Trade Talk (Part 18): Early Season Panic Edition

[BlacJacMac]

I must have missed this last month, but a recent podcast mentioned this

One of the best players in the world today is Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. “The Greek Freak” is a hard man to impress, but he sure made an honest admission about Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In an interview with Harris Stavrou of Greek outlet Sport24 on September 23, Antetokounmpo discussed a variety of topics about the NBA and international basketball. He was talking about the preferences of basketball fans while also explaining the kind of player he likes, including “Ant-Man.”

“My preference has always been to see a player who will not only be a good player, but will also be an example for his teammates in behavior. It’s not enough to just score baskets. To be a leader, it also counts in the locker room how you are and on the bus, and when you eat as a team, how you are, how you behave. Anyway, whoever has the best year will be the best player. My preference is two-way players. I like one player, Anthony Edwards. I like him a lot,” Antetokounmpo said.

https://heavy.com/sports/nba/milwaukee-bucks/giannis-antetokounmpo-admission-anthony-edwards/

Giannis will be turning 31, but as one of the four best players in the NBA and an MVP candidate, he is probably worth more in trade than MIN has, if Ant is not in the offer. That said, MIL will likely try to send Giannis to a team where he wants to go. And unlike many American stars, Euros are often happy with whatever city they start in, and Minneapolis is close to Milwaukee, so he might not have biases against us. Still, I think there is virtually no chance, but it isn’t impossible.

I think there are some similarities to the Kevin Durant pursuit. I do think we can put out a more competitive offer than some people think. And Tim will be aggressive, which counts for something in negotiations. Ultimately though, it will likely come down to where Giannis wants to go. And I'm not sure we'll be high enough on that list to get him.

This is where the lack of draft picks really hurts us.

[shangrila]

I must have missed this last month, but a recent podcast mentioned this


https://heavy.com/sports/nba/milwaukee-bucks/giannis-antetokounmpo-admission-anthony-edwards/

Giannis will be turning 31, but as one of the four best players in the NBA and an MVP candidate, he is probably worth more in trade than MIN has, if Ant is not in the offer. That said, MIL will likely try to send Giannis to a team where he wants to go. And unlike many American stars, Euros are often happy with whatever city they start in, and Minneapolis is close to Milwaukee, so he might not have biases against us. Still, I think there is virtually no chance, but it isn’t impossible.

I think there are some similarities to the Kevin Durant pursuit. I do think we can put out a more competitive offer than some people think. And Tim will be aggressive, which counts for something in negotiations. Ultimately though, it will likely come down to where Giannis wants to go. And I'm not sure we'll be high enough on that list to get him.

This is where the lack of draft picks really hurts us.

It depends on what they're looking for. If they want to remain competitive instead of a pick heavy package, which they might given their own pick situation, then something built around Randle+McDaniels might be attractive. For example, a starting lineup of Rollins-Trent Jr-McDaniels-Randle-Turner has a pretty interesting combination of defence and offence.

Not saying they'd be great or anything but that feels like a low end playoff/play-in team that won't give up high lottery picks to whoever has them in the next several years.

[shangrila]

For absolute shenanigans, here's a trade that I believe works financially:

From Bucks:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Myles Turner
Kyle Kuzma
Taurean Prince
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Amir Coffey

From Wolves:
Rudy Gobert
Julius Randle
Jaden McDaniels
Mike Conley
Rob Dillingham
Terrence Shannon Jr

Perfect player number match, so no one needs to get waived.

Final lineups:

Bucks - Rollins/Trent Jr/McDaniels/Randle/Gobert with Portis/Porter Jr/Green/Harris/Sims off the bench
Wolves - DiVincenzo/Edwards/Kuzma/Giannis/Turner with Prince/Coffey/Joan/Juzang(?) off the bench

[shrink]

Just for giggles, I worked up a trade

MIN GETS: Giannis, Thanasis, Cole Anthony, Taurean Prince, Gary Harris

MIL GETS: Naz, Dillingham, Beringer, Shannon + third team picks and expiring

THIRD TEAM GETS: Randle for picks and expirings.

Basically, MIL sends off Giannis and their vets for Randle value, Naz, and MIN’s 3 latest 1st rounders

I imagine it would be hard to keep Jaden, but imagine a defense with Clark, Ant, Jaden, Giannis and Gobert!

DDV / Anthony / Conley
Ant / Clark
McDaniels / Thanasis
Giannis / Prince
Gobert /

[TimberKat]

Just for giggles, I worked up a trade

MIN GETS: Giannis, Thanasis, Cole Anthony, Taurean Prince, Gary Harris

MIL GETS: Naz, Dillingham, Beringer, Shannon + third team picks and expiring

THIRD TEAM GETS: Randle for picks and expirings.

Basically, MIL sends off Giannis and their vets for Randle value, Naz, and MIN’s 3 latest 1st rounders

I imagine it would be hard to keep Jaden, but imagine a defense with Clark, Ant, Jaden, Giannis and Gobert!

DDV / Anthony / Conley
Ant / Clark
McDaniels / Thanasis
Giannis / Prince
Gobert /

Throw in anyone you like, including JMcD. I will build around Gianni's and Ant, just make sure Gianni is the point guard and not Ant

Thanasis is just there to make Gianni's happy, shouldn't expect any playing time.

Keeping Gobert would be great as we come completely full circle because Gianni's and Gobert was who we should had drafted instead of Shabazz and Dieng (the travel machine). Gianni and Gobert went just right after Shabazz and Dieng.

[shrink]

Giannis? We don’t need him. We got the next Giannis in Beringer, and he’s 12 years younger and a tenth the price!

[Domejandro]

It would make me sad, but obviously any trade involving Giannis is going to cost Jaden McDaniels (along with at least one of Julius Randle/Naz Reid/Rudy Gobert), Minnesota would absolutely have to do it, he is a top five player in the NBA (arguably top three) who has the capacity to be elite on both ends.

[Loaf_of_bread]

Jaden has proven himself as a playoff competitor. Those guys that are stone cold, no feeling of anxiety, that perform under the big lights of a playoff game are hard to come by.

I cannot part ways with jaden..

[Neeva]

With Giannis available I get why people are upset with Connelly overpaying for Rudy by two firsts and for an unproven tiny point guard.
Julius(to third team?), Naz, filler and 3-4 frps package might get it done but we don’t have those picks smh.

[KGdaBom]

Giannis is out right now with another injury. Any team that has his services can count on this being a recurring situation and they'd have to get very lucky for him to survive a playoff run.

[shrink]

With Giannis available I get why people are upset with Connelly overpaying for Rudy by two firsts and for an unproven tiny point guard.
Julius(to third team?), Naz, filler and 3-4 frps package might get it done but we don’t have those picks smh.

We don’t have picks. We turned them into players, but players can be traded too.

Beringer, Shannon, Jaylen Clark and Dillingham have value to rebuilding teams. Maybe Rocco and Leonard Miller too.

[shrink]

Giannis is out right now with another injury. Any team that has his services can count on this being a recurring situation and they'd have to get very lucky for him to survive a playoff run.

I doubt he’s injured. Teams need an excuse now to sit stars.

MIL likely wants to keep him on the shelf until after a trade is completed, so they don’t risk that he really gets injured, and wrecks a trade.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Rudy is still a top 3 defender in the NBA. Yes he is getting older but trading him will be a huge step back. We are working well transforming the team in a better offensive one without hurting too much defense level. This is a balance hard to find and this could be just throw without Rudy.

I get it. Rudy is indeed a top-3 drop coverage defender in the NBA. But… Does he offer any kind of defensive versatility? And where does he rank offensively among current NBA bigs? I’m not talking about shooting threes — which I personally think is the most overrated skill for a big man. I do value his screens a lot — they’ve been essential for the shooting leap Edwards has made. But how does Rudy stack up as:
- a passer? (Though he’s improved a lot this season.)
- a rim runner?
- a 50/50 ball hustle guy?

We’ve already seen Finch win key games with Rudy on the bench in crunch time. So… what if you get a big who isn’t a top-3 drop defender (although Bitadze might be top-10 — ORL ranked top-2 in defensive rating the last two years), but who is still top-15 and has a more balanced skillset? That could allow MIN to run a more versatile offense and defense — especially at 1/4 the price of Rudy.

You make a point. I have been in Rudy camp since he play in NBA but was also surprised Minny spend so much to get him. Huge defender ( you don’t get 4DPOY just by luck) but his flaws ar huge too. As you say at 1/4 the price of Rudy , I trade him if we don’t make at least NBA final this year.

[KGdaBom]

Giannis is out right now with another injury. Any team that has his services can count on this being a recurring situation and they'd have to get very lucky for him to survive a playoff run.

I doubt he’s injured. Teams need an excuse now to sit stars.

MIL likely wants to keep him on the shelf until after a trade is completed, so they don’t risk that he really gets injured, and wrecks a trade.

I very much believe he is injured. Time will tell.

[Domejandro]

Jaden has proven himself as a playoff competitor. Those guys that are stone cold, no feeling of anxiety, that perform under the big lights of a playoff game are hard to come by.

I cannot part ways with jaden..

Being honest, this is probably the worst argument to make against Giannis, given that he had one of the greatest Finals series performances in NBA history.

[Domejandro]

Giannis is out right now with another injury. Any team that has his services can count on this being a recurring situation and they'd have to get very lucky for him to survive a playoff run.

I doubt he’s injured. Teams need an excuse now to sit stars.

MIL likely wants to keep him on the shelf until after a trade is completed, so they don’t risk that he really gets injured, and wrecks a trade.

I very much believe he is injured. Time will tell.

Just to clarify, Giannis’ injury is a grade one calf strain 3-4 weeks that he is probably going to be intentionally safe with. Any future injuries would effectively be unrelated.

[BlacJacMac]

Jaden has proven himself as a playoff competitor. Those guys that are stone cold, no feeling of anxiety, that perform under the big lights of a playoff game are hard to come by.

I cannot part ways with jaden..

Being honest, this is probably the worst argument to make against Giannis, given that he had one of the greatest Finals series performances in NBA history.

Even last year when they lost in the 1st round, Giannis averaged 33 PPG (on 61%), 15.4 RPG, 6.6 APG and 2 Stocks.

[Loaf_of_bread]

Jaden has proven himself as a playoff competitor. Those guys that are stone cold, no feeling of anxiety, that perform under the big lights of a playoff game are hard to come by.

I cannot part ways with jaden..

Being honest, this is probably the worst argument to make against Giannis, given that he had one of the greatest Finals series performances in NBA history.

Fair, but the gratification of ant and jaden winning it all would be so so much sweeter!

[Klomp]

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[winforlose]

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Kyrie is a head case who was so toxic most teams would not touch him before he was traded to Dallas. He is also post prime and coming back from a serious injury. All of that being true, Kyrie/Ant/Jaden/Naz/Rudy would score a ton of points. I am not sure how the defense would look, but trading Randle and Dilly (the max value I would give for Kyrie, and I still probably wouldn’t do it. It would probably need to be Naz, Mike and Dilly, and Dallas wouldn’t make that trade,) for Kyrie would be intriguing, disgusting on a human level, but intriguing.