The Brooklyn Nets are heading into the 2025 NBA offseason with plenty of options of how they can build the roster for next season, depending on the direction they take. Brooklyn has four first-round picks in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft, but they could also use those to go after someone like Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to fast-track the rebuild.

“Brooklyn has been linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo if he desires a new destination heading into the offseason,” HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto wrote during his article recapping what happened following the NBA Draft Lottery. The Nets ended up with the eighth overall pick and while they could use that pick to bring in an impact player from this class, Brian Lewis of the New York Post has also reported that Brooklyn is one of the teams monitoring Antetokounmpo’s status.

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“Yet, rival executives question how the Nets would surround him with championship-contending talent next season, given the treasure chest of draft picks it would likely take and salaries such as Nic Claxton to make a trade happen on paper,” Scotto continued. While it is still too early in the offseason to know what the Bucks would desire from the Nets in a trade from Antetokounmpo, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley put forth a framework of a potential deal.

Buckley’s mock trade proposed that the Nets would receive Antetokounmpo in exchange for center Nic Claxton, forward Noah Clowney, guard Keon Johnson and six first-round picks, possibly involving the eighth overall pick and one other pick from Brooklyn’s cache for this year. If the Nets were to do this type of deal, they would be giving up a significant rotation player in Claxton and parting with plenty of draft capital.

While getting Antetokounmpo in a Nets jersey would raise the floor of the team for next season and beyond, it does beg the question of how good the team will be if the second-best player next to Antetokounmpo is forward Cam Johnson or guard Cam Thomas, assuming that re-signs with Brooklyn this summer. As Scotto wrote, people around the NBA would be wondering what the next step for the Nets would be after trading for Antetokounmpo and it seems like that kind of question could be on the minds of general manager Sean Marks and company.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Would the Nets contend if they trade for Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo?