It was a season from hell for the Milwaukee Bucks, and now they have no choice but to listen to a summer full of rumors and speculation regarding their franchise player, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis has yet to break his oath of loyalty to the Bucks, but his future is uncertain, and the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets are just two of several teams with a rumored interest in the 2x MVP.
“The San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets. Both of them are in the lottery…Houston might win tonight, and they have Phoenix’s pick, which is another problem,” said Brian Windhorst on Get Up. “They have a whole bunch of pieces on that roster, what if they hop into that top four? Look out there. The other one is the San Antonio Spurs. They have two picks in this lottery. Combined, it’s only a 30% chance to get into the top four, but what if one of them does? What if both of them do? All of a sudden, you’ve got San Antonio and Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and Stephon Castle sitting there as well.”
With averages of 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the NBA’s most valuable players, and he makes any team a title contender with his skills as a 6’11” superstar.
With four years and $222 million left on his contract, Giannis is committed to the Bucks until 2028, but back-to-back losses in the first round of the playoffs have caused major concerns about the trajectory of the franchise and if he loses faith in the Bucks’ ability to win, it could lead him to finally force his hand and ask for a trade.
In such a scenario, many teams would pursue Giannis, but only a few would have a realistic chance of getting him. In the West, those teams are the Spurs and Rockets, who will both be looking to make serious upgrades this summer.
Starting with the Spurs, they might be just one piece away from championship contention, and they have the assets to make a compelling offer. This past season, with Victor Wembanyama, they expected to compete in the play-in tournament, but things fell apart after Victor went down in February to deep vein thrombosis. That news came after the fall of legendary coach Gregg Popovich, who recently announced his retirement from coaching after complications from a recent stroke.
With a big three of Giannis, Wembanyama, and young point guard De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs could dominate the West and establish a new dynasty to rival the iconic trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.
The Rockets, meanwhile, are still actively competing for the title, and they are much closer to making a run than the other Texas teams. They are playing in Game 7 of the first round tonight, and adding Giannis to the fold would make them borderline unbeatable in the West with a roster including Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, and Fred VanVleet.
We still don’t know which way Giannis is leaning on his NBA future, but the Bucks will not consider trading him until he asks out. If that moment does come, it will trigger a massive bidding war across the NBA, and some teams (like the Rockets and Spurs) will have a clear advantage over the others.
