It was a busy Sunday in the NBA, with the season officially wrapping up with somewhat of a whimper. What promised to be a thrilling game seven between the Pacers and the Thunder got sidetracked after star Pacers guard Tyrese Halliburton tore his Achilles in the first quarter, essentially ending any hope they had of pulling off a road upset against the heavy favorite Thunder. It was still a great moment for Oklahoma City and their lone pro team (Sorry, OKC Energy FC, I don’t do soccer, as you can tell by my calling it “soccer”) as the Thunder capped off a brilliant season and one that could be the start of a legitimate dynasty.
With all that going on, it’s easy to forget the other big headline of the day… no, not the war, the other big headline: Kevin Durant was traded! Which is a series of four words that probably doesn’t deserve an exclamation point, considering this is now the third time in his career that he’s been traded and this will be his fifth team of his career (6th if you count the Super Sonics and Thunder as different teams). Durant is not a stranger to the trade block. It’s been understood over the past decade or so what his trade market looks like: We usually see one or two promising young guys that could become a second or third best player on a team (Jalen Green, D’Angelo Russell, and Cam Johnson) an established veteran starter (Mikal Bridges, Dillon Brooks, and Jae Crowder) and a boat load of draft picks.
As uniform and frankly underwhelming as Durant’s trade value is, that’s not the case for every NBA star. Some guys, like the guy we’re going to discuss today, have unpredictable and potentially unlimited value in the trade market, given his spot as a top-five player in the league and his seven straight NBA all-first team selections since 2018. I am, of course, talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak, as he’s known to most.
Giannis is only 30 years old and is still a dominant athlete with loads of talent on both ends of the court and freaky size, speed, and strength measurements that give him a natural edge against opponents. He is extremely valuable, and he could potentially be on the move this offseason with the Bucks in a weird spot roster-wise with an injured Damian Lillard and a number of free agents exiting. The Bucks could look to hit the restart button and try to supercharge a rebuild with a huge trade package for Giannis, but the question is what a trade package for Giannis would even look like, and what teams would have the assets necessary to pull it off.
Here are some of the potential options that make the most sense as trade packages for Giannis. I cooked up these trade projections using the Spotrac NBA Trade Machine.
Trade 1: Spurs get a freakish frontcourt, and the Bucks build a foundation
Bucks receive:
- Devin Vassell, SG/SF, 27M
- Stephon Castle, PG/SG, 9.6M
- Jeremy Sochan, PF, 7.1M
- 2025 1st round pick (#2)
- 2027 1st round pick (ATL)
- 2029 1st round pick
Spurs receive:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, 54.1M
Summary: Imagine the Spurs running out onto the court with Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo as their Center and Power forward, respectively. That would be insane, the length alone should frighten any opposing team, but also factor in the skill sets of these two freaks of nature (I say that as a compliment) and you’ve got the best frontcourt in the league, a superlative that the Spurs are used to (remember the David Robinson and Tim Duncan duo). You add De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson, and whoever they take with the 14th pick in the draft, and use their cap exceptions on, and you start to see the beginnings of a contender as early as next year.
On the Bucks’ side of the ledger, you have essentially a full reset, or at least the option for a full reset. They’ll likely have to keep Lillard and Kuzma for this season, but could do away with their contracts after the year, freeing up a ton of cap space for next season’s free agency. In the short term, outside of those two guys, the Bucks would have a starting lineup that consists of likely second overall pick Dylan Harper at point, Castle at two, Vassell at the three, Sochan at PF, and Brook Lopez at center. The Bucks would also have two additional first-round picks over the next four years (these picks, like all the other picks I’ll discuss, will be unprotected).
Trade 2: Pistons become the favorite in the East at a heavy cost
Bucks receive:
- Tobias Harris, PF, 26.6M
- Isaiah Stewart, C, 15M
- Jaden Ivey, SG, 10.1M
- Ausar Thompson, SF, 8.8 M
- 2026, 2029, and 2031 1st round pick
Pistons receive:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, 54.1M
- Pat Connaughton, SG, 9.4M
Summary: With Halliburton likely out for the year next season for the Pacers, the Cavaliers facing potential free agency departures, the Celtics dealing with massive salary cap woes, and the Knicks having to rely on a brand new coach, the East is completely wide open for taking. This newly created opening at the top of the conference could convince a mid-level team like the Pistons to make a big splash and seize on the opportunity.
The Pistons won 44 games last year and earned the sixth seed in the conference before losing in round one in the playoffs to the Knicks in six. The Pistons benefit from having a lot of young talent on a deep roster that can afford to lose a few role players without losing much effectiveness. In my trade prediction, the Pistons decide to send four players and three picks to the Bucks for Giannis and Pat Connaughton (to make the money work). Among the players are Tobias Harris, who could pair up with Lillard and Kuzma in the short term to try and get the Bucks into the playoffs this season as a talented veteran trio.
Besides Harris, who likely won’t be in the long-term plans for the Bucks moving forward, the team is also getting 23-year-old offensive dynamo Jaden Ivey, defensive stud Ausar Thompson, and undersized but effective center Isaiah Stewart. This trade gives the Bucks some building blocks (as well as three first-round picks) to work with moving forward while converting the Pistons from a team that was a few years out into a win-now club with the Greek Freak, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Malik Beasley as their big four.
Trade 3: The Hornets become the favorite in the East at a heavy cost
Bucks receive:
- Miles Bridges, SF, 25M
- Tre Mann, PG, 14.7M
- Josh Okogie, SG, 7.8M
- Mark Williams, C, 6.3M
- 2025 1st round pick (#4)
- 2029 and 2031 1st round picks
Hornets receive:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, 54.1M
Summary: I might be crazy, but I genuinely think that the Charlotte Hornets are close to being a legitimate threat in the West. With Miller and Ball at the helm, anything is possible, and I do mean anything! These two could bring the city a championship, or they could burn the whole place to the ground, one or the other. If the Hornets can add a veteran with a championship and MVP pedigree like Antetokounmpo, who can come in and set the tone and culture for the team, they could potentially come out of nowhere to become the top dogs of the East.
In return, the Bucks would get a solid, but not spectacular, return of assets, including Miles Bridges and Mark Williams, who could probably slot in as immediate starters in Milwaukee. They would also get key guard depth in Tre Mann and Josh Okogie, as well as the fourth overall pick this year. If I were the Bucks, I would take Tre Johnson with that pick so that once Lillard came back fully healthy, my starting lineup would be Lillard at 1, Johnson at 2, Bridges at 3, Kuzma at 4, and Williams at 5.
Trade 4: The Bucks capture the Flagg from Dallas
Bucks receive:
- John Collins, PF, 26.6M (Jazz)
- Brice Sensabaugh, SF 2.7M (Jazz)
- Isaiah Collier, PG 2.6M (Jazz)
- Naji Marshall, SF 9M (Mavericks)
- Dereck Lively II, C 5.3M (Mavericks)
- 2025 1st round pick (#1) (Mavericks)
Mavericks receive:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, 54.1M (Bucks)
- Jordan Clarkson, SG, 14.3M (Jazz)
- Cody Williams, SG, 5.7M (Jazz)
- 2030 1st round pick (POR) (Bucks)
Jazz receive:
- Anthony Davis, PF, 54.1M (Mavericks)
- P.J. Washington, PF, 14.2M (Mavericks)
- 2026 1st round pick (NOP) (Bucks)
Summary: If the Mavericks and Bucks really wanted to create chaos and blow up the NBA world, they would find a way to send Flagg to Milwaukee for Antetokounmpo, which, as you can see by my trade proposal, is not as simple as it seems. You need to first balance the money out, so you need to include a low-salary team to take on contracts, and then you need to find a perfect balance between the three teams. I think I struck a decent enough balance in this trade, with the Bucks getting Flagg, John Collins, DeAndre Lively, Kuzma, and Brook Lopez to create a dominant frontcourt and deep frontcourt to build a future around. In return for that future, all they have to give up is Giannis and two first-round picks.
The Mavericks end up getting their star to pair with Irving, as well as adding a pair of bench shooting guards and a promising first-round pick in 2030. For that haul, they are giving up Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and P.J. Washington (a cost that might be too great to get the real Mavericks to actually bite, but good enough for me).
Finally, you have the Jazz, who would be giving up John Collins (who is actually their second-best PF on the roster behind Markkanen) and a quartet of role players for Anthony Davis, PJ Washington, and a first-round pick from the Pelicans next year.
Trade 5: The Thunder flexes its power
Bucks receive:
- Isaiah Hartenstein, C, 28.5M
- Isaiah Joe, SG, 12.4M
- Aaron Wiggins, SG, 10.1M
- 2025 first-round picks (#15 and #24)
- 2026 first-round picks (HOU and LAC)
- 2028 first-round pick (DAL)
- 2029 and 2031 first-round picks
- Eight second-round picks
Thunder receive:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, 54.1M (Bucks)
Summary: There is no need for the Thunder to push for a star right now; they are the best team in the league, and their salary cap is under control. Why risk destroying their chemistry and budget just to get a few more wins they don’t need? However the counterpoint is that they have a number of young players that have tons of potential but can’t get onto the court due to the team’s depth, and they have an obscene amount of draft picks, all of which are effectively useless to them unless they bundle a bunch of those assets up into a trade package for a star that could slide into the trio of SGA, Chet, and J-Dub to make it an even quartet. That’s where Giannis comes into play for them; they could potentially offer a deal to the Bucks that would hardly impact their championship team core and allow them to keep a ton of draft capital still, while still being appealing enough for Milwaukee to at least consider it.
It’s not the most sexy trade package on this list from the Bucks’ perspective, but it gives them seven extra firsts, eight extra second-rounders, a starting-caliber center with a ring, and a pair of guys who are much better than their usage numbers suggest in Joe and Wiggins. It’s at least worth considering, and hey, if the Bucks reject it, the Thunder are still like Championship favorites anyway, so why complain?
