NBA Trade Rumor: What Would A Trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo Look Like?

It’s hard to imagine this type of seismic trade just a few days after the Minnesota Timberwolves seemingly did the impossible and handed the Oklahoma City Thunder a loss on top of the ever glorious Prince-inspired court. Maybe that win is enough to get the Wolves out of their early season funk. Maybe they return to the standard they had seemingly lived up to for the past two years (with notable exceptions in some terrible, terrible losses). Maybe this hypothetical isn’t even worth considering for a team that has preached continuity for years.

All of that may be true, but my rebuttal is that hypotheticals are fun. Even when they fail to amount to anything, the concept of “What If” is addicting to those of us who daydream about hardwoods and fastbreaks instead of fairies and dream jobs.

In that way, there is no bigger “What If” right now than Giannis Antetokounmpo and his potential exit from the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks have been pretty terrible without their franchise superstar. They are 2-10 without Giannis and now sit at the 11th seed, a solid seven games under .500. Most damning however, Milwaukee is right up against the second apron, with 20 million dollars per year in dead cap allocated to the waived Damian Lillard, with no movable first round picks any time soon.

Even before it got this bad, ESPN’s Shams Charania had reported that Giannis wants out of Milwaukee on a near quarterly basis. What once felt like a gimmick in pursuit of clicks now feels like a distinct possibility.

While the leader in the clubhouse for any major trade will undoubtedly be one of the Thunder, with their treasure trove of draft picks and impact players buried along the bench, or San Antonio Spurs, with their equally expansive hoard of draft assets and young players.

However, as it stands, neither is nearly desperate enough to make that level of massive move. Both teams sit solidly in the top four seeds of the hyper-competitive Western conference with no outside pressure to necessitate anything so hasty.

Other suitors include the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, or Los Angeles Lakers. None of those three make any realistic sense at the deadline. The Warriors can’t cobble together a package without including one of Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler, both of whom are too old to be of any use for a rebuilding team. The Rockets would struggle to field a lineup that managed to feature all of Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Alperen Şengün without journeying into an abyssal lake of supersized lineups. The Lakers are only encouraged by their Nico Harrison spurred delusions.

At the perfect blend of desperation and ability are the Timberwolves. A team with championship aspirations and two straight conference finals appearances now sits at 19-10 as the fifth seed in the West. Both of those playoff runs have ended in whimpers, and the brutal conference may necessitate a move far more aggressive than one might think to close the gap.

Coincidentally, a Giannis trade for the Wolves is relatively easy to structure. You include one of Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle, and one of Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid to reach Giannis’ 54.1 million dollar salary before throwing in one or two of Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Jaylen Clark to match the required inclusion of Thanasis, the elder Antetokounmpo brother.

The obvious hold up comes with draft pick inclusion. The Wolves do not have a single tradeable pick, and can include at best two pick swaps in 2028 and 2032, respectively.

That package. does not sound nearly as enticing as the premise of this article might’ve suggested but it could be perfect to fit what the Bucks need from a Giannis trade. While any move would need to set Milwaukee up for success long term, it’s worth noting that they do not have outright access to their own pick until 2031 through a handful of swap options to a ton of different teams. Without their own draft picks, would there not be an argument for using a Giannis trade to both find a young franchise centerpiece and field a winning team?

If that’s the approach the Bucks decide for, what could be better than a 25-year-old forward in Jaden McDaniels? He has shown an ability to be among the foremost elite defenders in the NBA and flashes more and more shot creation and on ball playmaking every time he’s given the requisite usage. Ignoring the other young throw-ins, Julius Randle is likely on his way to being an all star this year and has shown an ability to be the primary driver of success from his time with the Knicks in 2020.

For the Wolves, the easiest answer to the question of how to win a title is get a top five player. Ant is currently on the outside looking in to that conversation. Giannis is certainly locked into it. That’s the pitch in its entirety. If you want a championship, you need that caliber of player. If you don’t think Ant is there (he’s not) or you don’t think he can get there (he might, he might not), trading for Giannis makes that whole issue moot.

Funny enough, a few years ago, I had this same argument for why a trade for Damian Lillard could make some sense for Minnesota. I concluded that piece by saying I didn’t really see it happening, nor should it, but that the team still needed moves to win.

Instead of upcycling the contract of Karl-Anthony Towns to a higher caliber player like Dame, the Wolves instead split up the big man’s value, sending him to New York for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and the pick that became Joan Beringer (and Keita Bates-Diop, technically). Maybe a Giannis trade could be the inverse, using the Wolves group of quality wings to take a shot at an “all in window.”

Dame, incidentally, ended up with Giannis but failed to reach the heights many predicted, proving that the ideal pairing with Giannis Antetokounmpo is in fact not a pick and roll ball handler. Instead, it seems like a rangy forward that can work both on and off ball next to Giannis is a far better option. It’s why Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton worked, but Lillard did not. If that’s the blueprint, Anthony Edwards is seemingly the perfect fit.

While there is additional basketball sense to the fit next to Donte DiVincenzo, or even TJ Shannon or Naz Reid if they’re retained, there is one player who sticks out like a sore thumb: Rudy Gobert.

While pairing the best defensive players of a generation would certainly produce a rim deterrence strong enough to force half court shots, the spacing concerns would probably outweigh the benefits. Still, Gobert’s ~35 million dollar extension starts next year and he could be traded for a minimal return that could bring both depth and cap relief.

Or, we could get crazy and play two non-shooters in sheer spite of the concept of spacing and the ghosts of the 2016 Warriors and 2010 Orlando Magics past.

Either way, the Wolves are one of the only teams that have the fitting factors to necessitate a deadline deal for Giannis. However, the Bucks continue to maintain that they will not be trading the man that led them to a title in 2021. I want to make abundantly clear: If the Bucks wait until the offseason, the Wolves will likely be out of the conversation. If they want a full scale rebuild with picks and young guys, the Wolves are definitely out.

But, if Shams Charania’s reporting goes from wish fulfillment to truth, Minnesota could acquire an all-time great power forward just weeks after reconciling with their own.

NBA Trade Rumor: What Would A Trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo Look Like?

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