Giannis blazes a trail towards a ring

[JRoy]

POR politely declines.

Why? Don't you think this is their best path to contention? The bucks won't bottom down unless they have their picks back, so I wouldn't bank on their picks being top5 picks. They'll just trade giannis and get a decent team.

IMO holiday-sharpe-deni-giannis-turner is potentially the best blazers team since Bill Walton and might get them their 2nd ring ever.

I think it would be better to draft the next POR superstar than try to cobble together a “contender” for a year or two.

[the_process]

Scenario:
It's the 2025 trade deadline, the bucks are around the 6th place in the east with giannis carrying the load, while PDX are around 9th in the west. Giannis has this year and the other, then a player option. He tells MKE that he wants a trade to a team he can contend with.

Enter the blazers - controlling the bucks future with swaps in 28' and 30', and owning their 29' unprotected pick. Deni looks primed to be MIP, and let's say Scoot looks like a future top 10 pg.

Milwaukee trades:
Giannis, Turner, Gary Trent

Portland trades:
Scoot, Camara, Clingan, Robert Williams, Jeremi Grant, Thybulle, 29' bucks pick, right to swap in 28' and 30'

Bucks post-trade:
Henderson - Porter Jr. - Camara - Kuzma - Clingan
Not a good team, but they can trade away RW for a pick, Camara is a potential future dpoy earning 2M, and Henderson/Clingan still have potential. Mostly, they now have their picks back.

Blazers post-trade:
Jrue - Sharpe - Deni - Giannis - Turner
a super team, hoping for Jrue to stay decent and for Sharpe to be able to shoot well. They have Trent off the bench, and Giannis is now contending, playing along a shooting C and Deni, his friend Jrue and Dame as well which he played with both.

***If this feels light for Milwaukee, Portland can add Yang Hansen (future Jokic) and/or picks for Jericho Sims.

Giannis isn't going to Portland. Come on.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I would probably do something around Deni instead for Giannis, I think that makes the deal a bit easier to sell Milwaukee on, I don't think his fit with Giannis is exceptional and his contract might be complicated to resign him while carrying that kind of payroll.

Deni, Scoot, Yang (with Grant/Thybulle for salary), Milwaukee picks back and the unprotected Orlando pick. Or maybe pull Chicago in, give them the Orlando pick and free up some of ours instead, especially if we are able to get Turner as well in the deal. If Milwaukee really wanted they could probably move Deni to OKC for a boatload more picks. Doubtful that would be a winning bid for Giannis on the open market but maybe competitive if there is a short list with Portland in the mix? Assuming Giannis wanted to team up with Holiday and Lillard again.

I'm big on keeping Sharpe and Camara though. I think those would be the important pieces to keep to make a competitive team around Giannis.

[stamsammy]

I would probably do something around Deni instead for Giannis, I think that makes the deal a bit easier to sell Milwaukee on, I don't think his fit with Giannis is exceptional and his contract might be complicated to resign him while carrying that kind of payroll.

Deni, Scoot, Yang (with Grant/Thybulle for salary), Milwaukee picks back and the unprotected Orlando pick. Or maybe pull Chicago in, give them the Orlando pick and free up some of ours instead, especially if we are able to get Turner as well in the deal. If Milwaukee really wanted they could probably move Deni to OKC for a boatload more picks. Doubtful that would be a winning bid for Giannis on the open market but maybe competitive if there is a short list with Portland in the mix? Assuming Giannis wanted to team up with Holiday and Lillard again.

I'm big on keeping Sharpe and Camara though. I think those would be the important pieces to keep to make a competitive team around Giannis.

Holiday-Sharpe-Camara-Giannis-Turner is a contender because it has Giannis. But other than him, I see no one that can be a reliable self-creator and scorer. Sharpe is far from a reliable second option for a contender, so you're pushing all the chips in on a bet on him becoming one.

[mattg]

This is laughably awful for Milwaukee. They'd let Giannis walk for nothing before doing a trade like this and rightfully so. Not a single true blue chip talent young player, no chance at being good in the interim, and only getting picks back 2 years down the road? It's an absolute trash offer to be extremely nice about it and it shows how media propaganda has influenced posters to get them to truly believe something like this is the best Milwaukee could hope for. Years of ESPN and trash podcasts suggesting godawful hypothetical NBA trades where superstars get given away for a poo poo platter "because their team has no other choice" or my favorite, the hilarious fake hypothetical boogeyman of "if they don't trade him then no stars in the future will ever sign with their team, they have to give him away".

[Myth]

I think this is an obvious yes for Portland. I can’t fathom why other Blazers fans aren’t all over this.

Jrue/Lillard
Sharpe/Trent
Deni/Thybulle
Giannis/Murray
Turner/Yang

We upgrade Camara to an MVP level guy. We swap Clingan for Turner, which is an upgrade when you consider the offense. We lose Scoot, but still have a good guard rotation overall with reasonable offense (can be great if Lillard returns to form). That starting unit is great at defense. We’re missing a bit of good forward and center depth, but Portland maintains tradable 1st rounders every year moving forward, which can be used to fill those depth gaps.

[jbk1234]

This is laughably awful for Milwaukee. They'd let Giannis walk for nothing before doing a trade like this and rightfully so. Not a single true blue chip talent young player, no chance at being good in the interim, and only getting picks back 2 years down the road? It's an absolute trash offer to be extremely nice about it and it shows how media propaganda has influenced posters to get them to truly believe something like this is the best Milwaukee could hope for. Years of ESPN and trash podcasts suggesting godawful hypothetical NBA trades where superstars get given away for a poo poo platter "because their team has no other choice" or my favorite, the hilarious fake hypothetical boogeyman of "if they don't trade him then no stars in the future will ever sign with their team, they have to give him away".

They would obviously not prefer that Giannis walk for nothing rather than get three years of their own picks and three prospects back. If that's not the direction the Bucks want to go, fine, but no team wants to spend four straight seasons in the lottery without their own picks and little to no young talent.

[nate33]

I would likely do this as a PDX fan but would hope for something closer to -

Scoot, Sharpe, Yang, Grant, picks for Giannis, filler (GTJ) + Prince into PDX BAE

Think Camara and DC would be needed high level role players for a win-now Giannis led team. Also think MIL would prefer the upside of Sharpe to Camara. FWIW - I think its a decent sell to MIL casuals as well - the high flying Sharpe, the young PG with surprising name recognition and a high draft slot in Scoot, the international attention Yang would bring. Those are selling points to keep a fan base interested during the rebuild.

G - Holiday / Dame / Wesley
G - Camara / Holiday / GTJ
F - Deni / Thybulle / GTJ
F - Giannis / Deni / Prince
C - Clingan / RWIII / Reath

That team is a contender. Bench needs work but that starting lineup is legit and if Dame comes back and is anything remotely near his old self your looking at a Top-3 team in the league IMO.

Interesting twist.

I still think it's better for both parties if Turner is sent to Portland with Clingan going to Milwaukee. It gives Milwaukee a young prospect to work with, while giving Portland the stretch 5 to allow Giannis to operate in the paint.

I do like the idea of keeping Camara in Portland though.

[nate33]

This is laughably awful for Milwaukee. They'd let Giannis walk for nothing before doing a trade like this and rightfully so. Not a single true blue chip talent young player, no chance at being good in the interim, and only getting picks back 2 years down the road? It's an absolute trash offer to be extremely nice about it and it shows how media propaganda has influenced posters to get them to truly believe something like this is the best Milwaukee could hope for. Years of ESPN and trash podcasts suggesting godawful hypothetical NBA trades where superstars get given away for a poo poo platter "because their team has no other choice" or my favorite, the hilarious fake hypothetical boogeyman of "if they don't trade him then no stars in the future will ever sign with their team, they have to give him away".

You are not factoring the MASSIVE benefit Milwaukee gets by regaining control of 3 of their picks. Those 3 picks will be high lotto picks if Milwaukee tanks properly. THAT'S how you get your blue chip prospect. You could get 3 of them.

You are unlikely to get a young blue chip prospect by any other means. Teams with young blue chip prospects are either contenders (and therefore won't part with their prospect) or they are still in the rebuilding phase (so Giannis wouldn't want to go there). The only potentially available guy is Dylan Harper.

[JRoy]

This is laughably awful for Milwaukee. They'd let Giannis walk for nothing before doing a trade like this and rightfully so. Not a single true blue chip talent young player, no chance at being good in the interim, and only getting picks back 2 years down the road? It's an absolute trash offer to be extremely nice about it and it shows how media propaganda has influenced posters to get them to truly believe something like this is the best Milwaukee could hope for. Years of ESPN and trash podcasts suggesting godawful hypothetical NBA trades where superstars get given away for a poo poo platter "because their team has no other choice" or my favorite, the hilarious fake hypothetical boogeyman of "if they don't trade him then no stars in the future will ever sign with their team, they have to give him away".

You are not factoring the MASSIVE benefit Milwaukee gets by regaining control of 3 of their picks. Those 3 picks will be high lotto picks if Milwaukee tanks properly. THAT'S how you get your blue chip prospect. You could get 3 of them.

You are unlikely to get a young blue chip prospect by any other means. Teams with young blue chip prospects are either contenders (and therefore won't part with their prospect) or they are still in the rebuilding phase (so Giannis wouldn't want to go there). The only potentially available guy is Dylan Harper.

Exactly.

Franchises like MIL and POR need to draft their stars.

Thats why POR needs to keep those sweet MIL picks instead of pretending to contend.

[nate33]

This is laughably awful for Milwaukee. They'd let Giannis walk for nothing before doing a trade like this and rightfully so. Not a single true blue chip talent young player, no chance at being good in the interim, and only getting picks back 2 years down the road? It's an absolute trash offer to be extremely nice about it and it shows how media propaganda has influenced posters to get them to truly believe something like this is the best Milwaukee could hope for. Years of ESPN and trash podcasts suggesting godawful hypothetical NBA trades where superstars get given away for a poo poo platter "because their team has no other choice" or my favorite, the hilarious fake hypothetical boogeyman of "if they don't trade him then no stars in the future will ever sign with their team, they have to give him away".

You are not factoring the MASSIVE benefit Milwaukee gets by regaining control of 3 of their picks. Those 3 picks will be high lotto picks if Milwaukee tanks properly. THAT'S how you get your blue chip prospect. You could get 3 of them.

You are unlikely to get a young blue chip prospect by any other means. Teams with young blue chip prospects are either contenders (and therefore won't part with their prospect) or they are still in the rebuilding phase (so Giannis wouldn't want to go there). The only potentially available guy is Dylan Harper.

Exactly.

Franchises like MIL and POR need to draft their stars.

Thats why POR needs to keep those sweet MIL picks instead of pretending to contend.

The picks will be a little less sweet if Portland keeps them because Milwaukee won't intentionally tank in that scenario. Instead of being top 5 picks, they will likely be in the 7-15 range.

[pipfan]

I like the general idea
Could Chi get involved, getting Camara and Milw getting Port's unprotected 2026 1st?
Chi could add a bit more, but not sure what would be fair

Milw gets a 2026 pick and their 3 future picks back-plus expiring deals
Would Milw or Port want Ayo (so it's Ayo/Port pick for Camara for Bulls)?

[JRoy]

You are not factoring the MASSIVE benefit Milwaukee gets by regaining control of 3 of their picks. Those 3 picks will be high lotto picks if Milwaukee tanks properly. THAT'S how you get your blue chip prospect. You could get 3 of them.

You are unlikely to get a young blue chip prospect by any other means. Teams with young blue chip prospects are either contenders (and therefore won't part with their prospect) or they are still in the rebuilding phase (so Giannis wouldn't want to go there). The only potentially available guy is Dylan Harper.

Exactly.

Franchises like MIL and POR need to draft their stars.

Thats why POR needs to keep those sweet MIL picks instead of pretending to contend.

The picks will be a little less sweet if Portland keeps them because Milwaukee won't intentionally tank in that scenario. Instead of being top 5 picks, they will likely be in the 7-15 range.

If MIL starts looking that bad he will probably ask out.

[brackdan70]

POR politely declines.

Why?
That trade seems like a great move for them. I was thinking Portland would need to add more picks

[JRoy]

POR politely declines.

Why?
That trade seems like a great move for them. I was thinking Portland would need to add more picks

Most would agree.

[brackdan70]

My thoughts are that is is light for the bucks and really nice for Portland. That team they have left could compete for the marbles in the west.
I think a Portland offer probably needs to include Deni and maybe more picks.

[JRoy]

My thoughts are that is is light for the bucks and really nice for Portland. That team they have left could compete for the marbles in the west.
I think a Portland offer probably needs to include Deni and maybe more picks.

Value wise, Deni would need to be going to MIL.

[Myth]

I like the general idea
Could Chi get involved, getting Camara and Milw getting Port's unprotected 2026 1st?
Chi could add a bit more, but not sure what would be fair

Milw gets a 2026 pick and their 3 future picks back-plus expiring deals
Would Milw or Port want Ayo (so it's Ayo/Port pick for Camara for Bulls)?

Chicago would need to add a lot more to pry Camara from either Portland or Milwaukee. The 2026 Port first is not remotely worth Camara, and the Blazers getting Giannis makes it worth even less.

[JayMKE]

Bucks aren’t trading Giannis and he isn’t going to want to be traded to Portland even if he did want a trade. Calling that Portland team a “super team” is also a huge stretch. Simple no.

[stamsammy]

My thoughts are that is is light for the bucks and really nice for Portland. That team they have left could compete for the marbles in the west.
I think a Portland offer probably needs to include Deni and maybe more picks.

What if Port adds Yang or a pick to the original offer?