WT: Giannis Antetokounmpo's Future With Bucks 'The Elephant In The Room' In NBA

[PushDaRock]

I'd say the most natural fit that suits both Giannis and the Bucks is probably the Rockets. If he's willing to go there, that's probably where he ends up barring OKC getting involved.

The least likely in my opinion. The most consistent and area with the most growth is in their defensive youth. Their offensive guys, outside of Sengun (who likes to spend his time in Giannis spots), are either raw, wild cards or showing bust. They're tailor made to get star gunners (the Booker/KDs) in those spots and relying on the defensive youth to do the dirty work.

I'm opting for the Top 5 player over the more immediate better fit. You can find a way to make it work with some tweaking of the roster.

[brownbobcat]

I'd say the most natural fit that suits both Giannis and the Bucks is probably the Rockets. If he's willing to go there, that's probably where he ends up barring OKC getting involved.

The least likely in my opinion. The most consistent and area with the most growth is in their defensive youth. Their offensive guys, outside of Sengun (who likes to spend his time in Giannis spots), are either raw, wild cards or showing bust. They're tailor made to get star gunners (the Booker/KDs) in those spots and relying on the defensive youth to do the dirty work.

I'm opting for the Top 5 player over the more immediate better fit. You can find a way to make it work with some tweaking of the roster.

100% You fit the role players around the superstar, not the other way around.

[Pointgod]

You can be a treadmill team in the lottery. You can also be a treadmill team in the playoffs.

Treadmill is a bit of a catch-all, but I take it to mean going nowhere. By that definition, I would call this a treadmill team. Yeah, the team is young and should improve, but the ceiling still looks pretty low.

Some lottery luck would help, but otherwise, we're going to need a move like this to be relevant again.

I understand if people think we'd get outbid. We probably would. Our asset base isn't that deep. However, I don't really understand the people who think we shouldn't try, or fiercely disagree with the hypothetical. Ironically, I'd understand if fans OKC and Houston, two of the teams who could easily outbid us, would prefer to see how things go with their young cores, but what exactly are we hanging on to that we would pass up a chance at Giannis?

Despite not being high on the present or future roster, make no mistake, any halfway reasonable trade would leave us in a much better situation than Milwaukee. It's not going to end well there. They have an old team and no picks - they can't even bottom out and rebuild. They're likely to make some kind of rebuild-on-the-fly move rather than a total teardown. It's not going to work, but that's pretty much the only option they have.

You can't make up your own definition of treadmill. It is what it sounds like, staying in the same place. Given that our win total has been in significant fluctuation over the last 5 years and the team has been changing directions - it is not a treadmill. If we win around 30 games next season you'll have a case. 2013-2018 was much more of a treadmill.

Brother in the past 5 seasons we had a win total of 27, 48, 41, 25 and 30 wins. In that time we made the playoffs once and got bounced in the first round. We also have only 2 first round picks (Scottie and Gradey) and an incoming lottery pick this year. We sure as hell weren’t rebuilding or we’d have more draft capital. We were trying to field a competitive team by trading draft capital and coming up short which fits a treadmill

[sidsid]

The least likely in my opinion. The most consistent and area with the most growth is in their defensive youth. Their offensive guys, outside of Sengun (who likes to spend his time in Giannis spots), are either raw, wild cards or showing bust. They're tailor made to get star gunners (the Booker/KDs) in those spots and relying on the defensive youth to do the dirty work.

I'm opting for the Top 5 player over the more immediate better fit. You can find a way to make it work with some tweaking of the roster.

100% You fit the role players around the superstar, not the other way around.

The bigger issue is Giannis will cost a lot more in assets. Relatively easy to both see the fit and options with KD and even Booker. Much harder to see a happy Giannis that doesn't veto a trade of whatever's left of a starless, bad shooting Rockets team.

[WuTang_CMB]

Giannis will be 31 this year.

He will likely dictate where he wants to go as the Org. will return the favour for his loyalty

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[brownbobcat]

I'm opting for the Top 5 player over the more immediate better fit. You can find a way to make it work with some tweaking of the roster.

100% You fit the role players around the superstar, not the other way around.

The bigger issue is Giannis will cost a lot more in assets. Relatively easy to both see the fit and options with KD and even Booker. Much harder to see a happy Giannis that doesn't veto a trade of whatever's left of a starless, bad shooting Rockets team.

Sure, but think about the team's ceiling when Booker is your best player vs. Giannis.

[MiamiSPX]

First, the relationship between Masai and Giannis will have no bearing, considering Masai's contract status. That sell job would be impossible when you yourself don't even know if you'll be there.

Second, his wife is from California.

Third, I've seen people say that regardless of what we give up, we would still be in a better situation than MIL. That's debatable, but even if we concede that point, Giannis won't simply be looking for "better than Milwaukee". He will want to compete for championships with at least 1 other star sidekick. And I hate to break it to you, but he will not look at non-stars like RJ and IQ the same way some here do. I am in the minority who love the BI trade, but Giannis isn't hitching his wagon to a 1x All-Star that is always injured. Likewise, trying to sell him on how we nailed the last draft is laughable. He will want star help already in place, not youngsters who might become good rotation pieces.

Fourth, Kawhi and Dame are the only stars I can think of, who demanded a trade and didn't end up where they wanted. Kawhi wasn't even on speaking terms with the Spurs and they had differing opinions on a very big issue, so that is a little different. With Dame, Cronin really did try to send him to Miami, but Riley stopped taking his calls. This is very well known. The only thing not know is if Riley just wasn't that interested, or if he arrogantly thought he would get Dame with his paltry trade offer (I lean towards the latter). Every other superstar gets his way.

You should all look up how much Giannis and his wife do for the Milwaukee area. They are revered there. He also brought them a title. He will absolutely have a great influence in where he goes. Especially when the consensus in basketball circles is that the Bucks have failed him, not the other way around (I don't fully agree because Giannis has clearly been playing GM in the shadows, poorly).

There is just no way, IMO, that he gets moved somewhere that wasn't on his list of destinations. Toronto will not be on that list.

[Potential]

We're officially 2 weeks away from excitement. The NBA draft lottery and Giannis hype is going to be fun

[Scizzup]

First, the relationship between Masai and Giannis will have no bearing, considering Masai's contract status. That sell job would be impossible when you yourself don't even know if you'll be there.

Second, his wife is from California.

Third, I've seen people say that regardless of what we give up, we would still be in a better situation than MIL. That's debatable, but even if we concede that point, Giannis won't simply be looking for "better than Milwaukee". He will want to compete for championships with at least 1 other star sidekick. And I hate to break it to you, but he will not look at non-stars like RJ and IQ the same way some here do. I am in the minority who love the BI trade, but Giannis isn't hitching his wagon to a 1x All-Star that is always injured. Likewise, trying to sell him on how we nailed the last draft is laughable. He will want star help already in place, not youngsters who might become good rotation pieces.

Fourth, Kawhi and Dame are the only stars I can think of, who demanded a trade and didn't end up where they wanted. Kawhi wasn't even on speaking terms with the Spurs and they had differing opinions on a very big issue, so that is a little different. With Dame, Cronin really did try to send him to Miami, but Riley stopped taking his calls. This is very well known. The only thing not know is if Riley just wasn't that interested, or if he arrogantly thought he would get Dame with his paltry trade offer (I lean towards the latter). Every other superstar gets his way.

You should all look up how much Giannis and his wife do for the Milwaukee area. They are revered there. He also brought them a title. He will absolutely have a great influence in where he goes. Especially when the consensus in basketball circles is that the Bucks have failed him, not the other way around (I don't fully agree because Giannis has clearly been playing GM in the shadows, poorly).

There is just no way, IMO, that he gets moved somewhere that wasn't on his list of destinations. Toronto will not be on that list.

I agree with most of what you said. But I just wanted to add that the reason Dame is not in Miami was because of the trade package Miami could offer. Miami need to find a place for Tyler for picks just to get into the trade. No matter if the star prefers a team the package still has to make sense especially if they under contract. The reason KD got to PHX was because they met the trade demands, Same with Anthony Davis.

Take Jimmy for example he didn't go to PHX because they did not want Beal, you can argue Miami didn't get much back from GSW but that was the best they could get for an expiring Butler. Giannis could put GSW/LAL on his list but if they can't offer anything that makes sense the Bucks won't just trade him there. They are paying him 50+ million they have done good by him, they still have to look at the future of their team.

[YogurtProducer]

You can be a treadmill team in the lottery. You can also be a treadmill team in the playoffs.

Treadmill is a bit of a catch-all, but I take it to mean going nowhere. By that definition, I would call this a treadmill team. Yeah, the team is young and should improve, but the ceiling still looks pretty low.

Some lottery luck would help, but otherwise, we're going to need a move like this to be relevant again.

I understand if people think we'd get outbid. We probably would. Our asset base isn't that deep. However, I don't really understand the people who think we shouldn't try, or fiercely disagree with the hypothetical. Ironically, I'd understand if fans OKC and Houston, two of the teams who could easily outbid us, would prefer to see how things go with their young cores, but what exactly are we hanging on to that we would pass up a chance at Giannis?

Despite not being high on the present or future roster, make no mistake, any halfway reasonable trade would leave us in a much better situation than Milwaukee. It's not going to end well there. They have an old team and no picks - they can't even bottom out and rebuild. They're likely to make some kind of rebuild-on-the-fly move rather than a total teardown. It's not going to work, but that's pretty much the only option they have.

You can't make up your own definition of treadmill. It is what it sounds like, staying in the same place. Given that our win total has been in significant fluctuation over the last 5 years and the team has been changing directions - it is not a treadmill. If we win around 30 games next season you'll have a case. 2013-2018 was much more of a treadmill.

Brother in the past 5 seasons we had a win total of 27, 48, 41, 25 and 30 wins. In that time we made the playoffs once and got bounced in the first round. We also have only 2 first round picks (Scottie and Gradey) and an incoming lottery pick this year. We sure as hell weren’t rebuilding or we’d have more draft capital. We were trying to field a competitive team by trading draft capital and coming up short which fits a treadmill

Walter? Agbaji?

We drafted 4 players in the first round over those 5 seasons (Barnes, Walter, Dick, 2025 first) and the only year we didn't was because we traded down 12 spots the #33. We didn't really trade any draft capital outside of 1 first for Poeltl.

We also went from 27 wins and getting Barnes to winning 48 games the next season. That is in no way a "treadmill" and after winning 48 games no one would have thought we would get 10ish games worse with a young core.

We then pivoted from that core within 18ish months of that 48 win season and traded for multiple firsts, acquired young talent in RJ/IQ/Ochai, tanked for a pick this year, and only recently did we trade draft capital for Ingram (in the form of 1 first rounder which will likely be a pick in the 20s).

[MiamiSPX]

First, the relationship between Masai and Giannis will have no bearing, considering Masai's contract status. That sell job would be impossible when you yourself don't even know if you'll be there.

Second, his wife is from California.

Third, I've seen people say that regardless of what we give up, we would still be in a better situation than MIL. That's debatable, but even if we concede that point, Giannis won't simply be looking for "better than Milwaukee". He will want to compete for championships with at least 1 other star sidekick. And I hate to break it to you, but he will not look at non-stars like RJ and IQ the same way some here do. I am in the minority who love the BI trade, but Giannis isn't hitching his wagon to a 1x All-Star that is always injured. Likewise, trying to sell him on how we nailed the last draft is laughable. He will want star help already in place, not youngsters who might become good rotation pieces.

Fourth, Kawhi and Dame are the only stars I can think of, who demanded a trade and didn't end up where they wanted. Kawhi wasn't even on speaking terms with the Spurs and they had differing opinions on a very big issue, so that is a little different. With Dame, Cronin really did try to send him to Miami, but Riley stopped taking his calls. This is very well known. The only thing not know is if Riley just wasn't that interested, or if he arrogantly thought he would get Dame with his paltry trade offer (I lean towards the latter). Every other superstar gets his way.

You should all look up how much Giannis and his wife do for the Milwaukee area. They are revered there. He also brought them a title. He will absolutely have a great influence in where he goes. Especially when the consensus in basketball circles is that the Bucks have failed him, not the other way around (I don't fully agree because Giannis has clearly been playing GM in the shadows, poorly).

There is just no way, IMO, that he gets moved somewhere that wasn't on his list of destinations. Toronto will not be on that list.

I agree with most of what you said. But I just wanted to add that the reason Dame is not in Miami was because of the trade package Miami could offer. Miami need to find a place for Tyler for picks just to get into the trade. No matter if the star prefers a team the package still has to make sense especially if they under contract. The reason KD got to PHX was because they met the trade demands, Same with Anthony Davis.

Take Jimmy for example he didn't go to PHX because they did not want Beal, you can argue Miami didn't get much back from GSW but that was the best they could get for an expiring Butler. Giannis could put GSW/LAL on his list but if they can't offer anything that makes sense the Bucks won't just trade him there. They are paying him 50+ million they have done good by him, they still have to look at the future of their team.

Agreed that they aren't just going to take a pittance of an offer. My only point is that if he doesn't want Toronto, he isn't getting traded to Toronto. Regardless of what we offer. Masai would back down anyway. You are not trading for a larger-than-life personality like that knowing he won't be happy on your team. Reports are that is why we backed off Dame. I also firmly believe the Bucks wouldn't do that to him anyway.

Another reason I forgot to add to my list is that I know Giannis is up there with LeBron and Curry in off-court endorsements. Last time I saw the numbers he was making upwards of 40M per year in that area. That is not insignificant. And yes, I am sure most of those companies don't love that he is in Wisconsin, but it's still the U.S. market, which in their eyes will trump the Canadian market every day, all day.

Don't get me wrong, if he was amenable to Toronto, I would do the proverbial driving to the airport myself, of all the outgoing players (Barnes, Dick, RJ, Walter, IQ....any of them, could even be all of them, who cares lol).

[PushDaRock]

First, the relationship between Masai and Giannis will have no bearing, considering Masai's contract status. That sell job would be impossible when you yourself don't even know if you'll be there.

Second, his wife is from California.

Third, I've seen people say that regardless of what we give up, we would still be in a better situation than MIL. That's debatable, but even if we concede that point, Giannis won't simply be looking for "better than Milwaukee". He will want to compete for championships with at least 1 other star sidekick. And I hate to break it to you, but he will not look at non-stars like RJ and IQ the same way some here do. I am in the minority who love the BI trade, but Giannis isn't hitching his wagon to a 1x All-Star that is always injured. Likewise, trying to sell him on how we nailed the last draft is laughable. He will want star help already in place, not youngsters who might become good rotation pieces.

Fourth, Kawhi and Dame are the only stars I can think of, who demanded a trade and didn't end up where they wanted. Kawhi wasn't even on speaking terms with the Spurs and they had differing opinions on a very big issue, so that is a little different. With Dame, Cronin really did try to send him to Miami, but Riley stopped taking his calls. This is very well known. The only thing not know is if Riley just wasn't that interested, or if he arrogantly thought he would get Dame with his paltry trade offer (I lean towards the latter). Every other superstar gets his way.

You should all look up how much Giannis and his wife do for the Milwaukee area. They are revered there. He also brought them a title. He will absolutely have a great influence in where he goes. Especially when the consensus in basketball circles is that the Bucks have failed him, not the other way around (I don't fully agree because Giannis has clearly been playing GM in the shadows, poorly).

There is just no way, IMO, that he gets moved somewhere that wasn't on his list of destinations. Toronto will not be on that list.

I agree with most of what you said. But I just wanted to add that the reason Dame is not in Miami was because of the trade package Miami could offer. Miami need to find a place for Tyler for picks just to get into the trade. No matter if the star prefers a team the package still has to make sense especially if they under contract. The reason KD got to PHX was because they met the trade demands, Same with Anthony Davis.

Take Jimmy for example he didn't go to PHX because they did not want Beal, you can argue Miami didn't get much back from GSW but that was the best they could get for an expiring Butler. Giannis could put GSW/LAL on his list but if they can't offer anything that makes sense the Bucks won't just trade him there. They are paying him 50+ million they have done good by him, they still have to look at the future of their team.

Agreed that they aren't just going to take a pittance of an offer. My only point is that if he doesn't want Toronto, he isn't getting traded to Toronto. Regardless of what we offer. Masai would back down anyway. You are not trading for a larger-than-life personality like that knowing he won't be happy on your team. Reports are that is why we backed off Dame. I also firmly believe the Bucks wouldn't do that to him anyway.

Another reason I forgot to add to my list is that I know Giannis is up there with LeBron and Curry in off-court endorsements. Last time I saw the numbers he was making upwards of 40M per year in that area. That is not insignificant. And yes, I am sure most of those companies don't love that he is in Wisconsin, but it's still the U.S. market, which in their eyes will trump the Canadian market every day, all day.

Don't get me wrong, if he was amenable to Toronto, I would do the proverbial driving to the airport myself, of all the outgoing players (Barnes, Dick, RJ, Walter, IQ....any of them, could even be all of them, who cares lol).

I think that's stating the obvious, he's only here if he wants to be.

We are also aren't winning any bidding war if there even is one.

[Merit]

If we give away assets to make a competitive offer for Giannis, he will come here with no one to play with, I don't think this is the right time to swing for a superstar. Let's keep adding talent until we are deep enough to trade for a star player + have enough remaining to contend with.

What are you imaging the trade would be that would put us in that position?

yeah for the Durant / Lillard situation we'd be gutted. I don't think it's quite it this time.

Barnes / Barret / Dick / 2025 1st / more picks and swaps

Still leaves us with

Quickley, Ochai / Ingram / Giannis / Poeltl
Shead / Walter / Battle / Mogbo
Lawson / Rhoden / Chomche

Not amazing, but could make noise in the East.

I think we keep Barnes and move Poeltl - especially if our pick stays in the 4-7 range.

Jak/RJ/Gradey/2026 1st via Indy for Giannis.

Or

IQ/RJ/Gradey for Giannis/Connaughton (my preference)

PG (UFA eg. D’Angelo Russell, Tre Jones)/Shead
SG Ochai/Connaughton
SF Ingram /Walter/Battle
PF Scottie/Mogbo
C Giannis/Poeltl

+ top 10 pick, + #39 overall
+ Chomche, Lawson, Castleton

Edit: IQ/Jak/Gradey for Giannis/Connaughton works as well.

[PushDaRock]

What are you imaging the trade would be that would put us in that position?

yeah for the Durant / Lillard situation we'd be gutted. I don't think it's quite it this time.

Barnes / Barret / Dick / 2025 1st / more picks and swaps

Still leaves us with

Quickley, Ochai / Ingram / Giannis / Poeltl
Shead / Walter / Battle / Mogbo
Lawson / Rhoden / Chomche

Not amazing, but could make noise in the East.

I think we keep Barnes and move Poeltl - especially if our pick stays in the 4-7 range.

Jak/RJ/Gradey/2026 1st via Indy for Giannis.

Or

IQ/RJ/Gradey for Giannis/Connaughton (my preference)

PG (UFA eg. D’Angelo Russell, Tre Jones)/Shead
SG Ochai/Connaughton
SF Ingram /Walter/Battle
PF Scottie/Mogbo
C Giannis/Poeltl

+ top 10 pick, + #39 overall
+ Chomche, Lawson, Castleton

We don't have the Indy pick. Those offers would also get laughed out of the gym.

[Duffman100]

yeah for the Durant / Lillard situation we'd be gutted. I don't think it's quite it this time.

Barnes / Barret / Dick / 2025 1st / more picks and swaps

Still leaves us with

Quickley, Ochai / Ingram / Giannis / Poeltl
Shead / Walter / Battle / Mogbo
Lawson / Rhoden / Chomche

Not amazing, but could make noise in the East.

I think we keep Barnes and move Poeltl - especially if our pick stays in the 4-7 range.

Jak/RJ/Gradey/2026 1st via Indy for Giannis.

Or

IQ/RJ/Gradey for Giannis/Connaughton (my preference)

PG (UFA eg. D’Angelo Russell, Tre Jones)/Shead
SG Ochai/Connaughton
SF Ingram /Walter/Battle
PF Scottie/Mogbo
C Giannis/Poeltl

+ top 10 pick, + #39 overall
+ Chomche, Lawson, Castleton

We don't have the Indy pick. Those offers would also get laughed out of the gym.

Yeah the deal starts with Scottie and then we have to add a ton more.

I can't seem them taking any deal without him.

[Merit]

I think we keep Barnes and move Poeltl - especially if our pick stays in the 4-7 range.

Jak/RJ/Gradey/2026 1st via Indy for Giannis.

Or

IQ/RJ/Gradey for Giannis/Connaughton (my preference)

PG (UFA eg. D’Angelo Russell, Tre Jones)/Shead
SG Ochai/Connaughton
SF Ingram /Walter/Battle
PF Scottie/Mogbo
C Giannis/Poeltl

+ top 10 pick, + #39 overall
+ Chomche, Lawson, Castleton

We don't have the Indy pick. Those offers would also get laughed out of the gym.

Yeah the deal starts with Scottie and then we have to add a ton more.

I can't seem them taking any deal without him.

Milwaukee is clearly in rebuild mode and the cost certainty and term on contracts makes sense for them.

I stand behind my valuation. If Scottie does get moved, imo he’d be the bpa Milwaukee would get. Doubt we do it.

[Merit]

yeah for the Durant / Lillard situation we'd be gutted. I don't think it's quite it this time.

Barnes / Barret / Dick / 2025 1st / more picks and swaps

Still leaves us with

Quickley, Ochai / Ingram / Giannis / Poeltl
Shead / Walter / Battle / Mogbo
Lawson / Rhoden / Chomche

Not amazing, but could make noise in the East.

I think we keep Barnes and move Poeltl - especially if our pick stays in the 4-7 range.

Jak/RJ/Gradey/2026 1st via Indy for Giannis.

Or

IQ/RJ/Gradey for Giannis/Connaughton (my preference)

PG (UFA eg. D’Angelo Russell, Tre Jones)/Shead
SG Ochai/Connaughton
SF Ingram /Walter/Battle
PF Scottie/Mogbo
C Giannis/Poeltl

+ top 10 pick, + #39 overall
+ Chomche, Lawson, Castleton

We don't have the Indy pick. Those offers would also get laughed out of the gym.

Ah yes, forgot about that because we moved it for Ingram. Thanks for the reminder. Could be our own instead, but if we’re moving Scottie I doubt it.

[JB7]

First, the relationship between Masai and Giannis will have no bearing, considering Masai's contract status. That sell job would be impossible when you yourself don't even know if you'll be there.

Second, his wife is from California.

Third, I've seen people say that regardless of what we give up, we would still be in a better situation than MIL. That's debatable, but even if we concede that point, Giannis won't simply be looking for "better than Milwaukee". He will want to compete for championships with at least 1 other star sidekick. And I hate to break it to you, but he will not look at non-stars like RJ and IQ the same way some here do. I am in the minority who love the BI trade, but Giannis isn't hitching his wagon to a 1x All-Star that is always injured. Likewise, trying to sell him on how we nailed the last draft is laughable. He will want star help already in place, not youngsters who might become good rotation pieces.

Fourth, Kawhi and Dame are the only stars I can think of, who demanded a trade and didn't end up where they wanted. Kawhi wasn't even on speaking terms with the Spurs and they had differing opinions on a very big issue, so that is a little different. With Dame, Cronin really did try to send him to Miami, but Riley stopped taking his calls. This is very well known. The only thing not know is if Riley just wasn't that interested, or if he arrogantly thought he would get Dame with his paltry trade offer (I lean towards the latter). Every other superstar gets his way.

You should all look up how much Giannis and his wife do for the Milwaukee area. They are revered there. He also brought them a title. He will absolutely have a great influence in where he goes. Especially when the consensus in basketball circles is that the Bucks have failed him, not the other way around (I don't fully agree because Giannis has clearly been playing GM in the shadows, poorly).

There is just no way, IMO, that he gets moved somewhere that wasn't on his list of destinations. Toronto will not be on that list.

I agree, and I think the obvious team is GSW. Already have the superstar guard in Curry. In a very good market in California. Giannis gets the best of both worlds - opportunity to win, and capitalize on his marketability.

GSW also has matching salary in Jimmy, plus younger players (Kuminga & Pods) + picks to offer. Could easily see Jimmy being rerouted to Suns, Durant to Rockets and then some of the young Rockets players moved to the Bucks.

[brownbobcat]

I agree, and I think the obvious team is GSW. Already have the superstar guard in Curry. In a very good market in California. Giannis gets the best of both worlds - opportunity to win, and capitalize on his marketability.

GSW also has matching salary in Jimmy, plus younger players (Kuminga & Pods) + picks to offer. Could easily see Jimmy being rerouted to Suns, Durant to Rockets and then some of the young Rockets players moved to the Bucks.

I believe a S&T with Kuminga is not possible due to Bucks being above 1st apron.

[WuTang_CMB]

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