The Milwaukee Bucks are open for business, and while it’s no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers are window shopping, when it comes to Giannis Antetokounmpo they should do one thing and one thing only — walk on.
I get it, they, you and everyone in and around this franchise wants to win, and they want nothing more than to win at the highest level. But while Giannis brings them closer to doing just that, he won’t get them across the finish line, and in the end the juice will likely not be worth the squeeze.
Acquiring the “Greek Freak” is sexy. There’s no question about that.
He would bring a level of stardom this team has never seen, and with him he’d bring the talent, cache, and most importantly, the wins necessary to get this team to the postseason. But the price to get him would be steep, and I’d argue too costly of one in an attempt to jump the line the team is just now beginning to approach.
I don’t know, is the play-in considered the playoffs?
I suspect it depends on who you ask and how cynical you are or aren’t. But if the “last four in” counts, Portland is currently a playoff team.
If the season ended today, the Blazers would be the 10-seed and a part of the 20-team chase for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
That’s not saying a lot, for that’s two-thirds of the league.
But it’s saying more than has been said in this neck of the woods since the Blazers were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets five years ago.
With that stated, it’s thought that while not there yet, the team is building a foundation and on a trajectory to put themselves in the mix of title contenders in the coming years, and acquiring Giannis would mean flushing many of the assets acquired over the last few years to do just that.
While doing much of his work in the shadows, general manager Joe Cronin has methodically put the franchise in a position to compete in the years to come.
He’s locked down players like Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara; drafted quality post Donovan Clingan; acquired then 23-year-old Deni Avdija who’s since become an All-Star; and accumulated valuable draft picks that can be either used as intended or attached to a deal for a player to be named later.
He also fostered the return of Damian Lillard, and while his value on the court upon his re-arrival has yet to be determined, Dame’s worth beyond it is priceless for a fanbase who needed a show of good faith.
Sure, there’s the whole Scoot (Henderson) thing that may end up hanging above Cronin’s head in the years to come, but even the best GMs swing and miss from time to time.
Those are good things, and things that took time.
But acquiring Giannis would in many ways require wiping the slate clean, and feels like a shortcut opposed to staying the course.
Some would tell you all of the aforementioned assets were acquired for something exactly like this.
You build a roster capable of working around a star or stars, then you use that roster — along with draft assets — to lure or trade for that star capable of taking you to the promised land.
And they wouldn’t be wrong, that is a viable route to take.
But that doesn’t feel like the road for this team, or at least not the one I’d recommend if sustainability is what’s in mind.
Oklahoma City was built to win for the foreseeable future. They used a comprehensive, multi-year rebuild focusing on accumulating draft capital and prioritizing player development. They turned their back on stars like Paul George and Russell Westbrook, and instead chose to use those existing standouts to acquire the means of drafting and developing future ones.
They didn’t reach for superstars like Giannis, they instead chose to replicate him in the macro by way of building a team opposed to buying one.
I like that idea, and that’s what the Trail Blazers have been doing, and in my mind should continue to do in lieu of swinging for the fences with an aging player like Giannis.
Say what you will about Lillard going forward, but he may or may not be the player we fondly remember when he returns from his achilles tear in the months to come.
Personally, I wouldn’t bet against the former superstar, for his entire career has been built on his determination and fortitude.
But even healthy, we’ve seen the Lillard/Giannis experience and if we’re being real, it was more sizzle than steak.
The Bucks weren’t winning a title with the combination of the two, and recreating it in Rip City feels more crazy than creative.
I understand, Giannis is a former MVP, former world champion, and in the not-so-far-off past the league’s best player. But for the past five years the Trail Blazers have had the future in mind, so leaning on a “former” anything feels like a dream more than a reality, and one that could turn into a nightmare.
We all want to win, but I believe it’s patience that will get us there — not Giannis.