The Timberwolves and Heat both appear far more motivated than the Knicks to make a trade for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo before Thursday’s deadline, Brian Windhorst said today during appearances on ESPN’s Get Up (YouTube link) and First Take (Twitter video link).
Unlike the Warriors, who have up to four tradable first-round picks, Miami can only offer two first-round picks in its package, while Minnesota and New York are unable to trade any of their own first-rounders due to the Stepien rule.
Milwaukee is said to be seeking a combination of blue-chip talent and future draft picks for its two-time MVP, so in order to make the kind of offer the Bucks are seeking, some of those teams would likely need to turn one or more of their veteran players into draft assets. The Knicks don’t appear to be doing that, Windhorst explains.
“I don’t think the Knicks have what’s required on their roster to acquire Giannis,” Windhorst said on Get Up. “So if they wanted to (acquire him), they would be out there trying to trade their current players for draft picks and young pieces that the Bucks would want, and they’re not. So I’m taking the Knicks off the list until I have further information.
“I am seeing that action from teams like the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves. They are out there trying to find ways to improve their offer. The best standing offer that I’m aware of belongs to the Golden State Warriors, but I’m not seeing a lot of momentum towards Milwaukee making a Giannis move. It is only Wednesday. We have another day-and-a-half. But I think Milwaukee is seriously considering staying put and pushing this off until summer.”
Windhorst reiterated that point during his appearance on First Take, referring to the Giannis sweepstakes as a “three-team race” involving the Timberwolves, Heat, and Warriors, unless a mystery suitor emerges.
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a mystery team surfacing, given how many surprises we’ve already had ahead of this week’s trade deadline. However, as Windhorst said again on First Take, the most likely outcome might be Antetokounmpo remaining in Milwaukee.
“The choice is down to Bucks ownership,” Windhorst said. “Because I know that Giannis is ready to move. Giannis is ready to move, these other teams are ready to move, there’s ancillary pieces that teams are ready to move. Is Bucks ownership – in the next 24 hours – going to say, ‘OK let’s move on from him now’? If that answer ends up being yes, you see this (trade happen).”
Windhorst added during a subsequent appearance on ESPN 710 Los Angeles (Twitter video link) that he’s not feeling “deal heat” (ie. momentum toward a trade) on the Giannis front at this time.
Here are more of the latest rumblings related to Antetokounmpo:
- While the Bucks would covet forward Jaden McDaniels in a Giannis deal with the Timberwolves, they’d also want first-round picks that Minnesota can’t currently offer, which is why the Wolves are canvassing the league in search of them, writes Chris Mannix of SI.com. One source tells Mannix that practically everyone on the roster besides Anthony Edwards is believed to be up for discussion, with as many as four teams potentially needed for a trade that would get Antetokounmpo to Minnesota.
- As the Timberwolves and Heat survey the market in an effort to maximize the value of their packages, the Warriors’ offer – which is believed to include Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and first-round picks – remains on the table and has yet to be formally declined, writes Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.
- However, the sense is that Green would need to be rerouted if Milwaukee made a deal with Golden State, with Windhorst suggesting on First Take (YouTube link) that the Lakers are one team that would share mutual interest with the longtime Warrior. “If he were traded, his plan would not be to remain in Milwaukee,” Windhorst said of Green. “He would want to be moved on. A team that would be possible if he were traded – and I can’t emphasize the number of ‘ifs’ I’ve said enough before I say this – but the Los Angeles Lakers would be a team he would have interest in and they would have interest in him. But that would require the Bucks to take action on Giannis.” Even if Green isn’t on the move today or tomorrow, Windhorst wonders if including him in these talks might be the first step toward the veteran forward and the Warriors eventually parting ways.
- According to Siegel, many rival front office executives believe the Bucks are gathering as much information as they can from Antetokounmpo suitors right now and then will take that intel into the summer, reopening Giannis trade talks at that time. Mannix also suggests that while a club like the Wolves may be pushing to get a deal done now, there are other teams around the NBA encouraging the Bucks to wait until the offseason, when they’ll be able to enter the bidding or improve their current offer. “Minnesota badly wants to get it done now,” a rival executive told Mannix. “They don’t want to get into a bidding war before the draft.”
Green to the Lakers makes no sense. The whole idea was to have him join his buddy LeBron. They switched from LeBron’s timeline to Luka and LeBron won’t be there next year.
If you believe anything from Windbag then you need to reevaluate how you take information.
Yep, just more clickbait. Im pretty sure Miami has more than two tradeable firsts. Just another klutch mouthpiece.
They don’t.
Why would someone make up how many tradeable draft picks? Correct me if I’m wrong but you can trade picks from the next 7 drafts. If the Heat has traded their first rounder for 2027, they can’t trade 2026 or 2028 first round picks (can’t have no first round picks two years in a row), so that leaves 2029 and 2031 picks, or 2030 and 2032 picks. So yeah, at this particular point, they can only trade 2 first round picks. However, they could do a trade to acquire pick(s) first which would change everything
Are you still “pretty sure”? Might want to revisit this.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>FINAL CALL, EVERYONE!!!
****TAKING THE PULSE OF THE HRC (Hoops Rumors Commenters)*****
From the list of players below, provide a YES if you think he will be traded by February 5th or a NO if you don’t think he will be traded by Feb. 5………
(1 point for each correct YES or NO)…..18 total options
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. Miles Bridges
3. Jimmy Butler III
4. REMOVE Anthony Davis (OFF THE BOARD)……to WAS
5. DeMar DeRozan
6. Jerami Grant
7. REMOVE James Harden (OFF THE BOARD)……to CLE
8. Tyler Herro
9. REMOVE Jaren Jackson Jr. (OFF THE BOARD)…..to UTAH
10. LeBron James Sr.
11. Jonathan Kuminga
12. Ja Morant
13. Trey Murphy III
14. Michael Porter Jr.
15. Austin Reaves
16. Domantas Sabonis <—————
17. Klay Thompson
18. Karl Anthony Towns
19. REMOVE *COBY WHITE* (new inclusion)……OFF THE BOARD….to CHA
20. Andrew Wiggins
21. Zion Williamson
22. *DRAYMOND GREEN* (new inclusion)
A list of 20 options was granted to the early participants of this non-monetary competition. All individuals who received the full 20:
Abs Samanta
Black Ace57
Diabetic Rockstar
jam fig
JBS
KingJames
luvhoops
myaccount2
pogo
SportsBum
washington_bonercats
Raps should definitely get Giannis since talks with kings brass about acquiring Sabonis have stalled.
RJ,Poetl,CMB and 3 firsts for Giannis.
Apparently Poetl is a completely negative asset. Hope he can get healthy.
Chandler Parsons was too.
Jakob may not play much due to that back. Bucks would be wanting Barnes in any deal if they are smart.
Giannis said he doesn’t mind playing with Barnes.
I’d guess he don’t Wana go there but that would be great
You get cp3 instead!
Reroute draymond to Cleveland for Jarrett Allen, that way dray can play with LeBron and harden next season on the leagues most hateable team
Wow that would be a reviled group!
Starting Friday we’ll be shifting to off-season trade opportunities with all new quotes without context…. stay tuned.
The hang up is not just Dray to MIL. Dubs won’t do this unless the have an agreement on extending Giannis.
That’s a lot FRPs!!! MIL can be the new BKN!
Windhorst just keeps getting worse somehow. When he was LeBron’s lap dog, at least he broke the LeBron news correctly for years.
I watched him earlier on ESPN claiming that the Wolves trade of Conley hurt their chances to get Giannis, which of course was completely wrong and makes no sense. All the Wolves gave up was a pick swap this coming draft, which obviously Milwaukee would have no interest in with no realistic swap options. Detroit will get to swap with Minnesota, but so few teams would.
The Conley trade moved the Wolves below the first apron, so now they can take back more salary than they send out, without needing a third team. This doesn’t guarantee anything, but it makes it EASIER to trade for Giannis, not harder. And he’s supposed to be the NBA expert. If I can understand the apron rules by reading NBA stories for a few hours a week, why can’t the guy getting paid learn the rules?
Windhorst. like any of the paid ESPN hacks, can deliver breaking news like nobody’s business ….. but when they’re in a podcast/open-discussion format, that’s what separates the real hoops nuts like Zack Lowe from Windhorst and the rest of those ESPN hacks.
Windhorst’s point: They can take back up to $2.5MM more than they send out now, but $8.3MM less than they would’ve been able to send out if they’d kept Conley and added his expiring contract as part of the Giannis trade package.
Right, but when you actually put together packages, that difference isn’t an issue at all. And common sense would dictate that the Bucks made it clear they weren’t interested in taking back Conley’s salary in any deal before the Wolves moved on.
Before they got below the first apron, they were unable to take back more money then they sent out, no matter what the numbers were. Here’s a quick example:
Prior to the Conley trade, they couldn’t do Naz, Julius and Jaden for Myles Turner and Giannis, because they’d be taking back $2M more than they were sending out as a first apron team. They could’ve done Naz, Julius, Jaden and Conley for Turner, Giannis and whatever else, but the Bucks would be the ones taking that salary in.
Now, since they’ve ducked the apron, they can use the matching salary rules and actually take back Turner and Giannis without making the Bucks pay Conley. So if the Wolves traded Conley, it was because they knew there were no structures the Bucks had interest in that involved them taking on more money.
(And yes, I know Turner and Giannis aren’t being traded for that, it was just the easiest example)
I hear you. I just think you could also come up with hypothetical combinations for a Giannis package that would’ve worked with Conley included and being sent to a third team (which is essentially what they did anyway) that would no longer work. There are pros and cons to having him or not. Maybe it was unfair of Windhorst to focus on the cons, but I don’t think it’s accurate to accuse him of not understanding the rules — if you listen to him talk about trades, it’s clear he does!
An aging Draymond or a banged up and even older Butler really shouldn’t excite Milwaukee into making a deal. Green might bring toughness but he brings next to nothing offensively. Jimmy might be good for two years then he is done. The only reason Milwaukee makes the trade is the draft picks.
The Bucks should not even be talking about trading their SuperStar Giannis. It’s the media pushing a trade. Now they are calling it a “Sweepstakes.” Quiet. Let Milwaukee keep their star!
SMH warriors owner is his own worse enemy. Anyone can see Bucks don’t want the offer and only using it to get a better offer from somebody else. Seen this so many times an owner wanting a player too much. Pull the offer and look elsewhere. Instead they will be left past the deadline with nothing.
arc…how exactly do you know the Bucks strategy?