Plan B for Every Giannis Antetokounmpo Suitor If They Can't Swing a Trade

There's no such thing as being halfway in on the pursuit of a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo. Chasing him means committing major resources, putting every other concern about the roster into the "that's tomorrow's problem" file and hoping things work out.

It still never hurts to have contingency plans.

Recent reporting from Sam Amick and Eric Nehm of The Athletic suggests the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers aren't really in the Antetokounmpo mix and don't need to firm up their backup options.

We still need to isolate the other squads that might get serious about swinging a trade for the two-time MVP and then lay out what they should do if that plan falls through.

The offseason's biggest prize is more available than ever, but only one team will get him. Everyone else should be prepared to pivot.

Miami Heat: 2027 Cap Space

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It'll be disappointing for the Heat if they miss out on Giannis, mostly because they seem to have achieved favorite landing-spot status in recent weeks. But a failure to land their first big fish since Jimmy Butler won't be fatal.

That's because Miami has kind of been operating with a contingency plan all along.

The Heat are currently ticketed for up to $81 million in 2027 cap space, a figure that assumes the only contracts on the books for 2027-28 will belong to Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jović, plus team options on Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, and a salary for this year's No. 13 pick.

This maximal deck-clearing plan would not include money for Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell or any other members of the team's current young core. Vets like Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro would also be long gone.

Miami doesn't need to cut every last dollar from its cap sheet to set itself up favorably in free agency after next season. A shrewd extension for Jaquez or Larsson, for example, should still leave more than enough room to offer a max contract.

Antetokounmpo is still the Heat's prime target, but they can also quickly rebuild with a clean slate next summer.

Golden State Warriors: Any Superstar Will Do

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Steve Kerr's return and Stephen Curry's seemingly imminent extension mean the Golden State Warriors are still mostly operating on a "today's all that matters" timeline.

Though the organization has tried to have it both ways for the last several seasons, holding onto more draft assets than you'd expect for a team built around late-30s vets, any deal for Giannis would require a fuller commitment to right now than the Dubs have been willing to make in the past.

Antetokounmpo comes with perhaps the biggest upside of any gettable star, but he also carries major health risks and fit issues. If the Warriors are willing to cough up their prized draft picks to get him, they shouldn't hesitate to do so for other aging vets.

Missing out on Giannis shouldn't mean the end of the Warriors' full-on pursuit of other stars. If Antetokounmpo winds up somewhere else, Golden State should immediately set its sights on Kawhi Leonard, free agent LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell or virtually any other expensive star who might shake loose.

It seems unlikely that the Warriors recommitted to their dynastic core solely because they think they can land Antetokounmpo. They probably just view themselves as being a superstar away from competitive relevance, and they don't need to be all that particular about which one they land.

Boston Celtics: Onyeka Okongwu

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Onyeka Okongwu isn't a better overall player than Giannis, but he's arguably the better fit and much more in line with the type of talent we've seen have great success with the Boston Celtics.

The 2024 championship team and most of the Celtics' best recent rosters featured centers who could stretch defenses with their shooting. If Boston sticks to its preferences, it would still need this kind of player even if it landed Giannis.

Okongwu shot 37.6 percent from deep on a career-high 5.2 attempts per game last season, continuing a multi-year evolution into exactly the kind of big man the Celtics' typically covet. It's not hard to imagine Okongwu slotting perfectly into the role once held by Al Horford or Kristaps Porzingis.

Considering how much less it would cost to acquire him than Antetokounmpo, there's probably a case to be made that the 25-year-old Atlanta Hawks center should sit ahead of the two-time MVP on Boston's offseason target list.

Orlando Magic: Let It Ride

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New Orlando Magic head coach Sean Sweeney has ties to lots of superstars, having coached Luka Dončić in Dallas and Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio.

The four-plus years he spent with Giannis in Milwaukee are on everyone's mind now, even if it feels a little silly to view him as some college coach whose previous commits will follow him to a new school.

Maybe Sweeney's presence will open up a shot at Antetokounmpo that didn't exist with Jamahl Mosley at the helm, and maybe it won't.

If the Magic don't have an in with Giannis, that's fine. They made their big change by swapping Sweeney in for Mosley and would be justified in making no other major moves.

The whole idea here is to see if the team's gummed-up offense is the result of the personnel or the coach charged with organizing it. Sweeney is the new variable in the experiment, and Orlando should have its answer after the 2026-27 season.

The Magic should run it back, perhaps targeting one more shooter with its limited flexibility, and find out definitively if a roster built around Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner can score enough to make serious playoff noise.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Explore a Jarrett Allen Trade

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The process of elimination is not a friend to Jarrett Allen, who'll become the most obvious potential mover if the Cleveland Cavaliers don't land Antetokounmpo in a blockbuster.

As a threshold issue, there's a real debate to be had about the wisdom of trading Evan Mobley for Giannis. The Cavs' young star would almost certainly have to be in any deal with Milwaukee, but his youth and theoretically continuing upward trajectory could easily make him more valuable than Antetokounmpo over the next few seasons.

If that logic keeps Cleveland from making the biggest possible move, and if we assume neither Donovan Mitchell nor James Harden is on the block, Allen will be the guy to go.

Cleveland can't simultaneously believe Mobley is destined to be the team's best player and defensive anchor while also failing to trust him as a full-time starting center.

In that sense, an Allen trade would just be an acknowledgment that it's time for Mobley to take on the largest role of his career—one that would also bring back more size and two-way viability on the wing.

It remains to be seen whether Allen, on his new $90 million extension, will generate enough interest to bring back a real return. The only certainty is that the Cavaliers will shop him if they don't land Giannis and still want to make a meaningful change.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.