Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to be traded from the Milwaukee Bucks this offseason after losing in the Eastern Conference First Round.
The fifth-seeded Bucks won 48 games in the regular season, setting up an exciting series with the 50-win Indiana Pacers early in the NBA Playoffs.
However, All-Star point guard Damian Lillard suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, so it was no longer a close contest between the two teams.
The Pacers advanced to the second round with a gentleman’s sweep, and now, with Lillard likely to miss the entire 2025-26 season, Antetokounmpo might ask out this summer.
With several teams interested in the Greek Freak, a former NBA player thinks the Brooklyn Nets should go all out to complete the deal.
Photo by John Fisher/Getty ImagesTheo Pinson urges Brooklyn Nets to make Giannis Antetokounmpo trade
Ex-Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Theo Pinson wants the Nets to trade for Antetokounmpo, and one of his old Bucks teammates, this summer.
Pinson has suggested that Brooklyn move for Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday to reunite him with the Greek Freak.
The pair won the 2021 NBA championship together before Holiday won his second ring with the Celtics last season.
“[Antetokounmpo] is going to make a sick ton of money if he goes to the market in New York,” Pinson said. “His endorsements are going to go through the roof. Brooklyn got real legs.
“You can get Jrue and Giannis back together, you can f___ around and keep D-Lo, you can bring DeMar DeRozan, keep Cam Thomas, you know what I’m saying.
“You can keep Nic Claxton there with Giannis, he doesn’t have to play the five. That’s a competing team, in the East, you’re competing.”
What would Brooklyn Nets trade package for Giannis Antetokounmpo look like
Everyone knows by now that the teams trading away superstar players usually lose out, so the Nets would have to offer the Bucks a ransom.
Undoubtedly, Brooklyn would be desperate to keep Cam Thomas and pair the 25-point-per-game scorer with Antetokounmpo.
They would probably also want to stick with Claxton at the center position, leaving Cameron Johnson and D’Angelo Russell as the most likely departures.
While there are several ways to maneuver the salary cap in the NBA, it seems almost impossible to make the money work without those two in a deal.
The Bucks could ask for at least one of the youngsters, Dariq Whitehead and Noah Clowney, as well as up to five first-round draft picks.
The Nets have four in this year’s draft (picks 8, 19, 26, and 27), one in 2026, and three in 2027, so they can easily afford to move a handful.