There was a lot of speculation around the league that if Milwaukee was going to meet co-owner Jimmy Haslam’s self-imposed deadline of wrapping up the Giannis Antetokounmpo saga by the June 23 NBA Draft, it would happen this weekend (so the parties involved were fully prepared for draft night. Will that come to pass, or will the saga drag on (maybe past the draft and into free agency)? The ball is in the Bucks’ court.
Here are the latest rumors and reports around a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.
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Bucks asking too high a price?
Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst understands the stakes: If the Bucks trade away the best player in franchise history, a two-time MVP and NBA Champion, it has to get back a haul. What comes back in this trade will define how long and painful the Bucks’ rebuild will be.
Does all that have the Bucks asking for too much? That’s what’s being reported by Jake Fischer at The Stein Line.
“The word that keeps coming back: ‘Unrealistic.’ The Bucks naturally want as much as they can if they’re parting with their Face of the Franchise, so what constitutes unrealistic? Sources say Milwaukee has been asking teams for returns that would leave any club acquiring Antetokounmpo too barren to contend for a championship.”
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Fischer used Minnesota as an example, saying it talked to Milwaukee about trade parameters at the February deadline, and when the Timberwolves revisited those talks in recent weeks, the Bucks were asking for even more.
Take a step back, and this sounds like Miami (and maybe Boston and others) trying to do a little negotiating through the press. The Bucks are rightfully pushing for as much as they can get in a trade, and the Heat and others are trying to get the best deal for themselves. Eventually, the sides will compromise and find a deal. Or they won’t.
Along those same lines, this is also why you keep hearing the names of other teams on the fringes of these talks — Minnesota and Orlando come to mind — being pushed. It’s not that those teams couldn’t seriously jump into the mix, but Milwaukee is trying to turn up the heat on a tepid trade market. Which brings us to….
Miami still the frontrunner
For all the attempts to bring other teams into the mix, Miami remains clear and away the most likely landing spot for Antetokounmpo if he is traded in the coming days. Don’t take my word for it, here is the Ringer’s Zach Lowe appearing on The Dunker’s Spot podcast (a must-listen show).
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“Miami is the frontrunner to me until I hear like concrete evidence that anyone has beaten the offer that has been sitting there for a long time. We don’t know exactly what it is. We know that I keep seeing these reports like Milwaukee doesn’t love Miami’s offer. It’s like, really? You don’t think they do? He’s still on the Bucks. Like, if they loved it, I think this would have been done by now. But I’m not even ruling out like a mystery team that that might jump in. These things can take some unpredictable turns as deadlines approach, and I think a big deadline is approaching. So, I would still brand Miami the front runner, but obviously the Bucks are waiting for more from them, whether they extract it via leverage, whether Miami just decides it we’re done we just need to get it done. Because if they liked Miami’s offer, he’d be on Miami.”
For the record, Miami’s offer is rumored to involve Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and draft capital. Miami would love to hold on to Jaquez or another player in that deal so they have more around Antetokounmpo (although the Heat are legendary for getting the most out of role players, who knows who steps up for them).
Detroit third team in trade?
Portland has long been seen as a third team involved in any Giannis Antetokounmpo trade (to Miami or elsewhere) because the Trail Blazers control some future Bucks first-rounders the rebuilding team would like back.
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However, the latest report from NBA insider Marc Stein at The Stein Line is that Detroit is a team to be watched. The Pistons’ offseason priority is to add shooting and secondary playmaking next to Cade Cunningham and Tyler Herro would provide exactly that, so Detroit would jump in as a third team, sending a young player (Ron Holland or Marcus Sasser) to Milwaukee along with draft picks for Herro, who seems a natural fit at the two in Detroit.
Consider it something to watch.
Orlando exec calls it “compliment” to be mentioned
Orlando’s pops up in Antetokounmpo trade speculation, less because there is fire there and more because it makes sense to people outside the organization: The Magic have fallen short a few times with the Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner core, why not break it up and go all in with Antetokounmpo?
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Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman was asked about all that speculation and brushed it off during his press conference introducing new head coach Sean Sweeney.
“I just think that, to me, I take it as a compliment that we have a lot of players that the league is interested in and that we could even be thrown into that conversation speaks to the talent on this roster,” Weltman said. “So, that’s my big takeaway from that.”
League sources have told NBC Sports that Orlando plans to run it back with this core and bet on Sweeney being the coach who can fit the puzzle pieces together (and hopefully have better luck with health). This feels like a make-or-break season in Orlando, where this all comes together with Banchero and Wagner (and Sweeney getting the defense back to form) or there will be hard choices to make.
But that means Orlando is waiting a year, not jumping all in for Antetokounmpo now.
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