If the Milwaukee Bucks end up in a situation where they have to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, a new suitor from the Western Conference has emerged as a potential landing spot.
NBA insider Chris Haynes said on Saturday that the Minnesota Timberwolves have joined the group that includes the New York Knicks and Miami Heat as being interested in the two-time MVP. Haynes also mentioned the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs as potential suitors.
Antetokounmpo appears to be in a state of flux with Milwaukee right now. He has not yet publicly requested a trade, but reportedly met with the front office earlier this month to discuss his future.
Even though Antetokounmpo hasn’t formally requested a trade as far as we know, he did identify the Knicks as the one team he would like to play for outside of Milwaukee when he evaluated options over the summer.
If Antetokounmpo does enter the trade market, there figures to be no shortage of suitors for his services.
The Timberwolves would certainly be intriguing because of what a pairing of Antetokounmpo and Anthony Edwards would do for their chances of getting over the final hurdle in the West.
Minnesota has reached the conference finals in each of the last two seasons, but it is just 2-8 in 10 games in that round.
After a slow start this season, the T-Wolves have started to more closely resemble the team that made deep playoff runs in the previous two years. They are 12-5 in their last 17 games and have the seventh-best net rating in the league.
Even though point guard has understandably been identified as the primary area of need for the Timberwolves, Antetokounmpo would help solve that if they were to acquire him. He has been a capable ballhandler throughout his career and is averaging more than 6.0 assists per game for the third consecutive season.
Minnesota could build a trade package of players that helps the Bucks, who don’t control their own first-round draft pick until 2031, maintain a level of respectability.
Any potential deal for Antetokounmpo would likely require the Timberwolves to give up some combination of Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Julius Randle and Rob Dillingham.
The main problem is the Timberwolves don’t have any significant draft assets to trade right now. The only first-round pick they own in the next five years is in 2028, but that would have to be used as a swap rather than a straight-up trade asset.