According to Shams Charania, ESPN’s NBA insider, the Greek superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to leave the Bucks, whether it is before the February 5 trade deadline or in the summer.
“Giannis Antetokounmpo has been ready and is prepared for an exit from Milwaukee, whether it’s on the trade deadline or the offseason. I’m told the Bucks are engaged with rival teams and making counteroffers to the proposals,” said Charania on SportsCenter tonight.
“But the question is, will the Bucks move Giannis? That is the biggest domino that this league has right now. The Bucks are sifting through proposals specifically from the Heat, Wolves, Knicks, and Warriors.”
“Throughout this time, the Bucks have maintained that they want a blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks. My understanding is that the Warriors have made a pick-centric offer, the Wolves have made a player-centric offer, and Miami is somewhere in the middle, between players and picks.”
“So the Bucks are going to have to choose: do we take one of these offers, do we continue to negotiate, or can there potentially be more in the offseason? But the biggest conflict is also with where the Bucks’ season is at.”
“They’re 11 games under .500, they’ve plummeted outside of probably any real play-in contention, and you probably have to play for your draft pick. And Giannis wants to play when he’s back from his calf injury; he wants to compete for a second championship.”
“And so will there be more offers, will there be potential risk or reward, potentially hurting your draft pick, and in the offseason, when Giannis has one year left on his deal. The Bucks are going to cede a lot of control to him, depending on where he wants to play. So the Bucks’ front office has a lot to sift through before the trade deadline,” concluded Charania.
The Warriors were initially reported as favorites in the race due to the number of valuable draft picks they could offer. But the Heat have reportedly impressed a few people in the Bucks’ front office with their reported offer for Antetokounmpo, according to Ethan J. Skolnik of ‘5 Reasons Sports.’
Meanwhile, according to Brett Siegel, the NBA insider with ClutchPoints, the Warriors’ front office is assuming a lack of refusal of their offer as a good sign from the Bucks, but they don’t expect a concrete answer more than 24 hours away from the trade deadline.
“To this point, the Bucks have not declined the Warriors’ offer, sources said. Horst and Milwaukee’s front office were fascinated with the idea of acquiring all of Golden State’s future assets, but they are also taking their time with coming to a decision, which is not expected to happen until sometime within the 24-hour mark until the trade deadline,” wrote Siegel in his latest intel report.
According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Timberwolves will require help from a third or fourth team to make a compelling offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Knicks have exited the race for Antetokounmpo following a six-game win streak with the current roster.
Therefore, the Heat might just edge past the Warriors in this race, as the Timberwolves and the Knicks seem to be lacking the facilities to make a compelling offer alone. It was also reported that Antetokounmpo is fascinated by the idea of playing with Bam Adebayo.
Before being sidelined for multiple weeks, Giannis Antetokounmpo was averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in the 30 games he played this season. He has shot 64.5% from the field and 39.5% from beyond the three-point line.
It will be a league-altering trade deadline day if Antetokounmo ends up taking his talents to South Beach.
