It goes without saying that Giannis Antetokounmpo has achieved a lot with the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s been an MVP, DPOY and brought a title to the Bucks after a 50-year drought after one of the best Finals performances of all time. He remained excellent in 2024-25, finishing as a third contender for the MVP award despite averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists.
So why would he be interested in leaving the Bucks?
To be clear, it hasn’t been reported that Giannis explicitly wants out. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst had this to say about Giannis’s desire to stay in Milwaukee:
“And the other thing I’ll say is, from talking to people in and around Milwaukee, Giannis has given no indication throughout this entire season that he is not 100% focused on maximizing what the Bucks have.”
However, Windhorst also acknowledged this:
“This is people in the league looking at the lay of the land, not, you know, anything that Giannis has said to anybody.“
The reality of the situation paints a grim picture for Milwaukee’s future. The Bucks only have control over their first round picks in 2031 and they don’t have any young players of note to further their championship window. The roster lacks depth and many of its best players are old. They just made a trade for Kyle Kuzma, who has contributed almost nothing to the Bucks since his arrival. To make matters worse, the current situation isn’t strong. They are currently down 2-0 against the Pacers and Indiana has consistently looked like the better team despite Giannis putting up great numbers. There is also the pressure for Giannis to add a second title to his legacy. He is 30 years old and his years of MVP-caliber play are more likely to end sooner rather than later.
The Atlanta Hawks are currently at a crossroads. They finished with the eighth-best record in the Eastern Conference, but lost two straight play-in games to miss their shot at a play-in berth. If Giannis were to become available, the Hawks should be interested in making this move to get out of the middle tier of the Eastern Conference.
Should the Hawks pull the trigger on a Giannis deal, what would it look like? Here’s a possible framework that includes the Utah Jazz as a third team to facilitate for salary-matching purposes.
Atlanta Hawks get: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Svi Mykhailiuk, A.J Green
Milwaukee Bucks get: Jalen Johnson, Collin Sexton, Kobe Bufkin, 2027 1st round pick (via ATL, least favorable of MIL/NOP), 2029 1st round pick (via ATL), 2030 1st-round pick swap (via ATL, Milwaukee swap rights), 2031 1st round pick (via ATL, top-10 protected)
Utah Jazz get: Terance Mann, 2025 2nd round pick (via MIL, from DET), 2026 2nd round pick (via MIL, from UTA), 2031 2nd round pick (via MIL)
Why Atlanta Might Do This Trade: They already have an excellent star point guard in Trae Young, who would form a lethal combination with Giannis in the pick-and-roll. A starting lineup of Young, Dyson Daniels, Giannis, Zaccharie Risacher and Onyeka Okongwu would instantly be one of the strongest starting units in the league with room for future upside as Risacher, Okongwu and Daniels continue to develop. After another injury-riddled season where they finished as a play-in team, the Hawks have been stuck in the middle tier of the Eastern Conference for too long. They opened up future flexibility at the deadline to pursue options like this. Furthermore, they’d also be keeping their picks in the 2025 and 2026 Draft, which gives them the opportunity to add more cost-controlled talent to build out their rotation. Giving up Jalen Johnson hurts considering how high his upside is, but his injury history is extremely concerning and the Hawks may not be able to stomach another injury-riddled season from him. Green can slot into the Garrison Mathews role while Svi is a rotation wing with solid three-point shooting ability. Neither of them are major rotation options, but they can be complementary pieces around Young and Giannis.
Why Atlanta Might Not Do This Trade: The Hawks don’t have control over all their first round picks and it’s also possible that the cost to get Giannis might even be higher than this. Furthermore, Jalen Johnson still has tons of potential and it would hurt to give up on him. Granted, Giannis is a phenomenal talent, but his age has to be in consideration. Giannis is incredibly physical and has remained mostly durable – he’ll have to carry a pretty large role on defense and it’s unclear how well he can continue to do that.
Why Milwaukee Would Do This Trade: The Bucks get enough first-round draft capital to rebuild their roster while also getting a possible franchise star in Jalen Johnson. He can slide into the PF spot vacated by Giannis’s departure and has incredible upside if he can stay healthy. Furthermore, he would pair well with Damian Lillard as someone who can work off the respect Lillard demands from deep. They also get a shot on a talented guard with injury problems in Kobe Bufkin and a quality rotation player in Collin Sexton to keep themselves competitive in the East while they get into their rebuilding phase.
Why Milwaukee Would Not Do This Trade: Johnson has had trouble staying healthy with both ankle and shoulder injuries. Bufkin just missed the entire year with a shoulder injury. If both of those players can’t stay healthy, this deal turns into a big problem for the Bucks. Furthermore, they also won’t have access to their store of picks until the 2027 NBA Draft, so they’ll have to remain competitive for at least two seasons. That could be difficult for them to do. They also won’t be able to reap the benefit of being pick-positive with this package since it essentially replaces the draft capital they’ve sent out.
Why Utah Would Do This Trade: The Jazz get Mann as salary filler that helps them stay at the salary cap floor and he can slide into Sexton’s vacated spot. They also get three second-rounders in the deal, which helps them manuever around the draft for prospects that they are especially high on.
Why Utah Would Not Do This Trade: They would have Mann’s salary on the books for the next three seasons and it’s nothing to sniff at, considering that he counts for $15.5 million for the next two seasons before rising to a hit of $16 million during the last year of the contract. It probably doesn’t make a huge difference on their team building process, but it’s worth considering.
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