The NBA trade deadline is always unpredictable. Sometimes, not much happens outside of a few teams adding a bench player or two. Sometimes, a nuclear bomb of a trade happens, like last year when the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis.
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It’ll take a lot for this year’s deadline to match the fireworks we saw last year, but it’s at least off to a good start now that Trae Young has been traded to the Wizards. Trae is a big name, though that deal didn’t hit nearly as hard as Luka’s because a) it wasn’t a surprise that the Hawks were looking to get out of the Trae business, and b) it’s difficult to get too excited about a trade that the Wizards are involved in.
Some other big names could be on the move in the coming weeks. Among the possibilities are Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Michael Porter Jr. Any of those would be big news, but nothing could come close to matching the impact of a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.
Both Giannis and the Bucks have repeatedly said that a trade isn’t happening, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning. On this morning’s episode of The Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps explained why.
Windhorst said that the biggest story in the league is whether or not Giannis will be traded. “I know what Giannis has said, and I know what Doc Rivers and the Bucks have said. I’m not calling them liars,” Windy said. “I am just saying, if you’re asking me what the biggest question in the league is, as I talk to teams, that’s what they’re saying.”
Bontemps interjected to say that the reason Giannis is the biggest story is that nobody else of his stature could even possibly be on the move. “That’s the thing,” he said. “The reason the Giannis talk is putting the league on hold, is ’cause there’s nothing else to do.”
“Anthony Davis would have potentially been a guy some of these teams would have looked at. Now Anthony Davis is hurt, right? Nobody is interested in Ja Morant, really … If you’re one of these teams saying, ‘Hey, we can push our chips in and do something, well we might as well wait and see if Giannis becomes available.'”
Everyone involved has said the right things about Giannis staying with the Bucks, but there have been reports that the Bucks and Knicks have had conversations about a trade, and Milwaukee has continued to slip further outside the playoffs picture in recent weeks. They’re currently just 17-24, good for 11th in the East, and they’ve lost their last three games by a combined 55 points.
There’s also the matter of the home fans booing the Bucks, and Giannis booing them right back, during Tuesday’s 33-point shellacking at the hands of the Timberwolves. Minnesota didn’t even have Anthony Edwards or Rudy Gobert for that game, and they still annihilated the Bucks.
The NBA can often be like dominoes. Once one domino falls, many others follow. Giannis is that big one that the league is waiting on, and until we get to the February 5th trade deadline, teams that believe they have a shot at the two-time MVP will be waiting patiently.
Of course, if Giannis isn’t dealt, then we’ll just do this all over again in the summer, especially if the Bucks miss the playoffs or flame out early, both of which seem to be by far the most likely scenarios.
