Rockets get: Giannis Antetokounmpo Bucks get: Zion Williamson, Tari Eason, 2025 first (via Phoenix), 2026 and 2027 Milwaukee swap rights extinguished, 2027 first (via Phoenix), 2028 first (via Houston), 2030 first (via Houston, top 4 protected) Pelicans get: Jalen Green, Steven Adams (via S&T), 2027 first (most favorable of Brooklyn or Houston), 2029 first (Most favorable of Houston, Dallas, or PHX), 2031 first (via Houston). Why it would work: Pelicans get upside swing from Jalen Green and can start rebuilding with two very promising (very likely) lottery picks, plus an additional Houston pick. Bucks get Zion for rebuilding and can be showcased in the weak eastern conference where the Bucks may be able to flip him for additional assets, plus a promising young player in Tari. Bucks also get four first round picks and the return of their own picks which allows them to control their own destiny. Who says no?
Cavs are not dumping mobley what the hell are you talking about, they would trade allen before mobley
This is where I stand on lottery day. If our pick lands in the top 4, I think we should keep it. I like each of the top 4 picks for various reasons. If it lands 9 - 10, I think we should package it in a major trade.
If we’re dreaming, Mobley is not who I’m dreaming about. If anything, these playoffs have shown that he’s pretty overrated IMO.
Just to help my brain figure this one out Houston In: Giannis Houston Out: Tari Eason Jalen Green Steven Adams 2025 1st (via Phx) 2027 1st (via Phx) 2027 swap options (Hou/Nets/Bucks) 2028 1st (Hou) 2029 swap options (Hou/Dallas/Phx/Bucks) 2030 1st; top 4 protected (Hou) 2031 1st (hou) Please correct me if I got any of that wrong... I don't think we can trade the 30 and 31 back to back so one of those would need to be a swap. I also am not sure about the cap implications of an Adams S&T plus I doubt Adams would want to be traded there Starting: Sengun/Giannis/Brooks/FVV/Amen Jock/Bari/??/Cam/Reed I don't think I'd do that. Here's my amended trade proposal using the foundation of yours, which has a lot of great elements to it To make it more appealing to Rockets I would swap Eason for Brooks and move Pelicans salary to Bucks to make the trade work and then re-sign Adams. The Bucks are already getting a massive load of picks plus the ability to rebuild from scratch which is super valuable in itself. No other team would be able to beat that haul of picks AND the ability to rebuild. Starting: Sengun/Giannis/Bari/FVV/Amen Adams/Tari/??/Cam/Reed We would still need to make moves to make the fit work, but that's a contender while keeping our two best prospects (assuming we don't land Cooper). The picks hurts us a lot because we become very limited on how we can make upgrades/trades. Personally, I don't know if I would do it, but it's interesting and I could change my mind. We become contenders, keep our two best prospects and can build around them once Giannis leaves his prime and they enter theirs -- essentially being contenders for a while. That is one of my main criteria for a trade so it meets it. Something just doesn't feel right to me though. There's something that is missing and I don't know what it is. I think there's just a fit issue that I struggle with. We'd definitely need to get more shooting. I know we need that now, but the difference is we have the benefit of another season or two, but when you trade for a player like Giannis, you do what you can to compete NOW. How would we do that?
You had the trade correct, also I think you're right about the back to back picks. The trade idea was something I was working on between the NBA trade machine and ChatGPT. Adams might agree to a S&T since he would be able to start over there on a three-year deal. The salaries are very tough, unfortunately. I also think Brooks would need to be routed to make the salaries work, so you're right on that. I think I'm happy with some variant of that trade, I would just want to see a shooter that we can pick up in free agency. We may be able to get Yves Missi from the Pelicans if we include Cam Whitmore. He could serve as our back-up center.
This trade would work, and I think I would prefer this as we would keep Steve Adams. I didn't know Fanspo had a trade machine that works with the 2025-2026 season. ESPN trade machine is still using 2024-2025 numbers. I don't think it changes the calculus for the Pelicans. Rockets IN: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jordan Hawkins Rockets OUT: Jalen Green, Dillon Books, Tari Eason, 2025 first (via Phoenix), 2027 first (most favorable of Brooklyn or Houston), 2027 first (via Phoenix), 2028 first (via Houston), 2029 first swap (Most favorable of Houston, Dallas, or Phoenix), 2030 swap (via Houston, top 4 protected), 2031 first Bucks IN: Zion Williamson, Tari Eason, 2025 first (via Phoenix), 2026 and 2027 Milwaukee swap rights extinguished, 2027 first (via Phoenix), 2028 first (via Houston), 2030 swap (via Houston, top 4 protected) Bucks OUT: Giannis Antetokounmpo Pelicans IN: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, 2027 first (most favorable of Brooklyn or Houston), 2029 first swap (Most favorable of Houston, Dallas, or Phoenix), 2031 first (via Houston). Pelicans OUT: Zion Williamson, Jordan Hawkins, 2026 swap (via Bucks), 2027 swap (via Bucks) Why it would work: Pelicans get upside swing from Jalen Green and can start rebuilding with one promising (very likely) lottery pick, a top-tier lottery pick swap where the Pelicans would aim to not be a lottery team in 2029, plus an additional Houston pick. Bucks get Zion for rebuilding and can be showcased in the weak eastern conference where the Bucks may be able to flip him for additional assets, plus a promising young player in Tari. Bucks also get three first round picks, two first round pick swaps, and the return of their own picks which allows them to control their own destiny. Rockets Lineup: Starting: FVV/ Best Free Agent Available or Trade Target/Amen/Giannis/Sengun Reed/Jordan Hawkins/Cam/Jabari/Adams Thoughts?
Rockets say no. That is too much for Giannis who is forcing his way out. We hold the cards, not the Bucks.
I actually don't quite understand the need to loop in a 3rd team if the Rockets are dealing for Giannis. We have the assets necessary to do a one on one deal. While Zion at his peak is a game-changer, I don't really see how any team can feasibly assess his current market value. He's too much of a wild card, and I'm just not sure the Bucks would want to take that kind of risk on their rebuild.
The Bucks will want the swap rights of their 2026 & 2027 picks. I would certainly be down for dealing with the Bucks directly for a similar trade. I've seen Spurs fans use the Pelicans in a three-team trade for the same reason, the 2026 & 2027 swaps are extremely valuable to the Bucks. I think the Bucks take Zion with the additional draft compensation. Even if he flames out, that's a very good package for them.
Ideally the Rockets try to keep additional picks for future flexibility. This is more of a final-offer type trade (if Milwaukee insists on getting their 2026 and 2027 pick swap extinguished.) What would you offer?
There's going to be a lot of competition in the Giannis market. Usually a package for a mega star includes young talent and picks. Another team's picks to the Bucks don't mean as much to them as they would for a typical team trading their star player mainly because the Bucks can't go full rebuild without their own picks. They will need to be competitive without their own picks, and the team trading for Giannis won't want to trade their best players to get Giannis because then you are in the same situation as the Bucks. Giannis won't want to go to NO and NO will want to eventually move on from Zion. As for the Rockets, we won't want to give up Sengun or Amen, so we'll likely need to get creative to keep our roster full with high level talent in any trade for Giannis. Looping in NO makes sense for any team (Rockets/OKC/Spurs/Oth) and if we don't another team likely will.
I think we could get by without adding Eason and have NO fill in the salary gap. One of the picks might need to go to NO instead of Bucks though to add incentive for the two Bucks picks. I think a Giannis trade looks closer to this than some of the stuff I've seen out there (lol @ Athletic).
Rockets don't hold the cards more than our competitors unless if Giannis specifically says he only has Rockets on his list. Until then we are only in the conversation because we have the assets to make the trade and keep talent to build around Giannis. If we aren't going to give our valuable assets then we don't hold any cards because there are teams that will give up a lot for Giannis.
Just realized we can't do both '27 picks as well since we don't have a '26 pick. Same goes for the '28 pick. We would need to get more creative with the picks.
We have a 2027 pick in this scenario still, so we would be fine with 2028. Stepien rule would not apply. We would get the second best pick between Rockets, Pelicans, and Brooklyn in 2027. Edit: Just realized that it would apply if we don't have a 2026 pick, but only because of the 2025 pick not the 2027 pick. We would have to draft someone in 2025 and then trade them to the Bucks, which would require more salary adjustment.
We roll with a 2025-2026 starting lineup: PG - Trae Young SG - Amen Thompson SF - Giannis Antetokounmpo PF - Jabari Smith C- Alperen Sengun
