Giannis Antetokounmpo shook the foundations of the NBA recently after reports suggested that he’s open to leaving the Milwaukee Bucks, now a fanciful trade scenario has taken hold.
It must be said that no trade scenario looks fanciful anymore after the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, but the Golden State Warriors landing Giannis Antetokounmpo in a trade would be close.
The trade machines and hypothetical scenarios have already started running rampant since Antetokounmpo was open to moving, and a potential move to the Warriors was recently put forward.
Brian Windhorst proposed Giannis to Warriors on one condition, that the Greek Freak makes it a mission to only land in the Bay Area.
NBA fans quickly caught hold of that assertion and made some of their own, being in complete agreement over how one player will make this trade worse than Doncic.
Before going any further, it must be made perfectly clear that if the Warriors get into a bidding war for Antetokounmpo’s services, they’re not winning it.
That’s why Windhorst added the qualifier that the player will have to be the driver in any potential deal and engineer a move to the Warriors himself.
When the fans caught wind of the potential trade, they all started preparing hypothetical trade scenarios and one player kept coming up – Jimmy Butler.
Butler would need to be the centerpiece of any potential trade but he alone won’t do it, as the rebuilding Bucks would surely ask for a young player.
When it emerged that it wasn’t yet certain if the Warriors would be open to trading away Brandin Podziemski, all hell broke loose.
Fans couldn’t believe it was even a question when the prize on offer was Antetokounmpo, saying that even if the Warriors moved Podziemski, it would be a trade worse than Doncic.
““Brandon Podziemski” being the best young player in a deal for Giannis would arguably be worse than the Luka trade,” said one.
“Who’s doing a trade for Giannis with Podz being the most important player,” added another.
A third wrote, “I promise you Brandin Podziemski is not gonna be the deal breaker”.
Another kept it simple, “That’s a very long way of saying he’s gonna be a Milwaukee Buck,” while a fifth couldn’t resist a dig at the NBA’s resident villain, saying, “Nico Harrison would”.
A semblance of sincerity was brought to the discussion by one, “What can the Warriors offer the Bucks that would make them pass up on a #1 or #2 pick? Seems like wishful thinking honestly.”
Another didn’t want to give it time of day, not even after the Doncic trade made it seem like everything was possible, “This is an attention grab because he’s not coming to Golden State.”
It’s easy to make fun of the Warriors for making Podziemski “untouchable” in Giannis trade talks but the reality is that they probably aren’t even trying to trade for him.
After trading for Butler mid-season, the Warriors were solid playoff contenders before Steph Curry’s injury ruined their whole season.
The focus in the Bay Area will be fine-tuning the rough edges of the roster and then focusing on a training camp with the full roster.
The Warriors had to struggle to make the playoffs this season after a slow start, something which Draymond Green said was a reason behind their struggles.
If they’re fit, healthy and sharp, then there’s no reason why they would need to blow it up and create chaos within by making a futile attempt at landing the Milwaukee Bucks superstar.
