{"id":580788,"date":"2026-02-04T01:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/580788\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T01:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:19:15","slug":"how-three-team-trade-helps-timberwolves-giannis-antetokounmpo-chances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/580788\/","title":{"rendered":"How three-team trade helps Timberwolves&#8217; Giannis Antetokounmpo chances"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Timberwolves might be up to something.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/03\/sports\/bulls-land-jaden-ivey-in-three-team-trade-with-pistons-timberwolves\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota inserted themselves in a deal<\/a> that sent Jaden Ivey and Mike Conley Jr. to the Bulls and Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric to the Pistons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves gave the Pistons a 2026 first-round protected pick swap while receiving no players or picks in the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So why did they give up a pick for nothing in return? In short, salary cap relief as they pursue the biggest fish on the market, Giannis Antetokounmpo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38378243\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260123_jah_sh5_067.jpg\" alt=\"Giannis Antetokounmpo in a black Milwaukee Bucks jersey, numbered 34, walks on the court.\" class=\"wp-image-38378243\"  \/>Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) walks from the court following the game against the Denver Nuggets at Fiserv Forum. Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>The move dropped their payroll by $10.7 million and opened up $20.2 million in luxury tax savings, making it easier to stomach Antetokounmpo\u2019s $54.1 million salary.<\/p>\n<p>Crucially, getting off Conley\u2019s money brought them below the first apron, meaning they don\u2019t have to match salaries in a potential Antetokounmpo deal.<\/p>\n<p>Those in the know appear to believe Minnesota is going all out for Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/2018770733887889665?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">ESPN insider Shams Charania<\/a> implied that the deal had to do with their Antetokounmpo pursuit, writing that the trade \u201ccreates significant tax savings and roster space as [the Wolves] pursue a Milwaukee star this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Brian Windhorst said the Wolves were \u201cthe most aggressive team in the West\u201d and \u201cin the game for\u201d Antetokounmpo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JakeLFischer\/status\/2018799390585196922?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">NBA insider Jake Fischer reported<\/a> Tuesday that \u201cMinnesota very much remains in active pursuit of\u201d the Bucks star.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Wolves are currently fifth in the Western Conference at 31-20 heading into Tuesday\u2019s play.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota has fallen short in the West Finals in each of the past two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Knicks, Warriors, Bulls and Heat, among other teams, are also rumored to be pursuing Antetokounmpo before Thursday\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>The two-time NBA MVP is <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/24\/sports\/giannis-antetokounmpo-believes-hell-be-out-4-6-weeks-with-injury\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">currently sidelined with a calf injury<\/a> and is expected to miss at least a few more weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Timberwolves might be up to something. On Tuesday, Minnesota inserted themselves in a deal that sent Jaden&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,329,188,123,307,152,3954,6,2828,66,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-580788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-chicago-bulls","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","12":"tag-minnesota","13":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","14":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-nba-trade-deadline","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116009735203663843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}