Every summer, teams around the league try to lowball Giannis Antetokounmpo’s trade value. That came to a tipping point this month once trade rumors started swirling again. But Rich Paul basically shut all of that down, saying teams would need to send an All-Star caliber player on top of premium young talent and real draft capital to even get Milwaukee to pick up the phone.
Speaking on Game Over with Max Kellerman, the Klutch Sports CEO laid out exactly what the Bucks should expect in any Giannis trade. And it’s nowhere near the “Trae Young and a pick” packages floating around NBA Twitter.
"That's not right. No. With Giannis, it has to be it. It doesn't necessarily have to be a star because you're not getting a star back, per se. Maybe you could. Let me say you're not getting a star back to the level of a Giannis. You're not getting an MVP caliber. You're not getting Luka [Doncic]. You're not getting [Nikola] Jokic. You're not getting Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]. You can get an All-Star back. You need an All-Star back," he said.
Rich Paul might have just unknowingly boosted Giannis' leverage
That’s a massive contrast to the take ESPN’s Brian Windhorst dropped earlier this week, which stated that stars in their 30s with injuries won’t command huge packages anymore.
For Paul, that couldn't be farther from the truth for a player of Giannis Antetokounmpo's caliber. And he’s right.
The Bucks are where they are in the standings, sure, but Giannis isn’t some fading vet. He’s 31 years old, still putting up 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game, and still an MVP-level force. Any team that gets him becomes a contender the moment he arrives in town.
But what made that take really interesting is that Paul, a respected agent representing a litany of players around the association, even named names. "If I'm the Bucks, I'm looking at young player, high character, high talent, high IQ assets, and maybe some, you know, ancillary guys. I'm calling Atlanta. And I want Jalen Johnson. He's from Milwaukee," he said.
While nobody’s pretending Johnson is anywhere near Giannis, he is the type of centerpiece who could jumpstart a rebuild: a 6-foot-9 do-everything forward who can pass, defend multiple spots, finish at the rim, and still has a ton of ceiling left.
Pair him with the future high lottery return from Atlanta, and whatever young pieces they pry in other deals, and suddenly, Milwaukee isn’t stuck in the mud. They’re actually building something around a surging 23-year-old blue-chip wing instead of trying to salvage what's left of a bygone era.
That’s why Paul said the Bucks should walk in with real demands, and that should be the big takeaway for Bucks fans. It was just a podcast episode, but someone with Rich Paul’s position and influence around the association saying this out loud should at the very least be a slight indication of where the league actually stands with Giannis. His market hasn’t tanked, and teams shouldn't be landing him unless they unload something that hurts in return.
If anything, this should give the Bucks even more leverage. They don’t want to trade Giannis. Giannis and his representation may have opened conversations about his future, but he hasn’t asked out. And in the unlikely scenario where Milwaukee ever needed to consider offers, the league doesn’t get to stroll in with half-baked packages acting like Giannis is some mid-tier aging star. And the Bucks shouldn't be rushing to satisfy Giannis' own destination demands.
Rich Paul spelled out the truth: if you want Giannis, you better come with the correct package for him.
And he had some very specific landing spots in mind.
"I'm calling Cleveland. You have to call San Antonio, although I don't know if Giannis and Wemby works together. I don't know what you actually get from New York. You can also call Brooklyn who has a lot of draft picks. And you can also call OKC. If I'm the Bucks, I'm trying to get something back in draft capital," Paul said.