Giannis Thread - 13th Season with the Bucks

[Ryan5UW]

Silver stepped in and vetoed us getting Bogdan Bogdanovic. He ain't doing the city of Milwaukee any favors, ever.

Absolutely. We'd get jumped every year in the lottery.

[soxperry]

Absolutely no way I'm trading Giannis for that Hawks package. I'd like that for AD as a core to put around Flagg. But it's not the foundation of a team and would always be in want of a great player.

I like all three of those guys. Daniels is a great piece but will never play a large offensive role. Johnson is good when he's healthy, which is familiar to us at least. Risacher is not a bust, I like him, but he's not the typical #1 overall pick and using that as a selling point for him only draws attention to it. Right in between Wemby and Flagg. **** ouch.

Jalen Johnson has a rare combination of size, athleticism, handling, scoring, passing, defense. If you look at a list he shares in that regard, most are hall of famers. I wonder if he can really flourish with the ball in his hands away from Trae Young.

W/ the multiple picks we should then focus on upside like we did w/ AJ Johnson. Some have more likely 1st option upside than others. But I'd package 13 & 22 to move up and take Jeremiah Fears, who is basically a better, more polished version of AJJ as a prospect.

Anyways, as we see so much of the game now can be creating mismatches, & taking that guy on. We'd have several guys who could do that. We'd also have a potentially elite d.

And if it wasn't enough, we could package players in reverse to get a #1 option, like Atlanta would be doing here, & Houston's in discussion for. If these guys developed in Milwaukee, it'd take less players going out, meaning the #1 option would have guys to play with actually.

Atlanta had a pretty strong team until Johnson got hurt. I'm all aboard the upside express, and I would LOVE to deal with an incompetent franchise. Unfortunately, not many of those are going to be in the running for Giannis. But maybe just maybe with Atlanta.... The biggest question is how they get our picks back from NO. It's not the most appealing part of any Giannis trade, but i do feel it's necessary. Promising young stud(s), extra picks, and the ability to tank puts us into an actual rebuild that has a light at the end of the tunnel. Simply getting some guy like Mobley just leads to us eventually trading him for less than we could have gotten for Giannis.

Flagg would be one scenario, if Dallas could pull it off. Atlanta may well be another. Although if you look at Atlanta lately, they are making some pretty smart decisions. Can we work with Sacramento somehow?

[German Athens]

I really don’t care about our picks from NOP. It would take real assets to get them, and I think the gain is incredibly marginal.

NOP isn’t making the playoffs next year, so even if we didn’t make the playoffs, we’re still getting a lottery pick. 28 is also a swap, but when will NOP make the playoffs next? 27 is a loss, but then that’s it.

I’d rather have someone else’s picks who we think could be lottery team while trying to field a competitive roster.

[Bernman]

Absolutely no way I'm trading Giannis for that Hawks package. I'd like that for AD as a core to put around Flagg. But it's not the foundation of a team and would always be in want of a great player.

I like all three of those guys. Daniels is a great piece but will never play a large offensive role. Johnson is good when he's healthy, which is familiar to us at least. Risacher is not a bust, I like him, but he's not the typical #1 overall pick and using that as a selling point for him only draws attention to it. Right in between Wemby and Flagg. **** ouch.

Jalen Johnson has a rare combination of size, athleticism, handling, scoring, passing, defense. If you look at a list he shares in that regard, most are hall of famers. I wonder if he can really flourish with the ball in his hands away from Trae Young.

W/ the multiple picks we should then focus on upside like we did w/ AJ Johnson. Some have more likely 1st option upside than others. But I'd package 13 & 22 to move up and take Jeremiah Fears, who is basically a better, more polished version of AJJ as a prospect.

Anyways, as we see so much of the game now can be creating mismatches, & taking that guy on. We'd have several guys who could do that. We'd also have a potentially elite d.

And if it wasn't enough, we could package players in reverse to get a #1 option, like Atlanta would be doing here, & Houston's in discussion for. If these guys developed in Milwaukee, it'd take less players going out, meaning the #1 option would have guys to play with actually.

Atlanta had a pretty strong team until Johnson got hurt. I'm all aboard the upside express, and I would LOVE to deal with an incompetent franchise. Unfortunately, not many of those are going to be in the running for Giannis. But maybe just maybe with Atlanta.... The biggest question is how they get our picks back from NO. It's not the most appealing part of any Giannis trade, but i do feel it's necessary. Promising young stud(s), extra picks, and the ability to tank puts us into an actual rebuild that has a light at the end of the tunnel. Simply getting some guy like Mobley just leads to us eventually trading him for less than we could have gotten for Giannis.

Flagg would be one scenario, if Dallas could pull it off. Atlanta may well be another. Although if you look at Atlanta lately, they are making some pretty smart decisions. Can we work with Sacramento somehow?

One of the beauties of the Atlanta option is we wouldn't have to get our picks back. We'd be decent right away. Would want other's picks then, because I'd be betting on the Bucks.

The desire for our own picks back in some scenarios though is why NO is a palatable option, because then we'd need not convince them. We could get theirs this yr too, maybe Murphy, & then hope Zion gets his s**t together here. Otherwise we get more high picks. Not a terrible gambit.

Any deal that involves us getting 2 or less players that aren't creators/core players, like Mobley, or even Mobley/Garland, is basically dooming us to non-contendership. It's the worst type of deal we could conceivably make. Next worst is just a lot of random picks spread out & filler/vet.

[KendallMarshall]

Giannis is listed at -140 to stay with the bucks for betting purposes; that seems like great value right?

[Bernman]

I really don’t care about our picks from NOP. It would take real assets to get them, and I think the gain is incredibly marginal.

NOP isn’t making the playoffs next year, so even if we didn’t make the playoffs, we’re still getting a lottery pick. 28 is also a swap, but when will NOP make the playoffs next? 27 is a loss, but then that’s it.

I’d rather have someone else’s picks who we think could be lottery team while trying to field a competitive roster.

I don't think in any way you can predict New Orleans being bad next year.

- When Zion's on the court he's really good. Only played 30 games. The prior yr it was 70.
- Trey Murphy's a good starter who missed 30 games.
- Herb Jones is a star defender & decent shooter who only played 20 games.
- McCollum's still a 20 pt scorer

If we rebuild, odds are their own pick's going to be much lower than ours. And 1 of the 2 yrs it's not a swap. So those have a lot of value to us. If we go the rebuild route, & don't get those picks back, it's really going to smart when we concede back-to-back top 5-10 picks.

[tedbrogen]

Here’s my current order of what I’d what as centerpieces if Giannis wants out/wont commit to reup:
Flagg (obviously)
Mobley (young and easy to build around while locked up for five years)
Amen (only 18 months younger than Mobley)
Harper
Jalen Johnson

Open to other ideas and this all assumes you are getting other pieces with those guys. Like I’d require Garland with Mobley and make them take Kuz but I’m really starting to come around on that deal because not having control of your next five firsts (they do have 26,28,30 1sts but swap rights on them) means you have no incentive to be bad. Might as well run the treadmill and see if you luck out with Mobley leveling up or KPJ leveling up or getting another near all star if someone desperately needs to shed salary due to the second apron next offseason when Dame is on an expiring. That and those 30/31swap/32 Cavs picks might be more valuable than we realize. Mitchell will be in his age 32-34 seasons and Giannis will be in his age 34-36 seasons. Giannis and Mitchell are only signed for two more years as well. There’s potential that team gets broken up or isn’t healthy by then and those picks become valuable. The Bucks would be taking the young part of the core in the deal (Garland and Mobley) which is what makes those picks lowkey potentially good.

I’m also heavily weighing how it helps building the team to have Garland locked up for three more years and Mobley locked up for five more years.

[Frank Nova]

Giannis for Mobley as a “who says no” proposal is **** laughable. Just throwing that out there. Mobley, Garland, Tyson and future picks gets the conversation started but still not enticing unless there’s burned bridges between the Bucks and Giannis and there’s no other choice. That or Flagg + are the only 2 decent options I see being thrown around.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I've never put much stock into psycho-analyzing Giannis and his motivations, ..........go against everything that dude stands for and has demonstrated.

I don't put much stock in their analysis, but I don't put much stock in our analysis either. We were all 22 and thought our first job would be our career job. Then you have all your cohort leave, you get new/worse bosses, the company gets bought and changes culture, you have a wife and family that you put first, you have seen other cities you may like better, your career goals change, etc. This isnt the same Giannis and definitely not the same bucks when he tweeted "loyalty is in my blood" or whatever cool phrase he used at the time. We have zero idea what Giannis wants right now and that includes all the loyalty/path of least resistance takes

[soxperry]

Honestly, Jrue next to KPJ makes a ton of sense. KPJ is a much better help defender than point of attack and Jrue is still pretty good at POA. Vastly better than anyone we've had. Kuzma and Pat were basically unplayable against Indiana, so in the immediate it does make us significantly better. Then, maybe Dame does come back for the playoffs and you have:

Dame
Jrue
Trent
Giannis
Bobby

KPJ
Green
Sims
Smith (ready?)

That seems pretty fun. But then you have to think about how having Jrue's contract impacts 26/27 and 27/28.

[BUCKnation]

I had a look at this today, so here is what 34 year old KD, post achilles recovery, returned. Mikal Bridges (later traded for 5 firsts, 4 unprotected), Cam Johnson (great asset still), Jae Crowder (who was quickly sent away for 5 2nds) and 4 four unprotected 1sts. I get the CBA has just things and Phx had that new owner desperation, but come on with these offers for Giannis.

[soxperry]

I really don’t care about our picks from NOP. It would take real assets to get them, and I think the gain is incredibly marginal.

NOP isn’t making the playoffs next year, so even if we didn’t make the playoffs, we’re still getting a lottery pick. 28 is also a swap, but when will NOP make the playoffs next? 27 is a loss, but then that’s it.

I’d rather have someone else’s picks who we think could be lottery team while trying to field a competitive roster.

that would be a treadmill +. unlike the normal treadmill, we would have a lottery pick to look forward to. but if that team doesn't have their own pick, they will also try to remain competitive and we would be looking at a late lottery pick most likely. that's not really a great path to rebuilding after Giannis. Sure, we could get Dallas lucky. But i would assume you go into a rebuild trying to maximize your odds and that does involve having your own picks and having a terrible record a few years in a row. If we do treadmill +, it's just a lot of mediocrity with fun story lines and a very very small chance that we hit on a guy at like 12.

[Ron Swanson]

I had a look at this today, so here is what 34 year old KD, post achilles recovery, returned. Mikal Bridges (later traded for 5 firsts, 4 unprotected), Cam Johnson (great asset still), Jae Crowder (who was quickly sent away for 5 2nds) and 4 four unprotected 1sts. I get the CBA has just things and Phx had that new owner desperation, but come on with these offers for Giannis.

Yep, just to lay it all out:

Cam Johnson
2023 unprotected PHX 1st
2025 unprotected PHX 1st
2027 unprotected PHX 1st
2028 PHX pick swap
2029 unprotected PHX 1st
2025 Top-4 protected MIL 1st
2025 unprotected Knicks 1st
2027 unprotected Knicks 1st
2028 Knicks pick swap
2029 unprotected Knicks 1st
2031 unprotected Knicks 1st
2028 MIL 2nd
2029 MIL 2nd

9 unprotected future firsts, two pick swaps, some 2nd's, and whatever they'll eventually trade Cam Johnson for lol. That's the totality of what Brooklyn got for a 34-year old Kevin Durant just 2-years ago. Copy and paste this into every Giannis trade thread you can find just to illustrate how laughable these Giannis trade proposals actually are.

[Frank Nova]

KD said Giannis is worth 4 out of any starting 5 lineup and 6 1st round picks. Bill Simmons says possibly Evan Mobley. The disconnect is amazing.

[CharityStripe34]

Did they have this damn meeting today or what?

[paulpressey25]

I really don’t care about our picks from NOP. It would take real assets to get them, and I think the gain is incredibly marginal.

Right now both New Orleans and Portland are licking their chops over our picks/swaps from 2025-2030. The price to get any of those back is going to be at a massive premium.

To your point, no way is it worth overpaying to get those back. And as we've seen with the new lottery odds, decent chance you have 2 or 3 teams jump over you even if we did get those picks/swaps back.

For any Giannis trade, I'd just take the picks the other team gives and make sure those look as good as possible.

[Profound23]

I love that on one hand media is saying "the era of Superteams are over, teams need to spread the money around"and on the other hand.....

"Spurs need to team up Wemby, Giannis, Fox and get one more star there."

[Bernman]

I really don’t care about our picks from NOP. It would take real assets to get them, and I think the gain is incredibly marginal.

Right now both New Orleans and Portland are licking their chops over our picks/swaps from 2025-2030. The price to get any of those back is going to be at a massive premium.

To your point, no way is it worth overpaying to get those back. And as we've seen with the new lottery odds, decent chance you have 2 or 3 teams jump over you even if we did get those picks/swaps back.

For any Giannis trade, I'd just take the picks the other team gives and make sure those look as good as possible.

You don't want, back to back, to hope you're not the team who concedes AJ Dybantsa or whoever the hot commodity ends up being those yrs. Regardless, a top 5-10 pick can net you an outstanding prospect, the type of which we'd really want if we're rebuilding.

That's why, if Giannis asks out, which I don't think he will, and I probably wouldn't trade him yet unless we get Flagg, 1 of these hypothetical proposals would probably be the winning option to me:

- Flagg, Lively, filler/role guys
- Jalen Johnson, Risacher, Daniels and/or Gueye, 13 + 22 this yr &/or future picks
- Zion, Murphy or Jones, 7, our own picks back
- Banchero, Anthony Black, #16, less favorable of PHX/WAS next yr
- Jaren Jackson Jr, Dez Bane, Scotty Pippen Jr.
- Amen or Sengun, Sheppard &/or Whitmore, Eason or Smith, 10, '27 1sts via BKN & PHX

Those all keep us competitive, while gaining us multiple assets to build a core/lineup that can grow to contenders in the near future.

Again, I think it's very probable he doesn't ask out & we take this until at least the deadline to see if we can make a post-Dame present really work. There were some signs last year & Giannis inkled he believed in them ("KPJ's nice", "Bobby-Green-Trent-KPJ could be the starting lineup").

[German Athens]

Even if we had the worst record in the league in consecutive years, which I don’t think is the likeliest outcome, the odds of ever giving up a #1 is 26%.

Those aren’t good odds.

[Bango]

Did they have this damn meeting today or what?

That's what I'm saying. I wonder if we'd even know if went well or sideways.