Giannis Antetokounmpo suddenly ‘opens the door’ to leave the Bucks – Warriors are waiting for a lightning opportunity!
Even after the Milwaukee Bucks took drastic measures to improve this year’s roster, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future remains surprisingly uncertain.
That’s according to what’s essentially a double-down report from ESPN’s Shams Charania , who followed up a May missive stating “Antetokounmpo is open-minded about exploring whether his best long-term fit is remaining in Milwaukee or playing elsewhere” with more of the same earlier this week.
Waiving and stretching Damian Lillard so they could afford Myles Turner in free agency was an obviously desperate win-now move by the Bucks. It was designed to refocus Antetokounmpo’s wandering eye on the only team he’s ever known.
It’d be shocking if Antetokounmpo requested a trade in August or September, especially after Milwaukee’s machinations. But that possibility is, apparently, still on the table.
Let’s take this opportunity to reassess Giannis’ potential landing spots and what it might take for another team to secure the two-time MVP’s services.
New York Knicks
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New York Knicks Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Karl-Anthony Towns, Danny Wolf, 2026 first-round swap (NYK), 2028 first-round swap (worst of NYK and BKN), 2030 first-round swap (NYK)
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Josh Hart, 2026 second-round pick (MIL via NYK), 2026 second-round pick (MIN via NYK)
Why New York does it: Towns’ inability to man the center spot defensively reduces his overall value and returns the remaining three years and $171 million left on his deal a significant overpay. Antetokounmpo won’t offer anything close to the spacing KAT can, but he’s the greatly superior player in virtually every other area.
Landing Giannis for this package—which includes every first-round swap New York can offer—would be a massive windfall. Barring a specific “Knicks or nothing” request by Antetokounmpo, it’s hard to imagine this is anything close to the best package Milwaukee could get.
Still, it’s fun to imagine Giannis giving the Knicks a defensive boost, as well as an option not named Jalen Brunson to run the offense. New York will vault over the Cleveland Cavaliers to clear front-runner status in the East with this deal.
Why Milwaukee does it: Probably because it has no other choice. New York’s swaps wouldn’t be nearly enough to justify taking on KAT, who’d be a weird fit next to Turner up front.
The Bucks didn’t stretch Lillard’s contract because they had dreams of pairing Towns and Turner to lead a roster that is otherwise bereft of shot-creation and reliable wing play.
Why Brooklyn does it: A couple of second-rounders should be enough to entice the Nets to absorb Hart’s contract. He should be flippable for more value at the deadline with three years and $63 million left on his current deal.
Brooklyn Nets
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Brooklyn Nets Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Michael Porter Jr., 2027 first-round pick (top-1 protected), 2027 first-round pick (via NYK), 2029 first-round pick (top-1 protected), 2029 first-round pick (via HOU), 2031 first-round pick (top-1 protected)
Why Brooklyn does it: The Nets have picks to burn and the need for a superstar, but sending out all this draft capital for Antetokounmpo would admittedly be a massive pivot. The most important component of a quality roster is a superstar, though, and the Nets will certainly be getting one in Giannis.
Other constructions sending out Nicolas Claxton and smaller salaries could be in play if Brooklyn prefers to keep Porter Jr.’s shooting on the floor next to Antetokounmpo, but shipping out MPJ’s two years and $79 million considerably clears the books to sign a second star next summer or make a lopsided trade for one prior to this year’s deadline.
The Nets could carefully draft and develop for a decade, and they almost definitely wouldn’t wind up with a player as good as Antetokounmpo. Trading for him would be a shortcut, but it’s probably one worth taking.
Why Milwaukee does it: Absent their own picks, which would incentivize tanking in a traditional-rebuild sense, the best way for the Bucks to set themselves up going forward is to hoard as many future firsts from other teams as possible. They get five here, and two of them are unprotected.
One imagines Brooklyn would remove top-1 protections on the other three picks (its own) going to Milwaukee if push came to shove, but why not try to guard against a worst-case outcome?
The Bucks likely would have held off on the Lillard-Turner two-step if they’d known a teardown was imminent, but this is still a pretty good outcome if a player of Giannis’ caliber surprises Milwaukee with a trade request.
Atlanta Hawks
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Atlanta Hawks Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, 2026 first-round swap (most favorable of Milwaukee’s own and New Orleans), 2027 first-round pick (least favorable of Milwaukee and New Orleans), 2030 first-round pick
Why Atlanta does it: The Hawks’ offseason maneuverings already had them knocking on the door of the East’s top four, but adding Giannis will bump them up to the highest echelon of the conference. The Cavs and Knicks have no shortage of talent, but a Hawks squad led by Trae Young, Antetokounmpo, Kristaps Porzingis, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker would have a shot against absolutely anyone.
Porzingis looms large here, as he’d be the key to creating enough space for an offense that includes both Giannis and Daniels. If healthy, he’d replicate the Brook Lopez role that makes the best Bucks teams work.
Good luck wrangling the Young-Giannis pick-and-roll with a sweet-shooting, switch-busting center spacing the floor out to the three-point line.
Why Milwaukee does it: Atlanta snares what could be the trump card in any Antetokounmpo negotiation when it secures the New Orleans Pelicans’ unprotected 2026 first-rounder. The key there: That pick will be the best of either New Orleans’ or Milwaukee’s, which would give the Bucks a reason to bottom out without Giannis.
Granted, Johnson and Risacher should both be positive contributors this coming season—with Johnson potentially sniffing an All-Star nod if he can finally stay healthy.
That the Bucks land two excellent young players along with that coveted 2026 pick isn’t a problem. It gives Milwaukee two pathways to choose from once Giannis is gone. If Johnson and Risacher team with Turner to form a playoff-bound core, great! If things go sideways, Milwaukee has the safety net of that 2026 selection.
This is easily the best package so far, and it’s one the Bucks should strongly consider if Antetokounmpo ever makes an official trade request.
San Antonio Spurs
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San Antonio Spurs Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Harrison Barnes, Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, 2027 first-round pick (via ATL), 2029 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick (most favorable of SAC or SAS)
Why San Antonio does it: Giannis and Wemby. Wemby and Giannis. What’s not to like?
If Victor Wembanyama develops into a mostly perimeter-oriented big man, there’ll be plenty of room for Antetokounmpo to rumble down the lane. The best version of that inside-out Spurs offense would be virtually unstoppable, supported by a Wemby-led defense that will perform like a top-five outfit whenever the third-year center is on the floor.
San Antonio will become an instant contender by adding Giannis to last year’s version of Wembanyama. But if Wemby continues to improve as expected, well…let’s just say the Oklahoma City Thunder’s clear path to a dynasty will have a major obstacle.
Castle is a key piece of the deal here, and it’s possible the Bucks will hold out for Dylan Harper and/or more draft capital. We’re addressing San Antonio’s side, though, and it can afford to lose last season’s Rookie of the Year with Harper in the fold and De’Aaron Fox recently inked to a four-year extension.
Why Milwaukee does it: Atlanta’s offer of Johnson and Risacher includes more intriguing young talent, but Castle and Sochan are nothing to sneeze at. Paired with the salary relief of Barnes’ expiring $19 million contract (very flippable at the deadline), Johnson’s similarly movable deal and three first-round assets, this should be enough to at least get a conversation started.
Castle could thrive as a lead guard with Turner spacing the floor, and Milwaukee would also benefit from cleaner books—especially after the Lillard stretch assured it $22 million in dead money over each of the next five seasons.
Miami Heat
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Miami Heat Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware, 2027 first-round swap, 2029 first-round swap, 2030 first-round pick, 2031 first-round swap, 2032 first-round pick
Why Miami does it: It’s hard to imagine Giannis signing up for a South Beach tenure that doesn’t involve Bam Adebayo, so part of the reason Miami green-lights this deal is because it gets to keep its perennial All-Defense center out of it.
Shot creation would be a major issue with Herro heading out the door, and Ware is a promising young big. But the Heat can figure out how to replace them—and would be happy to have that roster-building problem if it meant Antetokounmpo was in the fold.
Miami tends to keep its powder dry so it can take shots at the biggest names, trusting in a player-development system that unearthed the likes of Haywood Highsmith, Pelle Larson and former sniper Duncan Robinson to fill out the rotation.
This deal Miami to retain Norman Powell, which allows mitigates Herro’s loss a bit. If the Heat orient the offense around an on-ball version of Antetokounmpo, they should be able to get at least as much juice out of it as they did when Jimmy Butler, essentially a non-shooter, paired with Adebayo on a pair of Finals teams.
Why Milwaukee does it: Ware is the high-upside prospect a rebuilding Bucks team should covet in any Giannis deal, and he comes with two future first-rounders and three swaps. That’s a solid starting point for whatever the Bucks want to construct, even if Turner’s presence would feel odd in that scenario.
The trio of swaps might not matter much to a Bucks team that figures to be pretty bad, but at least Milwaukee can claim it got five first-round “assets” for its franchise player.
Herro is a Milwaukee native who can handle lead-guard duties, while Wiggins provides the three-and-D dimensions that’d make him a strong trade candidate later this season. Herro and Wiggins are due $33 and $30 million (player option) in 2026-27 salaries, but the Bucks could swap in Terry Rozier and his expiring $26 million figure for Wiggins if they prefer financial flexibility.
This isn’t the best deal we’ve presented for the Bucks, but it’s all Miami can do. If Antetokounmpo dictates his destination, Milwaukee will have to settle for a relatively underwhelming package—albeit one that still beats the Knicks’.