Everyone hoping for clarity on Giannis Antetokounmpo's future is going to be disappointed, because it's looking like none of it's stopping before the summer. NBA insider Jake Fischer just confirmed what most around the league already suspected: this saga is dragging out for months, not weeks.
"We still have five plus weeks to go before the deadline. Most people right now are operating with the assumption that both Giannis and [Anthony Davis] would probably more likely than not be sticking around their teams and potentially just have their trade situations be resolved in the summer, because, especially for Giannis, that's when teams that would be happy to buy would have access to more draft capital and there's just more creative flexibility from a salary matching standpoint," Fischer reported over Bleacher Report's Insider Notebook.
In short, this uncertainty isn't ending at the February deadline. Milwaukee's nightmare scenario of endless Giannis speculation is now extending through the playoffs and into the offseason.
Bucks fans will deal with the Giannis trade saga for a while longer
If what Fischer has heard from around the association is true, teams interested in acquiring Giannis don't have the assets available right now to put together competitive offers. Draft picks are locked up, salary matching is complicated, and nobody wants to gut their roster mid-season.
But come summer, suddenly those same teams have access to draft capital they couldn't trade at the deadline. Sign-and-trades become possible, and creative salary matching opens up options that don't exist in the first quarter's compressed timeline. The market for Giannis expands dramatically once the offseason arrives.
Of note, one specific example Fischer mentioned by name is Miami, which only has two draft picks to trade at the moment, but will see that number double once the NBA calendar shifts to next season. That's more than enough to, at the very least, put together a viable, competitive package for the two-time MVP.
"I think if Milwaukee is moving on from Giannis inevitably, I think they're going to be moving far more towards a, 'what big, blue chip prospect, what absolutely haul draft capital are we going to get?' You don't want to downgrade in talent and upside from a 32-year-old from another 32-year-old if you're finally swallowing the tough pill of moving on from Giannis. I just don't see that happening," Fischer also said on Insider's Notebook.
But for now, fans are stuck in purgatory watching the Bucks lose games while waiting for their superstar to decide their fate.
Most people around the league think this drags on until summer. That means at least four more months of speculation, anonymous reports about Giannis' preferences, mock trades flooding social media, and debates about whether Milwaukee should trade him or ride it out.
It should also be said that this all comes down to Giannis and what he wants. He's already lashed out against questions on whether or not he wants to stay in Wisconsin. There's also that distinction he tried to draw between himself and his agents. Yet he also has yet to categorically deny ever wanting out.
So what this means is four more months of uncertainty while the Bucks try to salvage a season that's already circling the drain. Four more months of every win getting dismissed as too little too late, and every loss accelerating trade chatter.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talk isn't ending anytime soon. Fans ought to get comfortable with the discomfort, because this is going to be a long, miserable wait until summer finally brings resolution one way or another.