What’s different about Giannis Antetokounmpo situation this offseason?
What’s different about the Giannis Antetokounmpo situation this offseason? Jim Owczarski discusses next moves for the Milwaukee Bucks.
There’s still a massive pathway for the Milwaukee Bucks to rebuild around Giannis Antetokounmpo, even with fellow star Damian Lillard out for a large chunk of the 2025-26 season following Achilles surgery, and even with Antetokounmpo’s growing dissatisfaction with the team’s trajectory.
There’s an added problem of trying to trade a two-time MVP with prime years left; there’s no obvious comparison in modern basketball, and it’s hard to know even where trade discussions should begin. How can the Bucks realistically expect to re-tool with enough talent that offsets the loss of a generational talent? Especially when any draft picks from the team that has Giannis on the floor probably won’t be drafting before the 20s, making those picks considerably less valuable.
Let’s explore a few options floated around the internet.
A trade with Houston for Amen Thompson and intriguing draft capital
The Athletic floated four scenarios, though local Bucks reporter Eric Nehm broke down why none of them perfectly fit what the Bucks would be looking for. The closest, however, was this one, despite the trickiness of a player in Jalen Green who may not be worth his soon-to-kick-in contract extension.
It also highlights something that’s growing increasingly clear: It’s likely a third team would need to be involved to make a deal like this work. Specifically, the New Orleans Pelicans or Portland Trail Blazers, who have the rights to upcoming Bucks draft picks, since they have assets that Milwaukee would value.
Bucks get: Amen Thompson, Jalen Green, Cam Whitmore, Donovan Clingan, 2025 first (via Phoenix), 2027 first (via Phoenix), 2029 first (most favorable of Milwaukee, Portland or Washington), 2028 and 2030 Milwaukee swap rights extinguishedRockets get: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jerami GrantTrail Blazers get: Alperen Şengün, Jock Landale
This would give the Bucks a highly intriguing ascendant superstar in Thompson and draft capital that can actually help them, including a top-10 pick this year, a 2027 pick with value and control over picks that they lost to Portland. The idea of reclaiming those rights would be massive, since they’ll presumably be a lesser team without Antetokounmpo, and those picks have a chance to tangibly improve the roster in the years ahead.
Pairing Giannis with Victor Wembanyama for the 2025 Rookie of the Year
Would anyone score on the Spurs if Giannis and Victor Wembanyama were both in the game? This trade proposed by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports would land the Bucks a reigning Rookie of the Year in Stephon Castle, a very high draft pick this season (likely Dylan Harper of Rutgers) and a quality first-round pick next year.
Bucks get: Stephon Castle, Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson, 2025 No. 2 overall pick, most favorable of Milwaukee and New Orleans’ first-round pick in 2026Pelicans get: No. 14 pick, Atlanta’s unprotected 2027 first-round pickSpurs get: Giannis Antetokounmpo
From Quinn: “For the Bucks, this would be a monster package. Harper has a chance to be a star. Castle, obviously, has a chance to be a star, and his limitations as a shooter are less severe in Milwaukee, where he wouldn’t be playing alongside (De’Aaron) Fox. The cherry on top? They manage to get their own 2026 pick back (or, if the Pelicans are somehow worse than them, an even better one) by flipping two pretty valuable picks that currently belong to the Spurs to New Orleans. This is similar to the maneuver Brooklyn pulled with Houston last offseason. When a team is trading a star, it typically wants to have the ability to tank. The Bucks could do so for a year, add one more high pick to a Castle-Harper core, and go off to the races from there.”
Could Cooper Flagg be on the table from Dallas?
The Mavericks seemed to have dodged a bullet, following up their highly controversial trade of Luka Doncic and landing the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft despite odds of less than 2% of doing so. That means the Mavericks have the option to draft Duke’s Cooper Flagg, considered far and away the best player in the draft and a particularly unique talent.
Would the Mavericks use Flagg as a chance to upgrade even higher … to Giannis? In truth, it’s pretty unlikely Dallas does that. But what if …
Here’s a “Godfather” scenario from Dan Favale of Bleacher Report.
Mavericks get: Giannis AntetokounmpoBucks get: Max Christie, Daniel Gafford, Jordan Hawkins, Caleb Martin, Kelly Olynyk, 2025 No. 1 overall pick, 2026 first-round pick (their own, via New Orleans), 2027 first-round pick (their own, via New Orleans’ swap rights)Pelicans get: Dereck Lively II, 2031 first-round pick (via Dallas)
That’s a lot of names, but the biggest assets there are the No. 1 pick this year (for Flagg, let’s be real) and the return of full rights to their own 2026 and 2027 first-round pick from New Orleans (presuming the Pelicans are interested in partnering on a deal that doesn’t exactly seem to dramatically benefit them).
Presumably, the Bucks already would have a head start on a rebuild with Flagg, but this would unquestionably return the short-term Bucks into the realm of the “have-nots.” But Flagg just turned 18 in December, so it’s not as if Milwaukee needs to be fully championship-functional right away.
Wrote Favale: “Reacquiring control of their next two first-rounders allows them to gorge on losses, juice their draft-lottery odds and add more high-end prospects alongside Flagg, before having to reconcile with making an immediate jump in 2027-28, when control over their first-rounder — plus their next two — belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers.”
A deal with … the Indiana Pacers?
The Ringer threw out seven scenarios, although all of them were exchanges with one team and didn’t seem to completely account for the fact that picks coming back from a team that acquires Antetokounmpo won’t be very good picks.
But there is one of particular interest involving the Pacers, the team that’s eliminated the Bucks from the past two postseasons. If you can’t beat them …?
Bucks get: Pascal Siakam, Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard and a bounty of picksPacers get: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Tyler Parker floats an idea that would pair Antetokounmpo with Tyrese Haliburton, the heel-turned-star of the 2025 playoffs, and a native Wisconsinite. Would Indiana, which suddenly looks very much like a title contender in its current form, even seek out an overhaul now?
Parker called Indiana as a destination “the funniest option”: “Pacerland would provide him all the space he could want, a young, tested supporting cast that can score without him having to generate everything. He’d still be on a proper contender, and his load would not be so heavy. Maybe Giannis and Haliburton would hate each other, but they’d thrash teams.”
Siakam was an All-Star this season and averaged 20.2 points per game, and this trade would instantly make him the best player on the 2025-26 Bucks. But he’s also 31 — almost a year older than Giannis — and has three more years on a contract that pays him roughly $47 million a year. If the Bucks are making this move, it doesn’t seem like it would be to simply stay afloat for the next few years with a talented player in Giannis’ age bracket who’s good but nowhere near as great.
Mathurin, the sixth overall pick in 2022, is still just 22 years old and averaged 16.1 points per game last year. The 23-year-old Sheppard, a late first-round pick in 2023, hasn’t played 20 minutes per game yet. And the picks wouldn’t be all that good if the Pacers keep winning.