Jimmy Butler won’t return until late next season. The same would be the case for Moses Moody, an organically grown forward for the Warriors who just had a breakout season. Steve Kerr’s back for another two seasons, but the team doesn’t have the names beside Stephen Curry to make any progress from an upsetting Play-In tournament exit this season. They need to go big. The Warriors need a Greek God to lift their spirits again.
According to Warriors insider Monte Poole, “The Warriors, nose pressed to the window, are hyperventilating over the possibility of acquiring their Holy Grail,” he wrote for NBC. The sweepstakes for Giannis Antetokounmpo are officially underway six weeks before the NBA draft. Shams Charania recently received the Bucks’ openness to discuss a trade, with their wants remaining unchanged.
Milwaukee expects “a young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks”. The Warriors will have the latter. After securing the 11th pick in the upcoming draft, the Warriors could offer at least three first-round picks in trying to trade for the two-time MVP. If they play their cards right, the Warriors could entice the Bucks through their offerings. Aside from multiple other first-round picks, they give the Bucks a chance to have back-to-back picks in one of the most stacked drafts in recent memory.
That’s the kind of opportunity teams have to keep ready when thinking about parting ways with their decorated franchise mainstay. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ relationship is also tense. The Bucks ace forced an NBA investigation into the team for preventing him from playing through a knee injury. The Greek Freak may have also directly told the franchise about wanting to leave.
Why would he choose a beaten-down Warriors team? Antetokounmpo was the only non-Warrior at Curry’s All-Star party when the event was held in San Francisco. He also tremendously respects the ‘harder’ path to success, that’s led Curry and the Warriors to four championships. Giannis Antetokounmpo got his own in 2021.
But at 31 and having gone through two horrid seasons, he appears to be prioritising his personal goals.
The Warriors will have a competition problem
This is Giannis Antetokounmpo we are talking about. It’s not a stretch to suggest most teams in the association are working the math. It doesn’t matter what it takes. The 31-year-old pillar has averaged a 30-point double-double in four of his past five seasons. There aren’t many superstars as complete as Antetokounmpo. And building the team around him doesn’t need a whole lot.
The biggest piece of work is getting the 10-time All-Star. Monte Poole did sell a vision of how the Warriors could be the team to lure him. However, beyond Giannis Antetokounmpo’s willingness, the Bucks’ temptations matter. They aren’t concerned with how Stephen Curry finished his career.
In terms of what’s best for the future, teams like the Miami Heat can offer players whom they can immediately plug into their system. The Knicks, despite their current postseason dominance, have long chased after Giannis Antetokounmpo. If the time came, even the Toronto Raptors could offer the Bucks a more attractive return than the Warriors.
That’s the reason Poole isn’t selling the pipe dream. He’s just making fans aware of an opportunity that exists. The Bucks, given Antetokounmpo’s service, will likely take his preferred destination into account when negotiating a trade. If the Warriors have that edge, maybe their phone line connects to the relevant people in the Bucks’ front office.
Regardless of how that goes, Monte Poole also warned the fans. Getting Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t cheap. The former DPOY is a formative piece that takes care of the franchise’s future. “They’d have to accept an element of risk that wasn’t there six years ago,” Poole added.
Do you think the Warriors stand a chance at landing the belligerent forward? Let us know your views in the comments below.
