For all the trade and free agency rumors flying around, this simple truth remains: Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first domino that has to fall. Before LeBron James chooses to stay or go in Los Angeles, before Ja Morant finds a new home, before any other major moves, Antetokounmpo will have to be traded (or, not traded, if you’re still a Bucks fan holding out hope… and good luck to you if you are).
Where do things stand with Antetokounmpo? Here are the latest reports.
As anyone who read NBC Sports’ trade rumor roundup from Friday — or, better yet, reads Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who was on this long ago — already knew this, but because Jake Fischer wrote it at the Stein Line, it’s everywhere again today:
Oklahoma City is not interested in an Antetokounmpo trade. Not for Chet Holmgren, not for anyone.
As much as fans looked at Holmgren against Victor Wembanyama and thought the Thunder needed to do something dramatic, that’s a short-sighted and outsider’s view. Antetokounmpo is seven years older than Holmgren, hasn’t been able to stay healthy long enough for a playoff run in years, and would be even more expensive than Holmgren on a team about to get hit hard by the tax aprons. Plus, you think the Thunder want to take the ball out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands?
OKC believes — I would argue rightfully — that if Jalen Williams (All-NBA a season before) and/or Ajay Mitchell had been healthy, they would be playing the Knicks in the Finals right now. The Thunder have decisions to make about Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams this summer, but Antetokounmpo is not part of the plans.
Giannis concerned about Miami roster
Miami is the frontrunner to land Antetokounmpo, but kind of by default. OKC is out. Cleveland is not interested. The Knicks are two wins from an NBA championship, they are not blowing up this roster. While people speculate about a Jaylen Brown trade to bring Antetokounmpo to Boston, there’s no evidence that there is any fire there.
But Antetokounmpo has his concerns about Miami and what the roster would look like after a trade, something Sam Amick of The Athletic talked about on the Dan Patrick Show.
“The noise is tied to Miami, but there’s also some intel, discussion, kind of understanding, that Giannis has questions about what that Miami roster would look like on the other side of a deal. You don’t want to gut your roster and go to the place you’re excited to be in and then have a hard time contending for a championship.”
A Heat trade for Antetokounmpo likely involves a combination of Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and multiple first-round draft picks. That would leave Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, and maybe Norman Powell if they can re-sign him. Is that roster any kind of a threat to New York, Boston, a healthy Indiana, or even Cleveland?
The problem is, if Antetokounmpo wants out of Milwaukee, he may have to trust Pat Riley and the Miami front office to build out a contender — and that’s not a bad bet, it’s one of the best front offices in the league. But it’s not walking into a contender on Day 1.
Antetokounmpo’s problem is that what he really wants may not be available.
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