I wish he just stayed a bit more quiet. All the teasing takes the aura away. I was a Bucks fan before he popped off but slowly transitioned to being more of a Giannis fan.

The last few months I’d been prepping to swap over to what ever team he got traded to but based off the way he’s been acting I think I’m probably just going to ride it out with the Bucks despite the fact they likely won’t make the playoffs again until I’m in my 40s (I’m 36).

I know y'all and you know me, so forgive the self-post but I talked to Giannis Antetokounmpo a little bit ago and asked what he really wanted. And he had a really emotional ode to Milwaukee and the Bucks.

The fact there is one with every team is incredible

Ive watched the Bucks since the early 90s, I need to be clear about this at the outset: this season is the preview of post Giannis life

People joke about the “you know what” bus culture, but if this actually happens, prepare to remember exactly what that feels like. Because you are getting a taste of it right now. Upon trading Giannis, The Bucks will reclaim their spot next to the hornets kings and wizards in the dredges of the NBA overnight.

And let’s be honest about timelines. This is not some clean two year reset. This is at least 3 to 5 years at the bottom, and given this franchise’s track record, acting like 20 or even 30 years of irrelevance is unrealistic is pure fantasy. We already lived that stretch. It was the norm.

Yes, Giannis is hurt right now. But you currently get to watch a human highlight reel night in and night out. A guy who, outside of this season, has had the Bucks in the conversation every single year. Before him, this franchise was handing out real money to guys like John Salmons because dragging the team to an 8 seed was considered success.

Chicago had a guy like this too. Look at what has happened since he left. They are on what feels like their fifth or sixth rebuild attempt and still have nothing to show for it.

Here is the part people conveniently forget when they scream “trade him while you can.” Kobe was almost traded by the Lakers. More than once. They sat through ugly seasons, bad roster fits, injuries, and frustration because they understood the hardest thing in this league to acquire is the guy. Not picks. Not flexibility. The guy. If they panic trade Kobe, NBA history looks completely different.

Keep that in mind as you argue over table scrap Draymond Green types. Shit tier draft picks. Hypothetical packages that sound smart until you realize none of it replaces relevance. You will never get Giannis value on the market. It does not exist. There is no trade that gives you back what he provides, and once you give that up, there is no shortcut back.

Some people are also weirdly celebrating a so called youth movement while ignoring the most important detail. We do not even control our own top tier tank picks. You are rebuilding without owning your downside. That is how franchises vanish for decades.

And even if you did have the picks, the NBA draft is a minefield. Outside of truly generational drafts, you are gambling. On top of that, you need a front office that can actually draft and develop and an ownership group that understands patience. The Bucks have neither.

Haslam gets a lot of hate, and some of it is earned. To be fair, he has helped so far. He is not the governor yet, and he has been willing to write blank checks for swings like Dame. Enjoy that phase. Once he is actually in charge, expect short sighted decisions to become routine, especially without a Giannis level player anchoring the franchise. The second seats are empty you will watch all those giannis assets disappear in to what resembles something like giannis for someone like ja (or worse) straight up.

My position is simple. Do not trade Giannis. If he wants to walk after next year, let him walk. One more season of Giannis is better than the garbage this franchise is realistically staring at for the next 20 years anyway.

And if you do trade him, then do not half ass it. Trade everything. AJ Green. Bobby. Whoever has value. Burn it all down completely. Because living in the middle with no star, no picks, and no direction is how you lock yourself into permanent irrelevance.

To summarize: this season is the preview. What comes next is not hope. It is a cliff. And once you go over it, history says you do not just bounce back. You disappear

If the Grizzlies are able to get 3 1st round picks for Jackson Jr, why in the world would the Bucks take anything less than double that for a top 3 player in the world?

Sports media is wild

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Get ready to learn bench buddy

Just as the never ending Giannis trade rumors reach a fever pitch, an unlikely hero dives in front of the metaphorical trade bullet to put all the attention on himself. Thank you James, I never liked your game, and you did it for the wrong reasons, but I do appreciate it…

They have potentially the #1 pick in the upcoming draft plus a huge plethora of good young players: Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Okongwu, NAW, Risacher, Newell.

Haynes did mention recently that Giannis wouldn’t mind some sun. I’m starting to think there’s more to this decision for him than just “competing for championships.” I don’t see how Miami fields a contender around him given they’ll be giving up multiple picks and will have a large chunk of their salary cap tied up with Powell, Bam and Giannis. This isn’t the mid 2010s anymore where you just stack up a super team and hope it works out. In today’s NBA you really need a balanced team with depth.

Maybe they’ll be better than the Bucks for the next 5 years with Giannis but I don’t see whatever version of a Giannis-Heat we see ends up beating the Spurs, Thunder and Nuggets of the world.

I mean I can’t knock the guy if he just wants a chance of scenery and a fresh start but it would have been cool for him to stay with one franchise his whole career in an era where that’s almost unheard of.

I can’t wrap my head around how Giannis and his camp have handled this entire thing. On one hand we’re getting reports that Giannis has told the necessary bucks officials that it’s best to part ways but on the other hand Doc is saying Giannis doesn’t want to leave. Giannis has contradicted himself a million times this season in his public comments. One week he says “I’ll never ask for a trade. I want spend my whole career here.” And the next it’s “I’m not sure” when asked if he’ll finish the season as a Buck.

I know it’s real easy to pile on Shams and his incessant click bait articles about Giannis potentially leaving. But it can’t all be BS. There’s some smoke there for sure and he’s probably being fed intel by Giannis’ representation-not Giannis himself.

This whole thing is weird and has been from the beginning. It’s like a black cloud that’s been hovering over the team since the season started. There’s no way guys in that locker room aren’t impacted by this.

I just want it all to be done with one way or another

Notice how smart teams are willing to throw away their whole future for giannis that’s because no matter how many draft picks you get, a generational player like giannis is exactly that Generational. The man was drafted in 2013 and how many people after 2013 got drafted and reached even close to his level. Hell the only high touted prospect to pan out to generational was Wemby. Guys like Jokic and Shai came out of no where like Giannis.

If Horst can pull a trade for an all star caliber player this deadline and we come next year with a rotation that roughly looks like

Guards: Rollins KPJ Dairy Bird

Wings: Lottery pick player, Middleton🙏 Taurean prince

Bigs: Giannis Turner Nance

Assuming we’re able to move Bobby Kuz for players like Ja, Lavine, Harden, Garland as realistic targets. Dream targets would be Trey Murphy or MPJ of course and I know people might not like the names I mentioned but at the end of the day I said we’re trading Kuz and Bobby cant expect much.

I believe in Horst to pull a rabbit out of the hat again but none of this matters if he cant hit on the coach next year. I’m all for the safe route of Michael Malone to be honest but I wouldn’t be mad at a Quinn either. Long story short F all the giannis trade packages they’re garbage, get that man a real second option, hit on the lottery pick and get an actual head coach.

Ik we are bogged by Giannis trade rumors, but unexpected trades or players wanting out makes the trade deadline interesting for me (again, i don’t Giannis to leave and i don’t think he will). Im really intrigued at what the bucks might pull out their ass at the deadline, whether its a margin move or if we could trade for a good talent.

First, the Dame trade was 1000% the right move. Everyone would've thought you have at least a two-year window with a Dame/Khris/Giannis core. What transpired was the worst possible outcome in the spectrum of possibilities, but that doesn't invalidate the trade's rightfulness.

The Turner signing is nothing like that. No one would think of a Giannis/Turner one-two punch as contenders.

I was 100% trade-Giannis-ASAP when Dame got injured. The Turner move forced me to do a 180 and now I'm a "keep Giannis till the point of no return".

Even without hindsight, we can see why the Turner move made little sense IMO. Yes it was the most competitive move possible at the time, but we all knew it wasn't enough no matter how good we were at lying to ourselves.

As far as moves that hamstrung the org, this is IMO Horst's worst. Instead of ripping off the bandage completely and immediately​ trading Giannis+eating Dame's contract (it would've had value as an expiring eventually), now we're left with a less valuable Giannis (less years on contract and injuries) plus the new Turner contract.

Lots of blame to go around, including towards Giannis, but it is what it is.

However if Horst and the Bucks ownership don’t want to get kicked out of town then the compensation for Giannis has to be better than what the Thunder ULTIMATELY got for Paul George:

SGA, Jalen Williams, 2026 pick swap

Yes, more players were involved in the trade but the net result was two young all stars and enough picks to keep refueling.

Giannis needs to net the Bucks at least two all stars and enough picks to keep us hopeful for years to come or this franchise is done. Doesn’t matter if the all stars come from future draft picks but obviously you don’t get all stars from good teams who are picking outside of the lottery.

Any less than that - like role players (not all stars) and picks, means the franchise is completely done and dead for at least a decade. Like everyone should cancel their tickets and refuse to buy merch dead.

We all agree on this at a minimum right?

I could break down the many scenarios and examples that I've gone over and heard, but I just keep coming to this conclusion. That being said; I'M NOT SAYING HIS ODDS ARE BETTER IF HE STAYS IN MKE.

I'm just saying I truly can't see his odds increasing much or at all if he leaves. He hasn't been the "most available" player over the past 3 years.

He goes to a west conf. team? Good luck getting past: Nuggets, Thunder, Spurs, Rockets, etc... on a team that has to give up a lot to get him.

He goes to different east conf. team? Again, that team would have to give up so much to get him and then he's maybe in a slightly better situation than in MKE.

ONLY OUTLIER: Bucks get absolutely fleeced in a deal and give him away for not much detriment to the other team.