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Clint Nielson
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Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
Danny Ainge mentioned the Utah Jazz are big game hunting, the biggest prize may be Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Utah Jazz have had 2 consecutive under .500 seasons but, between Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, promising young talent, and a historic amount of first-round picks in the next 5 seasons, don’t expect the Jazz to be bad for the whole 2020s. The Jazz front office has expressed interest in not trading draft picks to make marginal upgrades but that they are big game hunting. In the volatile NBA, there seems to be a superstar available for trade every offseason. Can this offseason be headlined by 2-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo requesting a trade?
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Why Antetokounmpo requesting a trade is a possibility
Giannis Antetokounmpo has already cemented himself in the upper echelons of legendary NBA players. He has made 7 All-NBA Teams, 5 All-Defensive Teams, and has won 2 MVP awards, including winning Defensive Player of the Year in one of those MVP seasons. The pinnacle of his career so far was leading the 2020-2021 Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA championship and dominantly winning the Finals MVP award. That year Giannis dropped 50 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the closeout game of the NBA finals.
With a player as good as Giannis, his professional goals are different from the other 99% of NBA players. Giannis has been the best in the league before and has made a fortune. So, what drives Giannis? His public comments have indicated a desire to win more championships, even at the expense of leaving the Milwaukee Bucks. See the article below for more about Antetokounmpo’s professional goals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reiterates he’ll leave Bucks to win another title ‘if there’s a better situation’ - CBSSports.com.
When his career is over, few will question that Giannis is a top 30 NBA player of all time. What will keep him out of the media and fans’ usual top 10 players of all-time lists is if he does not win more championships. Has the championship window closed on the aging Milwaukee Bucks?
The Milwaukee Bucks have had a tumultuous season, including having 3 different head coaches since last postseason, not winning 50 games despite being all in on a championship run, injuries to their key players, aging players around Giannis Antetokounmpo, and a likely first-round playoff exit. Giannis had debatably his best regular season ever this year but didn’t finish among the top 3 MVP finalists. If the circumstances were different and the Bucks had won 59 games, not 49, perhaps Giannis would have won his 3rd MVP. Antetokounmpo must be questioning, what else can I do and what will be different next season other than Middleton, Lillard, and Lopez turning 33, 34, and 36? Yes, the Bucks could be healthy next postseason but with an old core, they very well might not be. Old teams rarely win championships.
Giannis is under contract until his player option season, which is the 2027-2028 season. So Antetokounmpo may request a trade instead of waiting until he is 33 to sign with a different team.
Why the Utah Jazz would be a strong candidate to acquire Antetokounmpo
If Giannis requests a trade this or next off-season, all 29 teams’ front offices will have the same conservation, what can we do to get Giannis on our team. The majority of contending teams do not have the young talent and draft pick bundle (man, OKC is in a good spot) to trade for Giannis unless they deal away the players that are currently making them contenders (The Mavericks could get Giannis... by trading Doncic). Giannis would not be interested in being a part of a rebuilding project (don’t see the Hornets landing him). This means that the best candidates are teams with promising young players and several draft picks, like the Utah Jazz.
Antetokounmpo has played in Milwaukee for 10 seasons. He can be content while playing in cold weather and a smaller city. The Jazz being in Utah likely wouldn’t be a deterrent like it is with other NBA all-stars.
Antetokounmpo has publicly expressed interest in playing with Lauri Markkanen one day, and not only for the All-Star Game. Their play styles would blend perfectly. How do you guard Giannis charging into the paint if Markkanen is in the corner or cutting to the rim? Giannis can continue to be ball dominant as Markkanen is one of the most effective off-ball players in the league.
Danny Ainge has been in this spot before. When he built the Celtics Big Three, his original intention was to trade for just Kevin Garnett, but Garnett mentioned he thought the Celtics would not be good enough to compete for a championship. This led Ainge to trade for Ray Allen, which in turn convinced Garnett that the Celtics could win it all if he was traded to them. The Jazz have the assets to trade for Antetokounmpo and another star while retaining Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton. In this instance, the other star would likely be a point guard, perhaps one of the Hawks all-star guards?
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In the instance above, the Jazz could still trade another first round draft pick, several first round pick swaps, or even include Collin Sexton. Do you think the Jazz should make a run at acquiring Antetokounmpo this offseason?
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