It’s probably not right to call the ongoing Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors the gift that keeps on giving, even though it’s a story that just won’t seem to go away. Maybe if there comes a day when Giannis leaves Milwaukee or signs his name in blood to remain a Buck for life, then we can speak about this in more positive terms.
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As things stand, it has just been a nothingburger that NBA fans have had to nibble on for almost a year now. The latest twist in the Giannis saga came last week, when he was diagnosed with a strained calf. That injury and its timeline of four-to-six weeks all but relegate them to the outside in terms of chances to make the playoffs.
At 18-26, that’s where they are now. Besides, they’ve been markedly worse when Giannis isn’t on the court. Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective the other day that effectively, Giannis is the trade deadline. So, until there’s some resolution on the Greek Freak’s situation, the league is basically at a standstill.
This new injury complicates matters, especially since the deadline is less than two weeks away. And Giannis was one of the main topics of conversation on the most recent episode of the No Fouls Given podcast. And host Wosny Lambre spoke for most NBA fans when he said, “This will be the most exhausting superstar trade that has ever existed.”
However, his cohost, Danny Green, tried to give the situation a little bit of perspective. “I’ve seen some worse ones, man,” he said. “I’ve been a part of some worse ones!”
As someone who played for six teams over his 15-year career, it’s difficult to argue with Green’s firsthand knowledge. He then went down the list.
“Ben Simmons in Philly, James Harden in Philly, I was with Kawhi in San Antonio,” Green rattled off. “Those took some time. Those took some time. So we’ll see how long this one takes.”
Kawhi’s trade from the Spurs was a long time in the making. And in the end, Green was packaged with him to Toronto, where they went on to win a title together.
Green was on the Sixers when Simmons infamously passed up an open layup in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hawks. That moment pretty much marked the beginning of the end of his career.
Even as Simmons proved to be a constant distraction, it took Philly over eight months to trade him to the Nets. The honeymoon period of that deal didn’t even last long, as Harden also ended up souring his relationship with the organization. He even went so far as to call general manager Daryl Morey a liar during an event in China.
Long story short, Green was witness to some weird things during his time in the league. So this Giannis situation would be just another day at the office for him.
“This one, hopefully it doesn’t go that route,” Green said, “but I know what it’s like to be a teammate in that locker room, where you have to answer questions for that person, day in and day out.”
Since Giannis won’t be playing for at least a month, he doesn’t need to make himself available to the media. And teams probably won’t try to give up the farm for a guy who may not be able to help them this year. It’s probably going to be the summer, at minimum, before this gets resolved.
