Wembanyama is the only player I’ve seen routinely block Giannis’ shot attempts, making him look small in the process. If you can’t beat him, join him. One more guard and some depth and you have a team that could both rival the young Western teams (OKC, Minnesota) and make the old Western teams (L.A., Denver, Golden State) look even older. And what better veteran character guy to tutor Wembanyama than the Greek Freak himself. One of them is Greek, the other French, you can’t tell me David Stern’s predecessor isn’t salivating over the endless, global marketing possibilities.
All this speculation might be for naught. The Freak might decide he wants to remain a Buck for life. He has expressed interest in that as well, signing the Super Max and biding his time while they dismantled a championship team, fired his coach and inexplicably hired Doc Rivers. Or maybe you can only poke the bear for so long, the Freak coming to terms with the fact that he and his franchise might not have similar interests at heart.
Giannis remains in Milwaukee’s good graces. It is a town where he’ll always be revered. That said, he’s at a crossroads where he may need to consider making his life easier. A trade to San Anton. If it is rings and legacy he’s after, this move makes the most sense and sure would be fun to watch.
