Giannis Antetokounmpo recently committed to staying with the Milwaukee Bucks, right after they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Miami Heat. There were plenty of rumors around Giannis but the Greek player isn’t going anywhere, at least right now. Giannis claimed he’s not requesting a trade and he’s bound to continue his stint with Milwaukee, the best team in the regular season this campaign.
However, the general idea is that Giannis doesn’t have the pieces he needs to become an NBA champion. That’s why the Greek Freak has several teams after him, trying to bring him so they all can win a championship. He’s been linked with the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors but now a powerhouse could sign their name on the list of suitors for the 26-year-old. According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Los Angeles Clippers are planning to pursue a trade for Giannis.
He is a superstar, one of the 5 best players in the league right now, so letting him go won’t be easy for the Bucks, just like it won’t be easy for a rival team to gather the pieces to unlock a trade for Antetokounmpo. The Clippers, though, are arguably the deepest team in the league, so it’s fair to say they have the pieces to persuade the Bucks to deal Giannis.
In order to make this happen, Los Angeles could send Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell (via sign-and-trade), Lou Williams, Ivica Zubac, Landry Shamet, Rodney McGruder and one draft pick.
That is a lot more than they sent for Paul George to the Thunder, but PG isn’t a 2x MVP and DPOY.
Giannis will be a free agent next season, so the Clippers need to make this happen this offseason. Otherwise, they’ll have to fight with other teams in free agency. Regardless of how they fare this postseason, they are keen to bring Giannis in and something they have in their favor is Giannis’ admiration for Doc Rivers. Perhaps the 2008 NBA champion can persuade the player to go to Los Angeles and play for the already powerful Clippers.
This is not the end of this story. As stated above, there are other teams chasing Giannis and even though the Clippers have a good package for him, it’s still a long run before anything happens.
