There's new Giannis Antetokounmpo trade intel that could shed light on the Milwaukee Bucks' offseason plans.
Since winning the 2021 NBA Championship, the Milwaukee Bucks have been nothing but a disappointment in the NBA Playoffs. Over the last four years, the Bucks have won just one playoff series and have been bounced out in the first round of the postseason three straight years. As the Bucks explore some changes this offseason, there was a belief that it could include a trade of Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, some recent trade intel does suggest that may not be the case.
According to Marc Stein, the only way the Bucks will trade Giannis is if he demands a trade. Considering he's said in the past that he'd never do that and that there's no evidence of him switching stances on that, that means we probably shouldn't expect Giannis to hit the trade block this offseason.
Even though it's a scenario that many teams across the league are hoping for, the Bucks don't appear to have any interest in trading Giannis and will almost certainly focus on trying to retool the supporting cast around him heading into the offseason.
How the Bucks can retool around Giannis
Of course, improving the roster around Giannis is certainly going to be a lot easier said than done. The Bucks don't have any real draft compensation to dangle via trade, Damian Lillard is untradable after his Achilles injury, and the team doesn't have any young blue-chip players to move either. That leaves Kyle Kuzma and potentially Bobby Portis (depending on what he decides to do with his player option) as the most realistic ways to improve the roster via trade.
Even though the Bucks will still be somewhat competitive as long as Giannis is on the roster, it's hard to envision how they're going to significantly improve the supporting cast with the circumstances they find themselves in. Is this the right long-term move for the Bucks? It's hard to answer that question. However, there's no question that trading Giannis now would completely alter the future of this franchise.
The Bucks may not have a big chance to win another title in the next few years, but trading Giannis would effectively decrease that percentage to zero. At least with Giannis, the team does have a puncher's shot. And maybe the plan will be to wait a couple of years to make a big move in free agency. The question is, will Giannis continue to be patient and wait until then?
At least for now, the Bucks have no intention of trading Giannis. From a fan's perspective, that's probably the exact scenario they want to hear heading into the offseason.