The Golden State Warriors are 13-12, stuck in that ugly middle where you’re too good to tank but nowhere near a title. The Milwaukee Bucks are 10-15, Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on a ridiculous 63.9% from the field, and he’s currently sidelined with a calf strain while the season teeters.
That’s the perfect recipe for wild trade talk. And Jake Fischer just poured gasoline on the fire.
On a recent livestream, NBA insider Jake Fischer laid out exactly how the Warriors view Draymond Green in any Giannis talks, and he did it in plain language.
“The only player I think in the league that Golden State would be willing to move Draymond Green for would be Giannis Antetokounmpo. That’s the only player,” Jake Fischer said.
He then connected that “Giannis or nobody” stance with the Warriors’ young assets:
“Between him and Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, all of a sudden Golden State probably does have an intriguing package if you’re Milwaukee. But I don’t think that they are going to be pushing Draymond’s salary onto the table — or Jimmy Butler’s salary — for anyone short of him.”
That lines up with what Fischer also wrote in Marc Stein’s newsletter, noting that the Warriors have been reluctant to consider all-in moves that require trading Green, but that Antetokounmpo “would change that equation for Golden State’s brass” because he’s so “dominant” and “transcendent” that he shifts the calculus for basically every front office.
So the bar is set: if Giannis truly hits the market, Green is not automatically safe. And why is that? Well, mainly because a Jonathan Kuminga + Brandin Podziemski + picks offer by itself is not touching Giannis.
Kuminga is putting up 12.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 43.8% from the field in his fourth season, with flashes of two-way starter upside but still an up-and-down role. Podziemski is at 12.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists, shooting 44.1% from the field and 39.8% from three, a legit winning-player guard who already looks like a long-term rotation piece.
Those are nice young pieces. They are not the centerpiece for a 31-year-old MVP candidate averaging 28.9, 10.1, and 6.1 on 63.9% from the field who’s under contract through 2027-28 with a $62.8 million player option.
On top of that, the Bucks are not rebuilding from zero. They’re 10-15 and in crisis, but this is still a franchise that has built around Giannis for a decade and just watched him average 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists last season.
Multiple reports have already put the New York Knicks and Miami Heat at the front of the line if Giannis really becomes available, with those teams able to dangle huge pick hauls and All-Star guys like Karl-Anthony Towns or Tyler Herro-type pieces.
If you’re the Bucks and Giannis finally says, “trade me,” you’re asking for something closer to what the Nets got for Kevin Durant or what the Jazz got for Donovan Mitchell, not just “well, Kuminga looks interesting and Podz is fun.”
That’s why the real Giannis offer from the Warriors starts here:
Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, 2029 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick, plus swaps in 2028 and 2032, most likely.
Anything less, and the Bucks hang up.
From a value standpoint, that at least makes sense: Green still matters defensively and as a playmaker, with 8.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in 28.2 minutes, even if the 38.2% from the field screams decline.
Kuminga and Podziemski give the Bucks two legit 23-and-under building blocks, and the two Warriors firsts in the late-Curry era could be sneaky gold if this goes sideways. And Golden State still has four first-round picks and multiple swaps to work with, even after the Jimmy Butler trade.
Is it equal to Giannis? Of course not. But it’s at least a starting point once you factor in market reality and the list of teams Giannis is rumored to favor.
Would The Warriors Really Do This?
This is where it gets messy, and where I honestly don’t think the answer is as automatic as “Giannis? Sure, trade anybody.”
On paper, the basketball fit is insane. A core of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Giannis Antetokounmpo might be the nastiest two-way trio in the league. You’d have: Curry bending defenses with shooting, Giannis as a downhill wrecking ball, and a back-line rim protector, plus Butler as the switchable wing stopper and late-game closer type.
In that world, Green is suddenly the expendable version of what Giannis brings: help defense, playmaking, and vocal leadership. From a cold, spreadsheet-brain perspective, he becomes the tax you pay to get a top-three player on earth.
But this isn’t just numbers. Green is Warriors’ culture. He’s the guy who calls teammates out, sets every screen, talks through every coverage, and represents the dynasty’s edge. He’s also 35, with declining efficiency, and he’s still on a big contract that becomes harder to justify every year.
Would the Warriors’ defense survive? You lose the quarterback, but you gain a 7-foot chaos engine who can guard one through five and erase mistakes at the rim.
You lose some of Green’s genius in the short-roll playmaking, but Giannis at 63.9% from the field as a roll man next to Curry is basically a cheat code.
The bigger question is emotional: can this franchise really be the one that traded Green and probably closes the curtain on the original Curry-Green-Klay Thompson identity just to squeeze two or three more years out of Curry’s prime?
Front-office-wise, they do have the guts. They already went all-in to get Butler at the last deadline, and put almost everyone except Curry on the table at various points.
Shams Charania has already reported that the Warriors will discuss Kuminga deals once he’s trade-eligible, which fits with Fischer’s note that he’s basically salary ballast for any star swing.
If Giannis actually says “I’m open to the Warriors” and the Bucks are truly listening, I think Golden State’s front office has to explore a Green-headlined package. At that point, you’re choosing between nostalgia and a realistic shot at another ring.
From the Bucks’ side, I still think this is a longshot. If Giannis pushes for the New York Knicks, the Bucks will chase the biggest Knicks-centric package they can find.
If he eyes the Heat, Miami can build a Herro-and-picks monster offer.
A Warriors deal built around a declining 35-year-old Green, two very good but not franchise-changing young guys, and late firsts might simply get outbid.
So yes, in theory, the Warriors would sacrifice Draymond Green for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Fischer flat-out said that’s the only player they’d do it for, and I believe him. In practice, the combination of Giannis’s own preferences, the rival bids out there, and the emotional weight of moving Green makes this feel more like a fascinating thought experiment than an imminent Woj bomb.
If Giannis really hits the market and actually gives the Warriors a green light, though? Then all bets are off. At that point, hanging onto Green out of sentiment instead of flipping him for a Greek monster might be the move that ends the Curry era with a whimper instead of one last banner.
