Giannis Trade Discussion

[Lipoli390]

Word is the Celtics are now in the Giannis sweepstakes and have put the word out that the only player not on the table from Boston is Jason Tatum.

I see Boston, OKC and the Spurs as the only truly viable places for Giannis to land when you consider (1) which teams Giannis would want to join and extend with to maximize his chances of a championship, especially after factoring in the players the acquiring team would need to give up; and (2) which teams have the assets to realistically give the Bucks what they would likely expect as a foundation for their post-Giannis rebuild, including multiple 1st-round picks and at least a could very talented young players. Yes, there are multi-team deals that could land Giannis somewhere other than Boston, OKC or San Antonio, but those sorts of deals are super complicated. The Celtics, Spurs and Thunder stand out as such compelling places for Giannis from the perspective of both Giannis and these three teams, that it would make little sense for Giannis to end up anywhere else.

[Coolbreeze44]

If I'm the Spurs I have no interest in Giannis. They have already aced the exam, just don't mess up what they have doing and the titles are going to come.

[Monster]

It sounds like the bucks are wanting young players they aren't looking for guys anywhere near 30. That makes me wonder where Myles Tuner ends up. His contract isn't cheap but its not crazy either.

I've said this for a couple years but I think the more players that move around the more opportunities there are to get value in deals. They might not be high end additions but think getting Pat Bev for basically nothing. Conley getting traded again so we can resign him for the vet min. I think there is a possibility for more thrilling move than that though. There are so many 20-40 million dollar salary players that could get sent here and there. Somehow that could mean we get someone cheap or maybe someone even is bought out and becomes a more viable player they can sign. This is part of why I kinda cheer for chaos plus I have to admit it's also interesting. Lol

[Lipoli390]

If I'm the Spurs I have no interest in Giannis. They have already aced the exam, just don't mess up what they have doing and the titles are going to come.

I agree Cool. I think Giannis would love to go to San Antonio and play with Wemby and the Spurs are one of only a few teams with the assets to get him. But I’m with you in thinking that I would not want to trade for Giannis if I were the Spurs GM. I think the Spurs front office probably feels the same way. I also suspect that OKC doesn’t have interest in Giannis even though I think they should. Boston seems like the most likely landing spot for him but I really don’t have a good sense of it right now.

[Coolbreeze44]

If I'm the Spurs I have no interest in Giannis. They have already aced the exam, just don't mess up what they have doing and the titles are going to come.

I agree Cool. I think Giannis would love to go to San Antonio and play with Wemby and the Spurs are one of only a few teams with the assets to get him. But I’m with you in thinking that I would not want to trade for Giannis if I were the Spurs GM. I think the Spurs front office probably feels the same way. I also suspect that OKC doesn’t have interest in Giannis even though I think they should. Boston seems like the most likely landing spot for him but I really don’t have a good sense of it right now.

I can't believe OKC doesn't have interest. Without Giannis, how are they going to beat a healthy Wemby team surrounded by great players who are only going to get better?

[Lipoli390]

If I'm the Spurs I have no interest in Giannis. They have already aced the exam, just don't mess up what they have doing and the titles are going to come.

I agree Cool. I think Giannis would love to go to San Antonio and play with Wemby and the Spurs are one of only a few teams with the assets to get him. But I’m with you in thinking that I would not want to trade for Giannis if I were the Spurs GM. I think the Spurs front office probably feels the same way. I also suspect that OKC doesn’t have interest in Giannis even though I think they should. Boston seems like the most likely landing spot for him but I really don’t have a good sense of it right now.

I can't believe OKC doesn't have interest. Without Giannis, how are they going to beat a healthy Wemby team surrounded by great players who are only going to get better?

I certainly agree with you that OKC should pursue Giannis and if the do they’ll have the best shot at getting him because they have the types of quality assets the Bucks likely want for their rebuild and they’ll still have a championship-caliber roster surrounding Giannis after giving up those assets. However, I have a sense that OKC’s very savvy front office has a firm policy/philosophy against trading lots of assets for elite players in their 30s. They focus on building through the draft or trades for very young potential stars like SGA while pursuing a few strategic trades for important role players like Caruso. I generally like that philosophy because it’s the best way for a smaller or mid-market team to build a contender, especially a sustainable one. On the other hand, it makes sense at times to bend your policy a bit based on circumstances. This seems like one of those times for OKC. And Giannis has reached that mid-30s decline ramp. We’ll see.

[Q-is-here]

I think it would be a rash decision by the Spurs and OKC to go get Giannis. They each have such a strong core of young to young-ish players that their respective windows are quite lengthy. Plus I'm not sure if either team has the shooting that Giannis would need to make the spacing work....OKC may be, but I don't see Presti panicking after losing to a fully healthy Spurs team with two of their main guys down (JDubs and Mitchell).

This is where the Wolves' core of Ant/Jaden/Naz/Ayo have such an advantage in terms of a Giannis fit. They create so much space. Of course in the absence of trading anyone from that core, we'd have to move Rudy to come up with the assets to go get Giannis with the added bonus of better spacing. Probably a long shot, but you know Connelly will at least try....

[Lipoli390]

I think it would be a rash decision by the Spurs and OKC to go get Giannis. They each have such a strong core of young to young-ish players that their respective windows are quite lengthy. Plus I'm not sure if either team has the shooting that Giannis would need to make the spacing work....OKC may be, but I don't see Presti panicking after losing to a fully healthy Spurs team with two of their main guys down (JDubs and Mitchell).

This is where the Wolves' core of Ant/Jaden/Naz/Ayo have such an advantage in terms of a Giannis fit. They create so much space. Of course in the absence of trading anyone from that core, we'd have to move Rudy to come up with the assets to go get Giannis with the added bonus of better spacing. Probably a long shot, but you know Connelly will at least try....

If we can get Giannis and keep all of those four key guys, then kudos to TC. But I don’t think Rudy and Randle will generate enough of the types of assets Milwaukee would expect in return.

I still think the best overall approach for the Wolves this summer is to keep that core four, retain Rudy as a defensive anchor, and use a combination of Randle, pick #28 and free agency (Vet min/MLE) to improve the team with a better mix of players but not gutting the core or losing a lot of continuity. We should also expect improved contributions from TSJ, Beringer and/or Rocco. Having Ayo the whole season will be another plus. It’s multiple things added together without losing continuity that can move us from the 3-6 cluster in the West into contention it’s the top two.

I’d probably feel differently if we were a .500 team that hadn’t made the West Finals the two of the last three years and pretty decisively beat the Nuggets in the first round this season, I might also feel differently if our core guys, along with TSJ, Berlinger and Rocco were all age 28-32, but they are all still in an age range where we can reasonably expect significant improvement.

[Q-is-here]

I think it would be a rash decision by the Spurs and OKC to go get Giannis. They each have such a strong core of young to young-ish players that their respective windows are quite lengthy. Plus I'm not sure if either team has the shooting that Giannis would need to make the spacing work....OKC may be, but I don't see Presti panicking after losing to a fully healthy Spurs team with two of their main guys down (JDubs and Mitchell).

This is where the Wolves' core of Ant/Jaden/Naz/Ayo have such an advantage in terms of a Giannis fit. They create so much space. Of course in the absence of trading anyone from that core, we'd have to move Rudy to come up with the assets to go get Giannis with the added bonus of better spacing. Probably a long shot, but you know Connelly will at least try....

If we can get Giannis and keep all of those four key guys, then kudos to TC. But I don’t think Rudy and Randle will generate enough of the types of assets Milwaukee would expect in return.

Probably not....may be not...but whatever assets we get from a 3rd team for Rudy + Randle + our 1st round pick this year + our 2033 unprotected + Shannon....that ain't bad!

[60WinTim]

I think it would be a rash decision by the Spurs and OKC to go get Giannis. They each have such a strong core of young to young-ish players that their respective windows are quite lengthy. Plus I'm not sure if either team has the shooting that Giannis would need to make the spacing work....OKC may be, but I don't see Presti panicking after losing to a fully healthy Spurs team with two of their main guys down (JDubs and Mitchell).

This is where the Wolves' core of Ant/Jaden/Naz/Ayo have such an advantage in terms of a Giannis fit. They create so much space. Of course in the absence of trading anyone from that core, we'd have to move Rudy to come up with the assets to go get Giannis with the added bonus of better spacing. Probably a long shot, but you know Connelly will at least try....

If we can get Giannis and keep all of those four key guys, then kudos to TC. But I don’t think Rudy and Randle will generate enough of the types of assets Milwaukee would expect in return.

Probably not....may be not...but whatever assets we get from a 3rd team for Rudy + Randle + our 1st round pick this year + our 2033 unprotected + Shannon....that ain't bad!

I had completely dismissed the Giannis-to-Wolves talk awhile ago as "quite unlikely". But for some reason I have reengaged on the idea. Here is an interesting observation: Rudy, Randle and NAZ for Giannis and Turner works financially, and would even save the Wolves about 8 mil to spend elsewhere. While the Bucks would only have interest in NAZ, Rudy and Randle could be sent elsewhere to get the Bucks players/picks to their liking, plus the pick or two the Wolves can include. It suddenly doesn't seem as impossible as I previously thought. And with TC at the helm...

Finch mentioned in a recent KFAN interview how Shannon can be part of the ball-handling solution. That's a main backcourt rotation of Ayo, ANT and Shannon. Giannis, Turner and Joan are the main frontcourt rotation. Jaden is still here at the wing, and the roster is filled out with vet minimums (SloMo, Bones and/or Mike are solid choices). I would be on board with all of that!