You can always count on the NBA to have some major off-court storylines to follow, even when there’s no basketball being played on the court. We’re less than a week out from the beginning of the regular season and that’s still the case, as Giannis Antetokounmpo just can’t stay out of the headlines.
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For a while now, speculations about Giannis’ future in Milwaukee has been in the air. At first it looked like he might demand a trade, but that never happened. The Bucks did everything within their power to keep him happy, from the desperate move of waiving and stretching Damian Lillard and signing Myles Turner and Cole Anthony to also signing two of Giannis’ brothers.
The Bucks seem to believe they can compete in the East this year, and for his part, Giannis seems on board; at least for now. He reiterated his commitment to the team at Bucks media day last week, but with one enormous caveat.
“The moment I step into this facility, wear this jersey, the rest does not matter,” he said. “I’m locked into whatever I have in front of me. Now if in six or seven months, I change my mind, I think that’s human, too,” Antetokounmpo had added, still keeping the suspense alive.
That statement was made after Sham Charania’s report about the Knicks and Bucks engaing in Giannis trade talks this summer had just come out. They obviously didn’t get far, but the fact that they happened at all does make Bucks fans a bit nervous.
To matters worse, the fact that Giannis has now left the door open to a possible exit, mean that many NBA teams are now figuring out if they have a shot to land this generational superstar, which is where the Warriors come in.
They have been busy trying to secure a contract extension with Kuminga over the summer. But ESPN Warriors insider Anthony Slater appeared on The Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst this morning and made an important observation.
“They poured cold water on the idea that they were some hot Giannis destination,” Slater said, “but I will also say that they were kind of pouring cold water on the Jimmy Butler idea around this time last year.”
The Warriors started off red-hot then fell back to earth before eventually trading for the disgruntled Heat star, a move that rejuvenated their season. But ‘Never say never’, as Justin Bieber once sang.
Slater said that the Warriors couldn’t hope to win a bidding war with other teams hoping to trade for Giannis, but they do have the pieces to field a competitive offer.
“Last year in the Butler trade, they only gave one first-rounder away, and they made sure it was that last draft so they weren’t entangled with the Stepien rule,” he said.
Slater also pointed out how valuable Golden State’s future picks could be, the ones that would take hold after Steph Curry eventually retires. “Their future picks are pretty appealing, ’cause it’s gonna be the post-Steph Curry era, so those could be very good picks,” he said.
“I think they could get in the mix, but my vibe from them is there’s not some strong belief or plan that this is gonna happen. Right now internally it’s about this Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Al Horford, aged foursome trying to make one or two last competitive runs here,” he noted.
The NBA is a player’s league, and more importantly, a star’s league, as Windhorst pointed out. If Giannis decides he wants to go play with Steph, history has shown that he’s going to find a way to get there. As far the Bucks are concerned, they will have to take what they can get from Golden State rather than letting him walk for free. If he wants to go to the Knicks, that’s what’s going to happen. He has the cards.
“If Giannis gets to next summer and wants to be traded with one year left on his contract, he’s going to have control,” Windy said.
Everyone around the league will be watching the Bucks to see how the Giannis situation develops. If the team starts hot and Giannis feels like they have a real shot at making some noise, then he’ll probably stick it out. If they crater early, the rumor mill will go back into overdrive.
