The Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes have tipped off in earnest with ESPN's Shams Charania revealing that the Milwaukee Bucks are now considering suitors' "aggressive offers" in earnest. Giannis is reportedly ready to move on. What would they get back for him in a trade? Per Charania, the Bucks will accept nothing less than a "blue-chip young talent" and/or a boatload of draft picks.
Bucks have set a clear bar for interested teams
If no one ponies up an offer, the Bucks are content to wait until the summer to find Giannis a new home, Charania says. If he remains in Milwaukee past the trade deadline, it would be surprising to see him play many more games this year.
After suffering a calf strain in Denver, Giannis himself provided a four-to-six-week estimate for his return, but the team said nothing definite about a potential timetable. Whether he's here past February 5 or not, it's quite possible Giannis has played his last game as a Milwaukee Buck.
Rather than swinging a big move as buyers, the Bucks will now focus on maximizing the return package for Antetokounmpo. In theory, half the league might want to get involved in the sweepstakes, and Charania reports that "several teams" have made offers. The question is which suitors can actually meet Milwaukee's demands.
The Miami Heat are a team everyone is watching, not only because of their long-standing interest in acquiring Giannis but also because they have the requisite assets. Any package built around young center Kel'el Ware plus a bucket of first-round picks is one the Bucks would have to consider.
Atlanta is another Eastern Conference team with the ammunition to present a realistic offer. Owning New Orleans' 2026 first-rounder or Milwaukee's, depending on how the lottery odds shake out, they have an extremely valuable asset to serve as the centerpiece in a trade.
If the Bucks do not regain control of their own upcoming picks, tanking beyond this season becomes a less feasible approach. While they can still benefit from draft position in 2025-26, they do not control their own first-rounder until 2031. That could make acquiring an established young talent the more important element of any incoming haul.
While other teams' distant draft picks could have enormous value, the Bucks would not be able to capitalize on them directly far off in the future. Those picks could, however, be used to bring in other, immediately helpful pieces via trade. Wallowing at the bottom of the league in the meantime would provide limited benefits.
Ideally, the Bucks will get both: a piece of their future core to go alongside draft assets, either own or high-value picks from the receiving team. They could still benefit from receiving first-rounders in '26 and '27, to help kickstart the rebuild. The real value of another team's draft capital, though, would be concentrated in picks fairly far down the road, when Giannis will be past his prime or gone altogether, giving the Bucks a high likelihood of lottery selections to use for their own benefit.