The NBA rumor mill does not stop for the weekend, and plenty of Giannis Antetokounmpo chatter is still going on. Here is the latest on a possible Antetokounmpo trade before the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline
Warriors willing to trade Draymond Green?
If Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to be traded by next Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, the Golden State Warriors — who can offer four first-round picks — are the most likely destination. To make that trade work, it was assumed that Jimmy Butler would be the big matching salary going back to Milwaukee. Because the Warriors wouldn’t trade Draymond Green, right?
Wrong. Maybe. It could be the Warriors’ defensive icon Green sent out if the trade happens.
Golden State would put Green in the trade if it had to, NBC Sports’ Monte Poole said in an interview on 95.7 The Game in the Bay Area.
“From what I’m hearing, the only Warrior that’s off the table is Steph Curry. That means Draymond Green is also available for the right package. They don’t want to, but they’re willing to.”
Butler, who will be out until the middle of next season recovering from a torn ACL, “is unlikely” to be part of the trade, reports Jake Fischer at The Stein Line.
Does that bother Green? Not in the least, he told Anthony Slater.
Portland interested in Giannis
If you’re looking for a long shot to trade for Antetokounmpo, look to the Pacific Northwest.
Portland has reached out to Milwaukee and expressed interest in an Antetokounmpo trade, reports Stein and Fischer at The Stein Line. Yes, the Trail Blazers understand it would be an incredible long shot that they could convince Antetokounmpo to re-sign and stay with them, but Portland is expressing some interest anyway.
There has been some speculation that another team might be willing to try with Antetokounmpo what the Toronto Raptors did with Kawhi Leonard — trade for him for one season and take their chances. The difference was that Toronto was a team considered at least a fringe title contender, one that had won 50+ games in the three previous seasons and made the second round of the playoffs each time. Toronto bet that Leonard could take them to the next level — and he did, they won the franchise’s lone championship. The Raptors did everything right, and Leonard still left to go home to Southern California and the Clippers.
Portland, even with Antetokounmpo, is not a contender. The Trail Blazers control some of Milwaukee’s future picks, which is why they have been mentioned as a potential third team in a trade that would send Antetokounmpo to New York.
But it sounds like Portland would rather trade for Antetokounmpo themselves and try to keep him.
Will Antetokounmpo be traded before deadline?
League sources NBC Sports have spoken to consistently say to expect the Giannis Antetokounmpo drama to drag out past the Feb. 5 trade deadline and into the offseason. The Ringer’s Zach Lowe, appearing on NBA on Prime, says it is more of a 50-50 proposition.
In that same discussion on NBA on Prime, Lowe said the Bucks right now are in “digest mode.”
“They’re not even really being proactive. They’re just waiting for teams to show them on a platter, like here’s what we’re willing to offer you for Giannis. And teams are trying to figure out, are they listening? Are they going to come back to us and really start negotiating? Or is this something that’s actually going to come in the offseason when you guys mentioned that contract extension is going to be offered to him and then more teams might join the fray.”
The smart money is still on this being a summer trade — if it happens at all — but these things have a momentum of their own. It’s going to be a wild few days.
