Danny Green pitches Bucks' next risky plan to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo happy

Giannis Antetokounmpo remained with the Milwaukee Bucks through the trade deadline, but it is far from controversial to think that those conversations will pick back up in the summer. If the Bucks are looking to keep Giannis committed, they will have to prove to him that they can compete. History has shown that for Milwaukee, that means trading for a proven star to complement the Greek Freak.

Three-time NBA Champion and current ESPN analyst Danny Green gave his two cents on what the Bucks should do. Obviously, he thinks Milwaukee will scour the market for big names, but the specific one he name-dropped was Kawhi Leonard. Green thinks his former teammate could keep Giannis in town with the Bucks for the time being.

"If you want to keep him, you've got to go out in the market and find somebody that can keep him there. If I'm the Milwaukee Bucks, I'm monitoring what the Clippers are doing with the Kawhi situation. If you can get a player like Kawhi, or someone similar to that, that can keep Giannis home."

A trade for Kawhi is realistic, but not without concerns

Would Kawhi Leonard help the Milwaukee Bucks? Absolutely. Since Khris Middleton's injury concerns started piling up in 2022, Milwaukee has been plagued by a lack of small forward depth. Even with the emergence of Ousmane Dieng, getting a piece like Kawhi to patch this issue would be welcoming, as the Bucks would now have one of the best two-way players in the entire business.

While Kawhi comes with his own injury concerns, he's still one of the best players in the world when he is healthy. On the season, he's averaging a career-high 27.9 points to go with 6.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. A player capable of putting up numbers like that next to Giannis could form one of the NBA's most formidable two-way tandems.

As Green hinted at, it will be worth monitoring Leonard this summer. At the trade deadline, LA made the shocking decision to trade both James Harden and Ivica Zubac. Plenty of people thought it was possible that Leonard would also be dealt, but he stayed put. Perhaps the Clippers will analyze the trade market this summer and see what they could get.

With three tradeable first-rounders and a significant amount of salary from players like Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis, it's reasonable to believe that Milwaukee would at least check in.

As alluded to, the problem is that the Bucks would inherit Leonard's injury concerns. He has played in over 60 games just once since the 2019-20 season, which included missing an entire year due to a torn ACL. At 34, he isn't getting any younger. Do the Milwaukee Bucks want to sell the farm for a piece like Leonard that comes with that big of a risk? It's up for debate.

Could it get Giannis to sign the dotted line on an extension? Possibly. If so, the Bucks will undoubtedly explore acquiring Kawhi or another star player this summer.

Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.