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The Warriors have one thing that nobody else fully committed to the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes can match.
They’ve got Stephen Curry. Who still can serve as an undeniable magnetic pull for some of the greatest stars in the league. (Just ask Jimmy Butler about that.)
They’ve got a superstar who recruited and welcomed Kevin Durant into the Warriors’ locker room a decade ago, which produced several of the best and most aesthetically pleasing seasons in NBA history.
They’ve got a legendary figure who, even at 37, continues to strike fear in all defenses and answers all media questions after the toughest defeats.
They’ve got somebody that Giannis might point to and, at the height of this building situation, say: I want to play with this guy. Trade me there.
The Atlanta Hawks have a very interesting young roster and some good draft picks to offer, but they don’t have anybody like Curry. Same for the Detroit Pistons, though Cade Cunningham might come close some day. Same for the Knicks, though Jalen Brunson isn’t a bad option.
Same for every other team potentially hot in the Giannis market, especially if, as is being reported, the Thunder and Spurs are likely not ready to break up what they’ve got going right now, even for Giannis.
The Warriors have things that should attract Giannis: They have the Bay Area climate and demographics, they have an owner who has no qualms about spending tons of money, they have a history of merging quite well with incoming stars, they have those four recent championship trophies, and they have Steve Kerr (at least for the rest of this season).
Mostly, they have Curry.
What the Warriors don’t have is a burgeoning package of immediate lottery picks and young stars, which is what I’m sure the Bucks will be seeking.
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The Warriors can’t match an Atlanta package that features New Orleans’ unprotected pick in this year’s loaded draft. Or Miami offering a bunch of picks plus Milwaukee’s choice of multiple very talented young players. Or Detroit doing the same thing.
It’s a narrow path. The odds are not with them. But the Warriors’ shot at this comes only if Giannis anoints them as a favored destination. Practically, with Giannis looking at his player option for 2027-28, that’d mean letting the rest of the league know that he’d be very likely to sign an extension past next season with the Warriors and maybe not so likely to do it with most other teams.
Which is not Giannis’ style, I should point out. This has been one of the most passive-aggressive detachments in recent sports history, so I don’t know if Giannis has it in him to try to steer himself to a specific team — other than the failed talks that his camp may or may not have encouraged between the Bucks and Knicks last offseason.
But the Warriors have long believed that if Giannis had his druthers, Curry‘s presence would put this franchise on the short list. Maybe that inclination has lessened as the Warriors’ run has dimmed, but also: Curry is still great. He’ll probably be great next season, too. Then he can turn it over for Giannis into the deeper future.
The idea that Giannis would prefer the Knicks or Warriors might knock some other teams out of the market before the Feb. 5 trade deadline or, if there’s no deal, into next summer. So might Giannis’ current and continuing calf issues. But Giannis obviously remains an immensely valuable player and the Bucks will get a load for him, whatever he might secretly or publicly request.
Just last offseason, Memphis got four first-round picks and a pick swap from Orlando for Desmond Bane.
What can the Warriors offer? To do the necessary salary matching with Giannis’ $54.1 million salary, the Warriors would have to start any offer with either Butler’s identical $54.1 million number or Draymond Green’s $25.9 million number plus a lot more.
And obviously Jonathan Kuminga would be in any and all offers. (And not just for Giannis.)
Example: Butler plus Kuminga plus all of the future picks the Warriors can put into a deal, with the Warriors offering to take back Kyle Kuzma’s bad salary to entice the Bucks. I don’t think Milwaukee would want Butler’s contract next season, so this is probably a non-starter, but you never know.
Another example: Draymond plus Kuminga plus Moses Moody/Brandin Podziemski and all of the future picks, and maybe the Warriors can add some money and offer to take back Kuzma in this package, too. Milwaukee might be willing to at least think about this one. Add in Giannis possibly putting his toe on the scale for the Warriors and … hmm.
One of the reasons I’m willing to go down this speculative road is that I’ve heard that the Bucks expressed some degree of interest in Kuminga during last summer’s negotiation extravaganza. It wasn’t strong interest — there were no specific trade or contract talks — but, as I was told, it was certainly more than the “nope, not for us” that many teams relayed back to the Warriors.
It’s possible the Warriors would have to include Draymond Green in any potential deal with the Bucks. | Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Still, Atlanta for sure could top any possible Warriors offer because of that Pelicans pick. New York is a Giannis-favored team that can offer OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns (but the Knicks don’t have picks to trade). It will be a very, very tough bidding war for the Warriors to win.
But what if the Warriors (with Giannis’ approval) tell the Bucks they’ll keep him sidelined the rest of the season to get this year’s Warriors pick as high as possible? OK, that’s probably not allowable in trade talks, but it’d be one way to sweeten the value of the Warriors’ trough of picks.
Another point: Would the Warriors be back in title contention with a core group of Curry + Giannis + Butler/Draymond + whatever else they could put together? I think that’d be very fun to see in 2026-27. I think it’d be meaningful. I think it’d be worth it, even facing a future bereft of draft picks.
There would be side benefits, too. such as: De’Anthony Melton, who has a player option for next season, would probably be a lot more inclined to come back if it’s to play with Curry and Giannis.
Also, there’s a ticking clock for the Bucks, because the closer Giannis gets to that option decision, the less control they’ll have over the situation.
Will some teams be wary of offering every trade piece possible if they don’t know what Giannis will do in a year?
Also, he’s not exactly a youngster anymore (turned 31 last month). What if the Bucks hold onto him through the deadline, he returns to action, then hurts his calf again? What’s his value next July — hurt and with only one season of full team control left on his deal? He’d still be worth a mega trade, but it wouldn’t be sky high.
The Warriors wouldn’t be worried about much of that because they have the urgency to maximize Curry’s final peak years, so it’s all a gamble, anyway. They have tons of money and wouldn’t stress about any potential luxury-tax bills.
The Warriors have been waiting for this moment. The Giannis Sweepstakes have officially begun. They’re not the favorites. But they’ve known this was coming, they’ve planned for it, they’ve put together deals like this in tougher situations, and they’ve got a superstar that every other superstar would love as a teammate.