There's one surprising team that could blow the Milwaukee Bucks away with a huge trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Through the first month of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks are 4-9 and find themselves at an early-season crossroads. It's been a disastrous start to the year and as the losing has continued to pile up for the Bucks, the rumor mill has already begun to swirl revolving around the possibility of Giannis Antetokounmpo demanding a trade. While that does remain somewhat of a down-the-road issue for the Bucks, it's certainly has the rest of the league speculating already.
Naturally, a list of likely landing spots for Giannis has emerged - teams that not only would make sense for Giannis but also teams that the superstar forward would seemingly want to play for. Those four teams that have been speculated about are the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and the Golden State Warriors. However, there may be one other team that could jump into the fray.
According to NBA scribe Marc Stein, teams around the league are already monitoring the possibility of the Rockets emerging as a potential suitor for Giannis (if he were to hit the trade block). The Rockets have been patiently waiting for their opportunity to land a big-name superstar via trade and could have their sights set on the possibility of Giannis hitting the trade block.
What the Houston Rockets could offer for Giannis
Of the teams that have been linked to Giannis as initial suitors, there's an argument that an offer from the Rockets would be the best on the table. The Rockets have the perfect mix of talented young players and draft capital to get a deal done. Whether the Rockets would be willing to put everything on the table in a deal for Giannis remains to be seen. But if they wanted to, they could string up an offer that the Bucks may not be willing to decline.
This is the type of massive deal that the Rockets can offer to the Bucks. And to be quite frank, the Rockets would still have a flurry of young, emerging talent (and Alperen Sengun) that would help put the team in a position to win now alongside the addition of Giannis. If the Bucks get to the point where they're going to trade Giannis, that means they're going to pivot toward a rebuild. This is the type of return the Bucks should be looking for in an attempt to jump-start their path forward.
Of course, the big question is whether the Rockets would be willing to put all of this on the table for Giannis. That's hard to answer at the moment but if I had to make a prediction, I'd believe so. This is a team that has not shied away from being aggressive and does believe they're longing for a superstar in Houston. Giannis would certainly fit that bill as a player the team can build a contender around.
Two things. If the Bucks ever get to the point where they're ready to trade Giannis or if Giannis gets to the point where he's ready to demand a trade, there will be plenty of options. If the Bucks and Giannis make it truly an open market and not just a bidding war between the destinations he'd like to be traded to, the Rockets are certainly a team to keep an eye on. But all of that is simply impossible to predict right now.