NBA Teams That Could Make Surprise Trade Push for Giannis Antetokounmpo
As the basketball world awaits Giannis Antetokounmpo’s decision, speculation about his next team, if he demands a trade, centers on the usual suspects.
Will the Houston Rockets try consolidating their treasure trove of picks and prospects and movable salary into the two-time MVP? Can the Golden State Warriors figure out a way to enter the mix? Should the Dallas Mavericks consider dangling the No. 1 pick in a trade for Antetokounmpo? Can the San Antonio Spurs bag him with an offer built around the No. 2 selection? Something, something, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, something, something.
Please excuse me while I go yawn. Having the same conversations over and over is exhausting.
Sure, the most popular destinations must be run through, because that's how this stuff works. But this is Giannis Antetokounmpo we're talking about. Surprise suitors will emerge from the woodwork if he becomes available.
Marc Stein of The Stein Line confirmed as much in his most recent rumor round-up, writing that teams "are quietly lining up to make trade pitches for the 30-year-old if he becomes available...without waiting to see if they land on the widely anticipated list of preferred destinations that Antetokounmpo would be expected to furnish if he indeed reaches that point."
Which dark horses could feasibly emerge if and when Giannis goes from a hypothetical trade candidate to genuinely gettable? Let’s find out.
Detroit Pistons
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Slow-playing things after winning 44 games and nearly upending the Knicks in the first round of the postseason is both the safe and smart call by the Detroit Pistons.
Going after Giannis Antetokounmpo is way cooler, though.
Slotting him alongside Cade Cunningham creates the ideal one-two punch. Between those two, the Pistons have their defensive anchor, first and second offensive scoring options and No. 1 and No. 2 playmakers. Surround them with enough shooting and the right kind of center, and you're looking at a prospective juggernaut–not just in the Eastern Conference, but overall. (Note: Isaiah Stewart might be the right kind of center.)
Detroit has the goodies to travel down this path if it pleases. Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland II and Jalen Duren give team president Trajan Langdon plenty of youngsters to include, and the Pistons control all of their own first-rounders after this year.
Their best offer is further boosted by the total and complete absence of bad money they would send to Milwaukee. Every contract on their books is either cheap or short term.
Extension eligibility for Ivey and Duren could complicate their value in trade negotiations, but that's not an insurmountable obstacle. The Pistons can boost their offer even further if they find a way to get back the Bucks' own future first-round rights. New Orleans (2026, 2027) and Portland (2028, 2029, 2030) control Milwaukee's draft through the start of the next decade via swap rights.
Memphis Grizzlies
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If the Bucks wind up moving Giannis without recapturing any of their own draft picks back, they will almost assuredly be targeting packages with potential centerpieces around whom they can build moving forward. The Memphis Grizzlies have at least two of those player-types to dangle.
Constructing a package around Jaren Jackson Jr. or Ja Morant has to at least get the Bucks' attention. Having Damian Lillard could dissuade Milwaukee from looking at Morant. Then again, if the former doesn't play next season following his Achilles injury, he will be a 36-year-old on an expiring contract upon his return in 2026-27. You don't plan your future around his.
From there, Memphis' proposal can be burnished with a bunch of firsts—the team has all of its own after this year—and some combination of younger players like Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells, Cam Spencer and GG Jackson II. The Grizzlies have the additional salaries to make the rest of the math work.
Pairing Giannis with Desmond Bane and then either Jackson or Morant would be hellacious. The JJJ-Antetokounmpo frontline seems more intriguing overall, even after losing Morant's table-setting, but Bane, Scottie Pippen Jr. and Giannis deliver just enough combined playmaking. Memphis instantly becomes a choice destination for middle-of-the-rotation free agents, which could help land another floor general-type.
Not that you can go wrong with an Antetokounmpo-Morant baseline. The spacing would be spotty, but the transition offense would be define. Regardless of the centerpiece included, the end result is the Grizzlies becoming a more tenacious threat in the Western Conference.
Philadelphia 76ers
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Any Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit for the Philadelphia 76ers begins with forking over the No. 3 pick—and a whole lot more.
This runs counter to Marc Stein's latest intel over at The Stein Line. As he writes: "If there is a trade in Philadelphia's future involving the No. 3 pick in the draft, don't expect the 76ers to move down very far on the 2025 draft board. League sources maintain that the Sixers are determined to add a dynamic young talent to their core after the tremendous fortune they enjoyed in the May 12 draft lottery."
Fair enough. But Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is nothing if not ultra-aggressive. The Bucks settling for offers that don't include their own first-rounders will add more sheen to Philly's No. 3 selection, which could turn into Milwaukee's face of the future.
Fleshing out the rest of the package is complex. The Sixers can trade up to four first-rounders this summer, including No. 3. All of them must be on the table. That goes for Jared McCain, too. Ditto for a possible Quentin Grimes sign-and-trade.
That still leaves the issue of a primary salary-matching anchor. It can't be Tyrese Maxey. That would defeat the purpose of going after Giannis. The contracts of Joel Embiid (four years, $248.1 million) and Paul George (three years, $162.4 million) shouldn't hold much interest to a Bucks squad focused on the future. But the Sixers will need to rope in third (and fourth) (and maybe fifth) teams anyway. Others may be willing to take a flier on them while sending out...something.
Personally, if I'm the Bucks and Giannis is asking to leave, I wouldn't rule out an Embiid dice roll myself. You're acquiring him at his nadir. If his left knee holds up, you suddenly have an MVP candidate to go along with the No. 3 pick, McCain and other first-rounders. If he continues to battle injuries, well, you don't control your own firsts again (as of now) until 2031 anyway. Having him on your books wouldn't be ideal, but it's far from catastrophic.
Portland Trail Blazers
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There is fast-tracking your rebuild, there's hitting the warp-speed button, there's six galaxies' worth of abyss, and then there's the Portland Trail Blazers aggressively going after Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Offering the kitchen sink for a 30-year-old superstar is the most nuclear option imaginable. And, well, I'm kind of here for it.
The Blazers currently exist in this weird space, not good enough to be within arm's length of contention, nowhere near ethically bad enough to guarantee they do more than draft at the back end of the lottery moving forward. Giannis comes in and immediately gives them a guiding light. The already-stingy defense gets even more terrifying, and while the floor-spacing doesn't improve, they'd have the go-to No. 1 option they so desperately need.
Portland has plenty of young players and matching salaries to offer. You don't entirely gut the core. You want some combination of Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingan, Toumani Camara and Scoot Henderson left over. You don't make any single player off limits, either.
Draft compensation gets a little weird, because the Blazers owe a lottery-protected pick to Chicago that stretches through 2028. But they also have a potential edge over the competition: the ability to offer Milwaukee control over its own first-rounders in 2028, 2029 and 2030.
Toronto Raptors
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Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri has had eyes on Giannis Antetokounmpo for a while. He is also no stranger to making bold, against-the-grain moves.
See where I'm going with this?
The Raptors have the No. 9 pick this June as well as all of their own first-rounders moving forward to begin assembling a package. They also have a handful of mid-end prospect-types—Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, etc.—to use as sweeteners. Their cap sheet is filled with conveniently sized matching salaries to boot.
One colossal question remains: Would Toronto put Scottie Barnes, who begins his five-year max extension next season, in play?
If the answer is no, the Raptors would need to get ultra-creative just to have a chance. Maybe they could get New Orleans and Portland, which control Milwaukee's firsts through 2030, to send them as many of the Bucks swaps as possible as an end around.
Failing that, any deal has to be structured around Barnes and No. 9, plus other stuff. And if the Raptors are willing to go that far, they could loom as the most dangerous dark horse of all.
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
