You're underestimating how much Giannis's defense has slipped. Part of it could be that he doesn't care or try anymore but i would not expect him to still be an elite defender in 2-3 years, especially since he's never been a great rim protector and that's the still typically ages decently well.
His defensive highlights from last year look REALLY good. We'll see how that aspect looks this year. If you have him surrounded by guys like Amen, Tari, Bari how much of a problem would it be? Is a diminished Giannis worse than Sengun?
Everyone’s highlights look amazing, that’s why they’re highlights. He will still be better than sengun of course though, i’m just not a fan of him at all so i don’t want him
I mean this is the new reality of the newest CBA. Jokic is the 2nd highest paid player in the league - he accounts for 37% of their cap and the league is effectively moving into a hard cap because even if you can outspend your competitors(and Denver IS in the luxury cap), when you get into the 2nd threshold you are prevented from making moves to improve your team. They HAD to overspend on Gordon this offseason to retain him because they didn't have other meaningful ways to improve the roster without him. My point is Jokic can be the 2nd highest paid player in the league behind Steph or he can be on a more competitive team that has depth to crush teams night in and night out but he can't be both. The reality of the new luxury tax system is there are a limited number of max type guys you can have on your roster before you run out of cap room to fill out the roster and that's what Denver is facing right now with the most expensive type of max contract guy. It means you don't have very deep benches, it means you are more impacted by injuries, it means you are more impacted by back to backs because you don't have the depth to beat other teams consistently and you probably have older players with slower recovery times, etc. ...but assuming Jokic wants out at all cost., if he gets traded to another team, he is still going to gobble up 37% of their cap and to trade for Jokic would require a team to ship out multiple large contracts to match contracts so it begs the question of how many teams can still remain competitive after clearing out 37% of their cap room for him($51.4 mil) and by the way, because Denver IS in the luxury tax so there are restrictions to how much they can take back in salary which additionally narrows the field of teams who have the right match of salaries to be able to make a trade. Take Houston for instance - Fred would be an obvious one to include in a Jokic trade because of the value of his contract but it becomes hard to package Fred with other assets Denver would want in a trade - guys like Alpi and Jalen(who can't be traded right now because they just signed their contracts) without throwing more Denver players in a trade and the path becomes complicated the more players you include in those trades. I hear your point but I think that's the reality for any HUGE superstar on the Lebron/Curry/Jokic/Durant level - those contracts are insane after that many years of service and meeting all the bonus criteria and it means you are either going to have to stomach through some rough nights and doing a lot of the work yourself...or take a pay cut. There isnt a lot of in between there.
There are only two teams that have the young assets, cap flexibility, cusp of contention and willingness to trade to Giannis. Rocket and Warriors. Sengun has to be part of the package. Milwaukee will need a franchise potential guy back and not our poopoo plater of Green and FVF/Dillon brooks or whitmore. Sengun and Green will top any assets Warrior can give (Kuminga/moody/pod). Green is a flawed player with more hype then substance aka Zach Lavine. They are great for ESPN highlights but doesn't do the small things that help a team win, especially team defense. Coming to Houston will revive Giannis, especially on defensive end. His defense impact will be much greater when the rest of the team plays defense, especially since this is Ume's specialty, team defense.
Sengun, Reed, Brooks and Holiday works salary-wise. Add the Suns picks and this could be an enticing offer for the Bucks. We would start Giannis, Bari, Tari, Green, FVV with Amen, Cam, Adams off the bench. If needed, we could upgrade the offer by adding Cam (instead of Holiday) or replacing Reed with Amen (which might work better for us because of fit). Like any big move, there is lots of risk to it. It might be a year too early for our young core to go all in. Are Green and Bari ready to be critical pieces in a championship contender this year or next? If not, we may lose Giannis’ remaining window of superstardom.
Man, we are no way giving up two top prospects and multiple draft picks for a 32 year old Giannis still without a 3PT shot. Not worried about his defense, you can't convince me that in his 30's he can't protect the rim just at well as Sengun does with the same starters around them. I think as he ages he'll become more of a C. Just wondering if it's worth the cost cause that's a lot of assets to give up. I don't believe bucks would insist on Green/Sengun. I think they will prefer rookie contracts and picks. We're just going to give them expiring contracts and 1-2 disappointing core players as far as salary matching goes. The value we're sending them is mostly the Suns picks.
I would offer Cam, Jabari, FVV and the phoenix picks. I doubt OKC offers up Williams or Chet so their offer would revolve around IHart, some rookie contracts and a truckload of picks.
Would be interesting if all the MVPs..... Joker - Giannis - Embiid are all on the verge of leaving because their respective franchises are blowing it up. All of them about the same time. That has never happened before. Denver Milwaukee Philadelphia All three of those teams have problems staying relevant, all 3 of them have old arse teams. (Denver is just not deep)
Giannis is already in his 30’s? Wow I didn’t know that, I would definitely rather not trade for him now knowing he is already a 32 year old with a history of injuries. I’d either keep the team intact or trade for some young high potential player who is about to burst on to the scene as we did with Harden. OKC traded Harden to us and regretted it, but then years later got their own Harden in Shai. I’m sure there are players like this out there that we can snatch.
