According to ESPN, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are in discussions about what the future holds between them.
The Bucks are 9-13 and do not look like aspiring championship contenders whatsoever, which would seem fairly obvious given how the franchise has spent years making decisions that haven’t strengthened the roster.
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Antetokounmpo, who turns 31 in three days, is having another elite season, posting 30.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.4 assists, while converting on 63.9% of his shot attempts.
Needless to say, multiple franchises should have interest in acquiring the former Finals MVP. The question is: Who are the viable candidates?
Before we list teams, a quick preface: While the Bucks could trade Antetokounmpo ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, more options should be available to them if they wait until the offseason, when teams can make trades that include multiple players for a single contract.
Now let’s get down to business.
New York Knicks
Let’s get this one out of the way early. Antetokounmpo is believed to have interest in the Knicks, one of the league’s most marketable teams.
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Making any type of trade would almost assuredly have to start with the contract of Karl-Anthony Towns, who is the sole player approximating the contractual value of Antetokounmpo.
Towns, who’s earning $53.1 million this season, is earning one million less than Antetokounmpo, meaning the Knicks will have to add contracts to make the numbers work because they’re over the first apron and can’t take on a single dollar more than they send out.
In terms of the value, however, the Knicks will find themselves in a difficult position. They don’t own a plethora of draft picks, nor do they have a lot of young players.
If anything, the Knicks are made up primarily of in-their-prime players, which doesn’t align with the inevitable rebuilding process the Bucks would initiate after trading their franchise star.
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Ultimately, stars tend to force their way to where they want to go, and if Antetokounmpo wants the Knicks, it’s a destination that can’t be ruled out.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Making the numbers work will be a bit of a hassle, but given that the Thunder are below the first apron, they are allowed to take more money back in a trade than they send out.
Furthermore, the value alignment in this trade would be fairly straightforward, as the Thunder can send Milwaukee multiple attractive picks, including this year’s selection via the Los Angeles Clippers.
It’s easy to argue Oklahoma City isn’t in any rush to make upgrades, given it’s the defending champion and 20-1 on the season.
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However, they have to at least discuss the possibility because it’s Antetokounmpo. And that doesn’t mean one or two internal meetings, but numerous ones to officially gauge whether to use the contract of Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 million) as the main outgoing salary component.
The Thunder will be an apron team soon enough, so this could be their one shot at Antetokounmpo before their roster flat out gets too expensive.
San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs remain the most attractive destination, as they can make the salary matching components work — especially by using the contract of De’Aaron Fox — and sending out a package from their bounty of picks and young players.
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San Antonio can also offer expiring contracts in the form of Harrison Barnes and Kelly Olynyk, assisting Milwaukee in shaving money off the cap next summer and providing the Bucks with more financial flexibility to make additional moves in the summer.
(Alternatively, if the Bucks go into a full-on rebuild, they can expand a deal into a three-team trade and shop the two expirings for longer-term contracts, with expensive teams compensating them with draft capital for taking on future money.)
Essentially, the Spurs can offer a healthy mixture of everything, and like with Oklahoma City and New York, they’re able to offer Antetokounmpo a winning program to chase a second title.
The allure of French phenom Victor Wembanyama is also certainly going to work in San Antonio’s favor.
Wherever Antetokounmpo ends up landing, it’s going to take a significant package to get him — and rightfully so.
