Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo probably, for lack of a less profane term, is not happy with the Milwaukee Bucks‘ early exit from the NBA playoffs. With the best record in the entire NBA, The Bucks were unceremoniously dumped from the playoffs by the Miami Heat in five games.
An embarrassing defeat for a team that has what is soon to be the 2-time MVP on the squad. If the Bucks expect Giannis to stick around long term, they need to step their game up and put a championship roster around him.
While they have some good players, they clearly aren’t where they want to be. Could trading for James Harden be the catalyst the Bucks need to get over the hump and fight for a championship? It is worth a shot. Imagining two dominant players such as James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo is a terrifying prospect for any team in the NBA.
You add one of the most unstoppable players in the league in the league in current defensive player of the year and MVP Giannis, along with one of the most gifted offensive players in recent NBA history and former MVP James Harden and you get the most dangerous duo in the NBA.
To call Giannis and Harden the most dangerous duo in the NBA with duos such as Kawhi and PG, Curry and Klay, Lillard and CJ, Simmons and Embiid, and LeBron and AD, that is really saying something.
To put it very simply, Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden on the same team is a modern-day Shaq and Kobe.
In Harden, you have a player with very similar attributes to Kobe. While he doesn’t have Kobe’s footwork and some would question his Mamba mentality, Harden does have a huge arsenal of moves that allow for him to beat you in so many ways.
If that doesn’t work then he can be an elite playmaker and get his teammates involved. Harden has needed help big time in Houston and they just haven’t put the right roster around him to win a ring. In Milwaukee with Giannis, the Bucks would be heavily considered one of the favorites to win it all.
In Giannis, the Bucks have one of the best players on both sides of the floor in the league. Widely considered the current and future of the NBA post-LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo constantly does things that a man his size should not be able to do.
He scores, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals the ball at elite levels across the board. The Bucks have had problems in the playoffs because in this writer’s opinion, they are using him completely wrong. The Bucks are using Giannis as the focal point for everything.
The focal point for scoring, assisting and rebounding. That is a huge ask of any player. While Khris Middleton has done admirably as Giannis second star, he simply isn’t enough. If James Harden was a Milwaukee Buck, Giannis’ workload drops dramatically and he can focus on dominating in the paint.
Even though Giannis is considered a small forward/ power forward/ point guard/ point forward, he is actually a center. His stats as an assist man fool you into thinking he is a point guard, his frame, his skill set and his defensive abilities all point to a center.
Giannis is a mix between Shaquille O’Neal and Nikola Jokic, except much leaner. Giannis dominates down low, scoring, and rebounding like Shaq whilst dishing the ball out at an elite level like Jokic. Use Giannis and Harden to form a 1-2 punch that would be near impossible to beat if they put the correct role players around them.
You only need to look at LeBron James and Anthony Davis to see how two top 7 players coming together, one dominant low post scorer and elite defensive big, one dominant offensive player with unreal playmaking abilities can do together.
Giannis and Harden could do special things together. If the Bucks think they have the players to make a trade, they need to do it, to lock Giannis up long term.