What happens with Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer will dictate the course of the Milwaukee Bucks' offseason. A blockbuster trade could trigger ripple effects across the roster. Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner, and Bobby Portis would all be candidates to follow Giannis out the door.Â
Point guard Ryan Rollins should not be. That would seem to go without saying. The former Wizards and Warriors outcast is coming off a Most Improved Player-caliber season. He will only turn 24 in July. His full potential has to be unlocked.Â
Bleacher Report sees it differently, naming Atlanta as an ideal Rollins destination in the case of a Giannis trade. It makes sense from the Hawks' view. Rollins would join a playoff contender and Atlanta would land a gem.Â
More puzzling is the argument from Milwaukee's perspective:
"If and when the Milwaukee Bucks split from Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason, they should immediately enter asset-accumulation mode. While a megadeal for the two-time MVP should help restock the cupboard, Milwaukee might need to move Rollins as well to really maximize its chances of hitting a bull's-eye with its draft board dart throws."
Rollins has too much promise himself to redeem for scratch-off tickets
While that proposal might fly in the world of game theory, it would be self-defeating in reality. If anything, flipping Rollins makes less sense, not more, if the Greek Freak heads elsewhere.
Rollins is already an asset himself, a near bull's eye hit as a former two-way player acquired off the streets. In the first year of a three-year, $12 million contract, the Toledo product averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 47.2 percent from the floor and 40.6 percent from three. He is an active playmaker in on-ball defense.
That is outstanding value on his current contract, even assuming Rollins declines his 2027-28 player option. He is one prospect the Bucks should make every effort to extend before next season expires.
Look at it this way. Giannis, Turner, Kuzma, and Portis could all be gone by the 2027 trade deadline. All in all, they will account for over $120 million next year. The Bucks could turn most of it into salaries that expire within the next two seasons. They would still have to pay someone in order to meet the salary cap floor. They might as well use a chunk of cap space on Rollins.Â
Bucks should see a future building block, not just another trade chipÂ
Even in the dark ages of a post-Giannis era, the Bucks would still require some seed of hope, some NBA-caliber professionals to fill up the box score and lend a degree of dignity to the team's nightly efforts. Fans need some reason to watch. Fiserv Forum has over 17,000 seats to be filled.Â
Securing Rollins for the long haul would provide a sense of direction in a bleak period of Bucks basketball. There has to be a path forward - a foundation from which to reconstruct the roster - and it won't come from the draft alone.Â
Milwaukee controls none of its first-round picks until 2031. The Bucks can't go full out on a tank. Anyway, that's no longer such a viable approach with anti-tanking measures set to take effect next year.Â
Rollins is meant to be a core piece of the future, whether that includes Giannis or not. Especially, in fact, if it doesn't. Parting with a prospect of his caliber would only make any sense at all in the right deal for the right star to pair with Antetokounmpo on a contender.Â
Barring an unexpectedly generous return (think multiple solid-value first-rounders and a capable rotation piece), anything Milwaukee could get in exchange for Rollins would come up short. There is too much present and future value to be gained from locking him in as a key member of the next iteration of the roster.
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