Is Giannis Antetokounmpo a realistic option for the Utah Jazz this offseasonn?
By Chad Porto
The Milwaukee Bucks are on the verge of being bounced out of the playoffs by a frankly underperforming Indiana Pacers squad. Their star, Tyrese Haliburton has been frankly awful all series, shooting under 30% from three, while taking 8.5 per night, and 24 in just his last two games. He's averaging just 15.8 points per game against the Bucks and somehow, the Pacers are still up three games to one.
The Bucks have been without Giannis Antetokounmpo since the start of the playoffs, and Damian Lillard has missed some time to. They're not a bad team but with their stars hurt and Doc Rivers their coach, not many people have the Bucks moving on to the second round of the playoffs.
Despite landing Lillard, this has been the season from hell for the Bucks, and it seems like they may be ready to blow everything up if Antetokounmpo asks for a trade. With how things have gone as of late for the club, it's not surprising. Sure, this is partly Antetokounmpo's fault (and guys like Kris Middleton), as the more money NBA stars demand, the less cash there is to field a competitive team around them. Antetokounmpo is set to make $60 million at some point in his current contract and the Bucks already can't field a good enough team around him.
Imagine what's going to happen then? Antetokounmpo asking out is a likelihood, though not a guarantee and if he asks out, guys like SLCDunk want to see the Utah Jazz go in on him. It's not the worst idea, but the issue that is plaguing the Bucks will eventually plague the Jazz too, the Jazz will have to replace their more expensive role players with guys they draft, but to acquire Antetokounmpo in the first place, they're going to have to break the bank.
There's no doubt he's one of the three best players in the league when healthy, but could a team of him and Lauri Markkanen really get the job done? Plus, he's about to turn 30, and he's breaking down more and more. He'll be 35 when his contract expires and he'll play the final two years with over $60 million per season owed to him. That's not exactly an ideal long-term situation to attach yourself to.
At least for the draft capital cost, it'll take to land him. You run the risk of turning yourselves into the Phoenix Suns if you're not careful. If the Bucks end up giving Antetokounmp for three or even four draft picks, and a couple of players (Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh), then ok, let's make it work. Anything more than that and you have to be real sure you can add talent at a discount around the forwards then.
Which is, historically, something NBA teams can't do.