Am I ahead of myself? No doubt, but hear me out. With the way the Bucks season has started and all the smoke around Giannis not wanting to stay in Milwaukee if they aren’t title contenders, the odds of Giannis asking out at the end of the season are not immaterial and are only trending up. So who would be the teams who could trade for Giannis? It has to be a team that can offer a star young player as the cornerstone + a combination of either other high potential young players and draft capital #1 is OKC and it’s not close. If they want Giannis, they could throw JDub + assets in a package and no one in the league could compete with. But let’s play the hypothetical that OKC isn’t interested in trading for Giannis, who are the other contenders? I could only think of 2…. First is NOLA. They could offer Zion + Bucks picks back and that’d be incredibly attractive to the Bucks. But the likelihood of all 3 of NOLA, Milwaukee and Giannis doing that are highly unlikely This is where Houston comes in. Houston can offer a package of a cornerstone young player (Jalen or Şengün) + a multitude of different combinations of young players + picks. If y’all can name the team besides OKC who can offer something better and more feasible than us, go ahead, but I don’t see it. Another factor is IF (big if) Jalen has actually turned the corner and is turning into an all star level player, the Devin Booker possibility becomes less and less likely due to the positional redundancy. So while we were all assuming that Devin Booker was the guy to watch for our star hunting with Jalen Green as the bait, I’m starting to wonder more and more if it’s actually Giannis with Şengün as the bait… Outside of OKC, I don’t see why Houston wouldn’t have the 2nd best chance at Giannis next summer.
I mean of course, the Rockets should entertain it if any awesome player becomes available. My four guys I'd do just about anything to get if available are Luka, Jokic, Giannis, and Anthony Edwards. And I have a tier right below that Im also basically throwing the kitchen sink at and that that's Shai, Booker, Brunson, Halliburton, and Tatum (Wemby and Paolo can go here but didn't want to count guys on rookie contracts). Past those two tiers I start asking about fit, age, and contract situation before auto saying yes to anyone. I'm not sure I see any becoming available anytime soon, I think you are ahead of yourself. But of course you explore it if Giannis or one of those guys did
let’s say the Bucks are the 5th seed and lose in Round 1, what do you think Giannis does? Generally curious, bc I might be ahead of myself, but I genuinely think he’d ask out.
If Giannis is serious, he would seek out the Worriers, the Mavs, teams that have a great playmaker or shooters. It is that simple for him. The Rockets would need someone like Banchero, a playmaker and a bully inside the paint. Neither Green nor Sengün nor Jabari are bullies. The playmaking part is important, after the bullying to get all the parts involved.
Giannis can't opt out until 2027, so the Bucks won't trade him next offseason unless the other team is loaded with assets and gives them all up. It may be impossible to trade him to a team that could compete for a championship after the trade.
Why would they ever trade him though if he loves Milwaukee so much as he said...... I mean they could do the Hakeem thing and only trade him when he is 34 or 35.
Yes, he does seem to like being in Milwaukee. I think he wants to continually pressure the team to put good players around him. His "threat" to leave probably isn't much of a threat.
There is a fair chance he becomes disgruntled. But might have to wait to see what the team looks like once Middleton is back.
Milwaukee is getting players in their twilight years, it is getting closer to a tragedy. That is NBA life.
My 2 cents: Giannis is 29, has played 11 seasons and won a championship in a city that he's comfortable in. I think his ultimate goal is to sign a 5yr/$500 million max extension in 2027 with the Bucks. That is his finish line. No tragedy there.
For sure, for the athlete it is another thing than for all the fans that want him to team up with Luka etc.....two pair of shoes.
The salary cap rules now make dream teams like that much harder unless a franchise drafts both players.
If more players follow Jalen Brunson's path, there might be a maybe. Maybe at least build a team with Top 20-50 players like the Knicks and that is rare. Thru trades and all. The risk/reward that they might not win anything would still be lingering. (There will always be teams smarter than you, more talented than you.)
I've always suspected Giannis' bluster stems from a desire to put pressure on the Buck's to improve rather than a real hope to play elsewhere. I'll believe he'll be traded when he demands it.
The whole thread falls apart at the "besides OKC" bit. If we have to live in fantasy land for the discussion then it's pointless. Okc has all but made it known that they covet Giannis. That stockpile they have basically has Giannis' name on it. The only world where they are out of the Giannis conversation is if they had already spent it all on Jokic beforehand. There's no way we are ever trumping the OKC offer unless we give pretty much all of the young players.
I think the Bucks keep retooling around Giannis for the next couple years and maybe trade him if he asks for it privately in his contract year. We are a couple years away. But as someone else pointed out, our roster as currently constructed is not set up well to maximize Giannis because of our poor shooting. A lot can happen over time. have to give some credit to stone. Rather than getting 2 cents on the dollar in a Jalen trade, as long as he keeps playing well, that contract will look like a real asset and whether he stays a rocket or not, we will probably recoup good value for Jalen. That’s assuming he continues to play well.
