NBA Trade Idea To Send Giannis Antetokounmpo To a Dark-Horse Suitor
The NBA's trade deadline buzzer will sound at 3 p.m. ET.
That hopefully leaves just enough time for someone to cast the winning bid in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.
While most signals point toward the Milwaukee Bucks not doing a Giannis-based megadeal by the deadline—or maybe never doing one if they can somehow strengthen their roster this summer—that shouldn't be construed as an absolute truth. This league loves throwing curveballs, and an Antetokounmpo blockbuster would hardly come out of left field.
Expect the Portland Trail Blazers to be among the clubs keeping the closest tabs on this situation. They've indicated they "would love to trade for Antetokounmpo directly," per The Stein Line's Marc Stein, and they might have the trade artillery to make it happen. Portland, remember, controls Milwaukee's first-round picks from 2028 through 2030.
The hang-up here is that "Antetokounmpo's camp has continued to signal no interest in a contract extension with the Blazers," per Stein, but the Blazers might have reasons to believe they could win him over. Like having Damian Lillard handling recruiting duties, or Portland's maturing roster, headlined by first-time All-Star Deni Avdija, starting to pop.
The Blazers aren't the most obvious winners of the Giannis sweepstakes, but they have a pretty obvious way of making it happen.
Full Trade Scenario
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Portland Trail Blazers receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Jericho Sims
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Jerami Grant, Scoot Henderson, Yang Hansen, Matisse Thybulle, 2028 first-round pick (more favorable of MIL and POR), 2029 first-round pick (most favorable of BOS, MIL and POR), 2031 first-round pick
Why the Portland Trail Blazers Do It
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The Blazers have tried butting into the Antetokounmpo market for a reason. Their post-Lillard rebuilding efforts were rewarded with a number of young, ascending talents, but it might take adding an established elite to really crack the contending ranks.
And, no, the post-Achilles version of Lillard who will turn 36 before next season tips won't qualify. He could, however, be an all-caps AWESOME third star next to Antetokounmpo and Avdija.
Even in the fully loaded West, that's a potentially top-shelf trio. And maybe once Lillard is ready to return, Shaedon Sharpe will be that much closer to his own star-launch. Throw an intimidating interior anchor like Donovan Clingan behind that quartet, and perhaps you've just built basketball's next two-way power.
And that's without accounting for all of the crack-filling support provided by Jrue Holiday, Toumani Camara, Robert Williams III and the rest of the role players. You don't have to squint hard to see really high-end outcomes in front of this club.
While the Antetokounmpo-Lillard combo never quite fully clicked in Milwaukee, the connection still looks snug-fitting on paper. They can create gravitational forces around both the arc and the basket, benefitting the other even when they aren't in direct two-man actions. Advijda's efficiency, meanwhile, should soar with legitimate star power around him.
As for the rest of the package, Sims could provide emergency-center protection behind Clingan and Williams, while Thanasis would help his little brother get comfortable in his first NBA home outside of Milwaukee.
The sales pitch for Portland, though, is simple: It's Giannis bleepin' Antetokounmpo, a true superstar talent who can look like both the unstoppable force and the immovable object. If the Blazers want to crash the championship party this season or next, this is their ticket in. And that reward is rich enough to risk Antetokounmpo maybe not wanting to stick in the Pacific Northwest long-term.
Why the Milwaukee Bucks Do It
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If the Antetokounmpo trade talks are, in fact, entering the final stages, then the Bucks are basically approaching the big drop on a log fume ride. A total bottoming-out becomes both unavoidable and necessary, with Milwaukee liquidating any and all remaining veterans while scrambling for assets to eventually build things back up.
That's what has to make Portland a strongly preferred trade partner for Milwaukee. Because unless the Bucks can bring back some of the picks they sent away in an attempt to appease Antetokounmpo, then they'll never reap the draft-lottery rewards of that race to the bottom.
Milwaukee would have to wait for the assistance of these assets, but it could lock in on a results-don't-matter type of youth movement to pass the time.
Maybe Ryan Rollins has another big spike in him. Perhaps getting out of Portland helps Henderson get things on track. A pressure-free environment that encourages outside-the-box experimenting could be exactly what Hansen needs to find his footing and return to those summer-league flashes of becoming basketball's next super-sized offensive hub.
The picks are clearly the franchise's focus in this trade, but there are plenty of secondary prizes, too. If Milwaukee swings a deal early enough in the day, maybe it can reroute Thybulle to a defense-needy suitor for an additional asset. The Bucks should also get busy on shopping Grant around to all the big-wing suitors, though they could wait on the right return if they had to.
It's just all about starting over, which would clearly be the next step after an Antetokounmpo trade. This specific deal should make the organizational reset a bit easier to navigate.
