Trade back for Lillard?

[Dame Lizard]

This actually might end up being bad news for the Blazers

if Giannis demands a trade this off-season, and that's entirely possible now, it could really accelerate the Milwaukee rebuild. The Bucks could get a godfather package similar to what OKC got for Paul George. It only took OKC 3 seasons to go from 22 wins to 40 wins; the PDX/Mil 2028 pick swap is still 3 seasons away. And it took OKC 4 seasons to go from 22 wins to 57 wins. That 2029 Milwaukee 1st is 4 seasons away

obviously, that OKC rebuild is probably an outlier among rebuilds, and they had all their own picks, unlike Milwaukee. But 4 seasons is a long time in the NBA and a lot of good and bad can happen for the two teams

keep in mind what the NBA average is for swaps actually conveying is only 40%. Three out of 5 swaps are never conveyed

I had the same thoughts...even though it feels a little gauche having them in light of Lillard's career altering injury. In an ideal world, any MIL rebuild would start much closer to 2029.

It will be very interesting to see how Milwaukie and Giannis handles this, given they were playing so much better on paper WITHOUT Lillard.

IMHO, there's almost a zero chance Lillard and especially Giannis becomes a Portland Trailblazer any time soon...I have a sneaking suspicion that the way the Lillard situation transpired had more to do with Kolde than we could ever possibly know, and Giannis will command a better package than what the Blazers have to offer.

To be fair if this has happened in a few years time, Milwaukee would probably tailor their trade demands around this fact. I.e. target more of a Jalen Johnson / Banchero player in return, rather than a treasure chest of picks, given that Milwaukee don't have control of their own picks from 2028-2030.

Although having just looked at their draft picks owing account, they do have a 1st owed to Brooklyn in 2025 and pick swaps with the Pelicans in 2026 and 2027. So unfortunately they aren't very incentivised to tank for draft pick rankings.

[Walton1one]

If Giannis asks to be traded and IF MIL agrees to do so, the team to watch IMO is NO.

NO has potentially a Top 7 pick this year (36% chance @ #2/3/4 - 50% @ #5/6/7)
They have swap rights with MIL in 2026
They hold MIL unprotected 2027 1st

and they just happen to have a young player they might be willing to move in Zion.

Giannis\Kuzma
for
Zion\CJ, 25' 1st (provided not #1), 26' swap rights, 27' 1st & maybe 29' and\or 31' 1st?

Not sure on the total number of picks to be conveyed. I imagine the bidding war for Giannis would be epic, but NO has the capability to put forth a very intriguing offer.

Sending back a 24yr old elite but enigmatic player (Zion) who is certainly a gamble, plus they can give MIL control over their immediate future rebuild with the 26' swap & 27' 1st back and a relatively high 25' pick to jumpstart the process

- CJ would be expiring after next year, including Kuzma in the deal would clear the decks for MIL salary wise, with only Lillard on the books for 1 more year (outside of Zion)

NO adds Giannis to a roster that is pretty stacked: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi & Jordan Hawkins

[tester551]

If Giannis asks to be traded and IF MIL agrees to do so, the team to watch IMO is NO.

NO has potentially a Top 7 pick this year (36% chance @ 2/3/4)
They have swap rights with MIL in 2026
They hold MIL unprotected 2027 1st

and they just happen to have a young player they might be willing to move in Zion.

Giannis\Kuzma
for
Zion\CJ, 25' 1st (provided not #1), 26' swap rights, 27' 1st & maybe 29' and\or 31' 1st?

Not sure on the total number of picks to be conveyed. I imagine the bidding war for Giannis would be epic, but NO has the capability to put forth a very intriguing offer.

Sending back a 24yr old elite but enigmatic player (Zion) who is certainly a gamble, plus they can give MIL control over their immediate future rebuild with the 26' swap & 27' 1st back and a relatively high 25' pick to jumpstart the process

- CJ would be expiring after next year, including Kuzma in the deal would clear the decks for MIL salary wise, with only Lillard on the books for 1 more year (outside of Zion)

NO adds Giannis to a roster that is pretty stacked: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi & Jordan Hawkins

I think Houston gets him, with this offer:

Alperen Sengun (routed elsewhere for more picks?)
Reed Sheppard
Jabari Smith
2025 #9
1st Best of 2027 #1 between Phx, BK, and Hou
2nd Best of 2027 #1 between Phx, BK, and Hou
1st Best of 2029 #1 between Phx, Dal, and Hou
2nd Best of 2029 #1 between Phx, Dal, and Hou

Bucks probably could still pull off Sengun going to Pels and still get Zion and their 26 and 27 picks back.

[Walton1one]

If Giannis asks to be traded and IF MIL agrees to do so, the team to watch IMO is NO.

NO has potentially a Top 7 pick this year (36% chance @ 2/3/4)
They have swap rights with MIL in 2026
They hold MIL unprotected 2027 1st

and they just happen to have a young player they might be willing to move in Zion.

Giannis\Kuzma
for
Zion\CJ, 25' 1st (provided not #1), 26' swap rights, 27' 1st & maybe 29' and\or 31' 1st?

Not sure on the total number of picks to be conveyed. I imagine the bidding war for Giannis would be epic, but NO has the capability to put forth a very intriguing offer.

Sending back a 24yr old elite but enigmatic player (Zion) who is certainly a gamble, plus they can give MIL control over their immediate future rebuild with the 26' swap & 27' 1st back and a relatively high 25' pick to jumpstart the process

- CJ would be expiring after next year, including Kuzma in the deal would clear the decks for MIL salary wise, with only Lillard on the books for 1 more year (outside of Zion)

NO adds Giannis to a roster that is pretty stacked: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi & Jordan Hawkins

I think Houston gets him, with this offer:

Alperen Sengun (routed elsewhere for more picks?)
Reed Sheppard
Jabari Smith
2025 #9
1st Best of 2027 #1 between Phx, BK, and Hou
2nd Best of 2027 #1 between Phx, BK, and Hou
1st Best of 2029 #1 between Phx, Dal, and Hou
2nd Best of 2029 #1 between Phx, Dal, and Hou

Bucks probably could still pull off Sengun going to Pels and still get Zion and their 26 and 27 picks back.

Yeah if he goes on the market the bidding war is going to be insane, and HOU, along with a few other teams OKC\SAS, have the capability to put out insane offers if they choose to do so.

[PDXKnight]

All condolences to Lillard and his camp, that's a tough blow. He was a true leader in Portland and wouldn't want to see anyone go down with an Achilles tear let alone the man the myth and the legend.

The flip side is I'm feeling very thankful we moved on. He had a lot of miles in Portland and I suspected it was only a matter of time before he likely had a major injury. We should've dealt him 2 years before we did to maximize value id say but at least we didn't wait till now when his value may well be minimal if not negative (he will be recovering at 35/36). I'd love to sign Dame when his contract expires if he wants to return here but definitely glad we got value for him before that window expired

[Brandon-Clyde]

This actually might end up being bad news for the Blazers

if Giannis demands a trade this off-season, and that's entirely possible now, it could really accelerate the Milwaukee rebuild. The Bucks could get a godfather package similar to what OKC got for Paul George. It only took OKC 3 seasons to go from 22 wins to 40 wins; the PDX/Mil 2028 pick swap is still 3 seasons away. And it took OKC 4 seasons to go from 22 wins to 57 wins. That 2029 Milwaukee 1st is 4 seasons away

obviously, that OKC rebuild is probably an outlier among rebuilds, and they had all their own picks, unlike Milwaukee. But 4 seasons is a long time in the NBA and a lot of good and bad can happen for the two teams

keep in mind what the NBA average is for swaps actually conveying is only 40%. Three out of 5 swaps are never conveyed

Maybe, maybe not.

But as you've suggested, the OKC rebuild is an absolutely huge outlier.

They received a promising, but still unproven rookie on SGA, who probably had similar trade value as Shaedon Sharpe after his first season. That player turned into the likely 2025 MVP. For the record, I do believe Jokic deserves the award, but I think SGA will get it due to team record.

They then drafted a 2025 All Star with a #12 pick from the 2022 draft. Both instances are very unlikely.

Interesting times ahead for Milwaukee.

Really sad news for Dame. Wishing him all the best and hopefully life can be kind to him over his challenging phase. Life is bigger than basketball.

The OKC rebuild was helped because they had two superstar players ( Paul George and Russell Westbrook) to trade that resulted in seven first round draft picks, four swaps, a young prospect and a third star ( Chris Paul) who after a year of rehabilitating his value was traded for an eighth first round pick. That in addition to all of their own first round picks. Right now Milwaukee's only really positive asset is Giannis and because of Dame's and Kuzma's contracts they won't even have any cap space.

[Shem]

This actually might end up being bad news for the Blazers

if Giannis demands a trade this off-season, and that's entirely possible now, it could really accelerate the Milwaukee rebuild. The Bucks could get a godfather package similar to what OKC got for Paul George. It only took OKC 3 seasons to go from 22 wins to 40 wins; the PDX/Mil 2028 pick swap is still 3 seasons away. And it took OKC 4 seasons to go from 22 wins to 57 wins. That 2029 Milwaukee 1st is 4 seasons away

obviously, that OKC rebuild is probably an outlier among rebuilds, and they had all their own picks, unlike Milwaukee. But 4 seasons is a long time in the NBA and a lot of good and bad can happen for the two teams

keep in mind what the NBA average is for swaps actually conveying is only 40%. Three out of 5 swaps are never conveyed

They'll need a Sam Presti to pull that off. And assets are one thing they don't have and even could get some back, it won't be like what OKC did. Having multiple draft picks each year helps because you have more room for error when making picks because that's going to be the case. Every team screws up draft picks no matter how good you have been at other times.

Scouting isn't a perfect science and requires a lot more luck than people realize or someone like Giannis would have been picked #1 in 2013 instead of #15. Jokic goes #1 in 2014 instead of #41. Every draft board you ever look at, in hindsight you will reorder that draft in terms of who would pick whom with that hindsight knowledge. In 2012 in the Dame draft in hindsight, there's a good chance he goes #1 overall in a hindsight draft which Davis goes #2 and Draymond Green at #3, Beal #4 and Drummond #5. We picked #6 that year which would have likely left us with Barnes which at the time many here wanted to draft him over Dame back then.

My point is I have serious doubts that Milwaukee has good enough management like they do in OKC. Not many scouting geniuses like Sam Presti out there. And most franchises don't have the patience that it requires for the type of results that OKC has done which has partly possible because Presti has job security at GM that most franchises don't give to their scouting department to put out a winning product.

[Shem]

Here's the current situation of Dame's future and current contract. Dame is going to miss all of next season being paid $54 million. He has a player option for $58 million when he comes back from injury. He'll likely opt in unless he's desperate to leave Milwaukee in hopes to return here which would mean he just played his last game in a Bucks uniform last night if that were the case. But I doubt he'll turn down that money.

Dame won't be back until his age 36 season, that's for sure. The soonest I ever imagined him ever returning to the Blazers was his age 37 season when he's a free agent which is Steph Curry's current age right now. But I also wouldn't be surprised right now that doesn't happen and Dame looks for a contending team to finish off his career. A situation he chooses as his first choice.

One thing we know is that Dame was homesick his first year in Milwaukee. He was more used to it his second season there. More than likely Dame is going to rehab his injury in Portland next season which means he's back at home for that period of time. He's also more conditioned to be away from home than he was and decides he can do it again and pick a team like Boston (assuming they're still contending) when his contract is up.

I do know what it's like to be homesick in my personal life in terms of being away from my family. But you do get used to it. Plus, I know what it's like to temporarily be back home and in a short time ready to move on and be away from them again because you like your life options better away from home after getting that feeling you missed and realized you didn't miss it as much as you thought you did. It was more of you missing what you used to be comfortable with.

[DusterBuster]

If Giannis asks to be traded and IF MIL agrees to do so, the team to watch IMO is NO.

NO has potentially a Top 7 pick this year (36% chance @ #2/3/4 - 50% @ #5/6/7)
They have swap rights with MIL in 2026
They hold MIL unprotected 2027 1st

and they just happen to have a young player they might be willing to move in Zion.

Giannis\Kuzma
for
Zion\CJ, 25' 1st (provided not #1), 26' swap rights, 27' 1st & maybe 29' and\or 31' 1st?

Not sure on the total number of picks to be conveyed. I imagine the bidding war for Giannis would be epic, but NO has the capability to put forth a very intriguing offer.

Sending back a 24yr old elite but enigmatic player (Zion) who is certainly a gamble, plus they can give MIL control over their immediate future rebuild with the 26' swap & 27' 1st back and a relatively high 25' pick to jumpstart the process

- CJ would be expiring after next year, including Kuzma in the deal would clear the decks for MIL salary wise, with only Lillard on the books for 1 more year (outside of Zion)

NO adds Giannis to a roster that is pretty stacked: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi & Jordan Hawkins

Giannis will dictate where he ends up, there’s no world where he would OK a trade to the Pelicans.

[Wizenheimer]

This actually might end up being bad news for the Blazers

if Giannis demands a trade this off-season, and that's entirely possible now, it could really accelerate the Milwaukee rebuild. The Bucks could get a godfather package similar to what OKC got for Paul George. It only took OKC 3 seasons to go from 22 wins to 40 wins; the PDX/Mil 2028 pick swap is still 3 seasons away. And it took OKC 4 seasons to go from 22 wins to 57 wins. That 2029 Milwaukee 1st is 4 seasons away

obviously, that OKC rebuild is probably an outlier among rebuilds, and they had all their own picks, unlike Milwaukee. But 4 seasons is a long time in the NBA and a lot of good and bad can happen for the two teams

keep in mind what the NBA average is for swaps actually conveying is only 40%. Three out of 5 swaps are never conveyed

They'll need a Sam Presti to pull that off. And assets are one thing they don't have and even could get some back, it won't be like what OKC did. Having multiple draft picks each year helps because you have more room for error when making picks because that's going to be the case. Every team screws up draft picks no matter how good you have been at other times.

Scouting isn't a perfect science and requires a lot more luck than people realize or someone like Giannis would have been picked #1 in 2013 instead of #15. Jokic goes #1 in 2014 instead of #41. Every draft board you ever look at, in hindsight you will reorder that draft in terms of who would pick whom with that hindsight knowledge. In 2012 in the Dame draft in hindsight, there's a good chance he goes #1 overall in a hindsight draft which Davis goes #2 and Draymond Green at #3, Beal #4 and Drummond #5. We picked #6 that year which would have likely left us with Barnes which at the time many here wanted to draft him over Dame back then.

My point is I have serious doubts that Milwaukee has good enough management like they do in OKC. Not many scouting geniuses like Sam Presti out there. And most franchises don't have the patience that it requires for the type of results that OKC has done which has partly possible because Presti has job security at GM that most franchises don't give to their scouting department to put out a winning product.

OKC is OKC for one main reason: SGA; a secondary reason is Jalen Williams. And both of those players came from the Paul George trade. If Milwaukee trades Giannis, they could be getting a lot of young talent

but it's not about emulating exactly what OKC did. Winning 57 games 4 years after trading Paul George is not the Milwaukee template that could hurt the Blazers. Winning 39 games 4 years after trading Giannis would be the year the Blazers get Milwaukee's pick. It's possible it wouldn't even be a lottery pick

[Wizenheimer]

If Giannis asks to be traded and IF MIL agrees to do so, the team to watch IMO is NO.

NO has potentially a Top 7 pick this year (36% chance @ #2/3/4 - 50% @ #5/6/7)
They have swap rights with MIL in 2026
They hold MIL unprotected 2027 1st

and they just happen to have a young player they might be willing to move in Zion.

Giannis\Kuzma
for
Zion\CJ, 25' 1st (provided not #1), 26' swap rights, 27' 1st & maybe 29' and\or 31' 1st?

Not sure on the total number of picks to be conveyed. I imagine the bidding war for Giannis would be epic, but NO has the capability to put forth a very intriguing offer.

Sending back a 24yr old elite but enigmatic player (Zion) who is certainly a gamble, plus they can give MIL control over their immediate future rebuild with the 26' swap & 27' 1st back and a relatively high 25' pick to jumpstart the process

- CJ would be expiring after next year, including Kuzma in the deal would clear the decks for MIL salary wise, with only Lillard on the books for 1 more year (outside of Zion)

NO adds Giannis to a roster that is pretty stacked: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi & Jordan Hawkins

Giannis will dictate where he ends up, there’s no world where he would OK a trade to the Pelicans.

a pretty strong case could be made by Houston

[DusterBuster]

If Giannis asks to be traded and IF MIL agrees to do so, the team to watch IMO is NO.

NO has potentially a Top 7 pick this year (36% chance @ #2/3/4 - 50% @ #5/6/7)
They have swap rights with MIL in 2026
They hold MIL unprotected 2027 1st

and they just happen to have a young player they might be willing to move in Zion.

Giannis\Kuzma
for
Zion\CJ, 25' 1st (provided not #1), 26' swap rights, 27' 1st & maybe 29' and\or 31' 1st?

Not sure on the total number of picks to be conveyed. I imagine the bidding war for Giannis would be epic, but NO has the capability to put forth a very intriguing offer.

Sending back a 24yr old elite but enigmatic player (Zion) who is certainly a gamble, plus they can give MIL control over their immediate future rebuild with the 26' swap & 27' 1st back and a relatively high 25' pick to jumpstart the process

- CJ would be expiring after next year, including Kuzma in the deal would clear the decks for MIL salary wise, with only Lillard on the books for 1 more year (outside of Zion)

NO adds Giannis to a roster that is pretty stacked: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi & Jordan Hawkins

Giannis will dictate where he ends up, there’s no world where he would OK a trade to the Pelicans.

a pretty strong case could be made by Houston

Yeah, Houston would seem to be the odds-on favorite. Keeps him out of the East, recoups their picks and they should get a nice player or two in return, probably some combo Green, Eason and/or Smith Jr.

[PDXKnight]

After this, it’s hard to imagine Giannis not asking out and the Bucks not obliging to get back what they’ve spent to try and get another ring with him. At this point, you got the ring, might as well move on and rebuild. They can recoup the assets they lost trading for Dame by moving Giannis, so it won’t be as big a hit.

Not saying I even remotely expect this but it'd be funny if we returned their assets from the Dame trade with some additional pieces attached to acquire Giannis. Ie if they liked Sharpe (packaged with some of the expirings) rocking a lineup of scoot-deni-toumani-giannis-clingan moving forward would be smooth with some nice upside besides giannis.

I would expect that the Bucks would want Deni back in any trade...

Probably hah

[Wizenheimer]

Giannis will dictate where he ends up, there’s no world where he would OK a trade to the Pelicans.

a pretty strong case could be made by Houston

Yeah, Houston would seem to be the odds-on favorite. Keeps him out of the East, recoups their picks and they should get a nice player or two in return, probably some combo Green, Eason and/or Smith Jr.

suggested in another forum:

Giannis for Sengun, Reed Shepard, Amen Thompson, 9th pick + a couple more first's

Rockets wouldn't really need Sengun with Giannis; they'd kind of crowd each other in the paint. They could just re-sign Steven Adams, and keep Londale for C's. Giving up Amen might be too steep, but it's really hard to see Giannis and Amen co-existing on a floor

if the Bucks wanted to go full rebuild they could route Sengun to New Orleans. The Pels would probably pay a lot for C like Sengun; give the Bucks back their picks, and add a couple more

[DusterBuster]

a pretty strong case could be made by Houston

Yeah, Houston would seem to be the odds-on favorite. Keeps him out of the East, recoups their picks and they should get a nice player or two in return, probably some combo Green, Eason and/or Smith Jr.

suggested in another forum:

Giannis for Sengun, Reed Shepard, Amen Thompson, 9th pick + a couple more first's

Rockets wouldn't really need Sengun with Giannis; they'd kind of crowd each other in the paint. They could just re-sign Steven Adams, and keep Londale for C's. Giving up Amen might be too steep, but it's really hard to see Giannis and Amen co-existing on a floor

if the Bucks wanted to go full rebuild they could route Sengun to New Orleans. The Pels would probably pay a lot for C like Sengun; give the Bucks back their picks, and add a couple more

I don't believe the Rockets would touch that. I suspect they'll make Sengun and Thompson untouchable in the Giannis trade. Think they'll just try and overwhelm with all their FRPs, but then the secondary young guys. Maybe the Bucks can force Sengun out of Houston, but the Bucks won't be working from a position of leverage if Giannis is demanding out and asking for Houston specifically.

[Wizenheimer]

Yeah, Houston would seem to be the odds-on favorite. Keeps him out of the East, recoups their picks and they should get a nice player or two in return, probably some combo Green, Eason and/or Smith Jr.

suggested in another forum:

Giannis for Sengun, Reed Shepard, Amen Thompson, 9th pick + a couple more first's

Rockets wouldn't really need Sengun with Giannis; they'd kind of crowd each other in the paint. They could just re-sign Steven Adams, and keep Londale for C's. Giving up Amen might be too steep, but it's really hard to see Giannis and Amen co-existing on a floor

if the Bucks wanted to go full rebuild they could route Sengun to New Orleans. The Pels would probably pay a lot for C like Sengun; give the Bucks back their picks, and add a couple more

I don't believe the Rockets would touch that. I suspect they'll make Sengun and Thompson untouchable in the Giannis trade. Think they'll just try and overwhelm with all their FRPs, but then the secondary young guys. Maybe the Bucks can force Sengun out of Houston, but the Bucks won't be working from a position of leverage if Giannis is demanding out and asking for Houston specifically.

the problem is the CBA, tax lines, and the aprons. Giannis+Van Vleet+Sengun+Brooks = 155M for 4 players. That's just 4 players pushing the Rockets over the cap. They need to add 10 more players to the payroll, and they probably need to re-sign Adams. Looks like 2nd apron hell. Besides that, the Rockets don't have enough MLE level contracts to match Giannis salary. Have to be Sengun or Van Vleet + others

I'd would think that if Houston, with HCA, gets eliminated by the 7th seeded Warriors, they will be searching for a major roster upgrade

[DusterBuster]

suggested in another forum:

Giannis for Sengun, Reed Shepard, Amen Thompson, 9th pick + a couple more first's

Rockets wouldn't really need Sengun with Giannis; they'd kind of crowd each other in the paint. They could just re-sign Steven Adams, and keep Londale for C's. Giving up Amen might be too steep, but it's really hard to see Giannis and Amen co-existing on a floor

if the Bucks wanted to go full rebuild they could route Sengun to New Orleans. The Pels would probably pay a lot for C like Sengun; give the Bucks back their picks, and add a couple more

I don't believe the Rockets would touch that. I suspect they'll make Sengun and Thompson untouchable in the Giannis trade. Think they'll just try and overwhelm with all their FRPs, but then the secondary young guys. Maybe the Bucks can force Sengun out of Houston, but the Bucks won't be working from a position of leverage if Giannis is demanding out and asking for Houston specifically.

the problem is the CBA, tax lines, and the aprons. Giannis+Van Vleet+Sengun+Brooks = 155M for 4 players. That's just 4 players pushing the Rockets over the cap. They need to add 10 more players to the payroll, and they probably need to re-sign Adams. Looks like 2nd apron hell. Besides that, the Rockets don't have enough MLE level contracts to match Giannis salary. Have to be Sengun or Van Vleet + others

I'd would think that if Houston, with HCA, gets eliminated by the 7th seeded Warriors, they will be searching for a major roster upgrade

I still don't believe they would be willing to move Sengun, I get the cap concerns, but I think they would look for ways to get creative and maybe even just deal with apron issues to pair Giannis w/ Sengun.

We'll see tho... I could see the Bucks really prioritizing getting good players back since they don't have much incentive to fully bottom out.

[Wizenheimer]

I still don't believe they would be willing to move Sengun, I get the cap concerns, but I think they would look for ways to get creative and maybe even just deal with apron issues to pair Giannis w/ Sengun.

We'll see tho... I could see the Bucks really prioritizing getting good players back since they don't have much incentive to fully bottom out.

you may be right. Sengun has become their best player. I'd think Van Vleet would be a better complement to Giannis though

of course, Giannis needs to demand a trade first. That may be likely after the Bucks got eliminated tonight. But it's not certain. It's also not certain that Houston would offer the best package, from the Bucks' POV. OKC and San Antonio have lots of picks too.

the 55M salary of Giannis is going to be the biggest obstacle in any trade

[DusterBuster]

I still don't believe they would be willing to move Sengun, I get the cap concerns, but I think they would look for ways to get creative and maybe even just deal with apron issues to pair Giannis w/ Sengun.

We'll see tho... I could see the Bucks really prioritizing getting good players back since they don't have much incentive to fully bottom out.

you may be right. Sengun has become their best player. I'd think Van Vleet would be a better complement to Giannis though

of course, Giannis needs to demand a trade first. That may be likely after the Bucks got eliminated tonight. But it's not certain. It's also not certain that Houston would offer the best package, from the Bucks' POV. OKC and San Antonio have lots of picks too.

the 55M salary of Giannis is going to be the biggest obstacle in any trade

I have to wonder if the Bucks GM may just pull a surprise and deal Giannis before he demands out? The team has zero options for improving over the next 2 years. Even if AG gives them another year, will he give two full season and then an offseason so they might be better in the 28-29 season? I don’t see it. So what all GMs should do when a team gets stuck like this, trade the player before he demands out in a scenario like this.

[Wizenheimer]

I still don't believe they would be willing to move Sengun, I get the cap concerns, but I think they would look for ways to get creative and maybe even just deal with apron issues to pair Giannis w/ Sengun.

We'll see tho... I could see the Bucks really prioritizing getting good players back since they don't have much incentive to fully bottom out.

you may be right. Sengun has become their best player. I'd think Van Vleet would be a better complement to Giannis though

of course, Giannis needs to demand a trade first. That may be likely after the Bucks got eliminated tonight. But it's not certain. It's also not certain that Houston would offer the best package, from the Bucks' POV. OKC and San Antonio have lots of picks too.

the 55M salary of Giannis is going to be the biggest obstacle in any trade

I have to wonder if the Bucks GM may just pull a surprise and deal Giannis before he demands out? The team has zero options for improving over the next 2 years. Even if AG gives them another year, will he give two full season and then an offseason so they might be better in the 28-29 season? I don’t see it. So what all GMs should do when a team gets stuck like this, trade the player before he demands out in a scenario like this.

not a chance unless Jokic asks to be traded....or the GM wants to be fired...or he's replaced by Nico Harrison