These five Giannis blockbusters would rock the NBA title race

It seems Giannis Watch has taken another turn.

Sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday that Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and his agent are having conversations with the franchise about the two-time MVP’s future — with Milwaukee or elsewhere.

Antetokounmpo, who the Bucks said suffered a right calf strain early in their win over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, will miss up to four weeks. But whether he is on the court or not, speculation about this saga’s next step will continue.

Where do things stand between player and franchise? Can general manager Jon Horst, who has never shied away from making deals to build around the Bucks superstar, swing another to bolster the supporting cast? And which landing spots make the most sense should Milwaukee open trade talks for Giannis?

Our NBA insiders examine the trade market and best potential fits for Antetokounmpo, including five deals that could reshape the 2026 NBA title race and beyond.

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Where the Giannis saga stands
Can Bucks build around Giannis?
Giannis to: ATL | NY | HOU | SA | GS

Where do Giannis and the Bucks stand right now?

A hush fell over Fiserv Forum only three minutes into Wednesday’s game against the Pistons, when Antetokounmpo crumpled to the court with a calf injury. And although the Bucks believe they have avoided the worst-case scenario — coach Doc Rivers said the team has ruled out an Achilles injury — they will still wait for MRI results to see how long their star will be sidelined.

Before the game, Rivers vehemently denied the idea that the team and Antetokounmpo have begun discussing the next steps, pointing to the Bucks’ current skid — Wednesday was just their second win in the past 10 games — as the reason Antetokounmpo’s future was in question.

Speculation also swirled around Antetokounmpo because he recently cleared out his social media feed, although a source close to him told ESPN he had done so a few weeks ago, not in response to the team’s recent struggles.

Milwaukee has believed a strong season would be enough to quell speculation, but the team went 0-4 when their two-time MVP was sidelined last month with a groin injury.

Sources within the organization told ESPN on Wednesday they were hopeful that when Antetokounmpo and Kevin Porter Jr. are healthy, the Bucks could start playing better in the coming weeks. And they saw some proof of that when Milwaukee rallied for a victory behind 26 points from Porter with Antetokounmpo sidelined.

“I think [Giannis] will be proud of us that we were able to come back and finish the game, get a win,” Porter said after the contest.

Still, the rest of the league will be monitoring Milwaukee closely. Sources from several teams told ESPN they were meeting soon to discuss a potential trade package for Antetokounmpo, targeting Dec. 15, when players across the league who signed this past offseason can be moved.

One thing to keep in mind is that Antetokounmpo is eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million extension with Milwaukee or a team he is traded to starting on Oct. 1, 2026. A team trading for Antetokounmpo will need to have confidence that an extension is likely to happen before giving up significant players or draft picks. If there is no extension, Antetokounmpo will likely become a free agent in the 2027 offseason. — Jamal Collier

Can the Bucks still improve the roster around Giannis?

Don’t underestimate Horst when it comes to improving the roster around Antetokounmpo. Since 2020, Milwaukee has made 17 trades, including deals for Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard and Kyle Kuzma. With limited options this past summer, Horst took an unprecedented move, waiving and stretching the contract of Lillard to sign free agent center Myles Turner. As the Bucks tumble in the standings, and with Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee in question, Horst will be asked if there is yet another move to bolster the supporting cast.

It’s unlikely such a deal will be available.

While every player on the Bucks’ roster is eligible to be traded starting Dec. 15 except for Ryan Rollins and AJ Green — Rollins won’t be eligible until Jan. 15 and Green not at all — Milwaukee has boxed itself into a corner in terms of tradeable options.

The roster features 11 players earning between $2.2 million to $5.1 million, which leaves the Bucks with $60 million in contracts from Turner, Kuzma and Portis. All three players have at least two years remaining. More importantly, the Bucks don’t control their own first-round pick until 2031, leaving them with one tradeable first in that year’s draft or in 2032. Milwaukee sending Pat Connaughton to the Charlotte Hornets to make room to sign Turner has left the Bucks with no second-rounders.

One area of strength? The Bucks are below both luxury tax aprons enough to take back salary in a potential deal. They do owe $20.2 million to Lillard in each of the next five years, including this season. — Bobby Marks

Five Giannis trades that would shake up the title race

Atlanta Hawks get:

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Cole Anthony

Bucks get:

Trae Young
Zaccharie Risacher
2026 first-round pick (via better of Pelicans and Bucks)
2027 first-round pick (top-four protected, via worse of Pelicans and Bucks)
2029 first-round pick (top-four protected 2029 to 2031, unprotected in 2032 if not conveyed)
2031 first-round pick (top-four protected in 2031 if eligible, otherwise unprotected in 2032)

Note: Trade cannot be completed until Dec. 15

The Hawks have the unique ability to help Milwaukee regain its own picks as part of a post-Giannis rebuild. Technically, Atlanta controls only shares of picks from the Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans, who got them in the Jrue Holiday trade five years ago. However, the better of their two picks in 2026 could very well land in the top five and even the lesser of their 2027 selections should be solid.

Milwaukee would surely ask for Wisconsin native Jalen Johnson in trade talks, but I would hold the line there if I’m the Hawks. As is, they’re giving up a former No. 1 pick and a reasonable shot at another one in 2026, a worthy risk given the potential for Atlanta to become the East favorite with this trade. Sending out a budding star in Johnson, whose five-year, $150 million extension now looks like a bargain, for just two guaranteed years of Antetokounmpo in a non-glamour market would be too much to ask.

Flipping Young to a third team would probably make the most sense for the Bucks. In a worst-case scenario, however, Young’s contract would potentially give Milwaukee cap relief as soon as this summer. — Kevin Pelton

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Houston Rockets get:

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Thanasis Antetokounmpo

Bucks get:

Alperen Sengun
Fred VanVleet
2027 first-round pick (unprotected, via Suns)

With a 13-5 record, the No. 2 offense and the No. 3 defense in the league, the Rockets might not want to upset the apple cart. But if they could upgrade from Sengun to Antetokounmpo, they would have to at least consider it, given their chance to knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder and win a title this season and next.

For all of Sengun’s many strengths, his efficiency is still only average, while Antetokounmpo is one of the most efficient, highest-usage scorers in NBA history. He would fit perfectly in Houston’s physical, paint-based offense while still supplying the same sort of frontcourt playmaking as Sengun.

For Milwaukee, Sengun represents the best player it could realistically acquire in a trade: a 23-year-old offensive center who should make his second All-Star team this season. Partnering with Ryan Rollins in Milwaukee, Sengun would serve as the foremost building player for the next era of the Bucks, who they need given their lack of first-round picks in upcoming drafts. Houston likely wouldn’t want to offer many picks if they’re including Sengun in a deal, but a future unprotected first-rounder from Phoenix is enticing even if the Suns are playing better basketball this season. — Zach Kram

New York Knicks get:

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Jericho Sims

Bucks get:

Karl-Anthony Towns
Pacome Dadiet
Tyler Kolek
2026 first-round pick (top-eight protected, via Wizards; otherwise, second-round selections in 2026 and 2027)
2028 first-round swap (worse of Bucks or Trail Blazers for Knicks)
2030 first-round swap (worse of Bucks or Trail Blazers for Knicks)
2032 first-round swap

Note: Trade cannot be completed until Dec. 15

Let’s be clear: The Knicks, after trading five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges last year, have no chance of landing Giannis if the Bucks open trade talks with multiple teams. New York has to hope Antetokounmpo pegs it as his desired destination. The Knicks can no longer trade any of their own first-round picks, only swaps and one first-rounder from the Washington Wizards that is top-eight protected this year and converts to second-round picks if not conveyed.

Certainly, a New York offer would include significant talent. This construction uses Towns, an All-NBA third-team pick a year ago, as matching salary. Alternate packages would likely be built around OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. If for some reason Milwaukee wants to build the best team possible without Antetokounmpo, the Knicks can help it get there.

More realistically, the Bucks would need to find a taker for Towns, who would supply additional draft picks. New York’s first-round swaps hold some value for Milwaukee because they happen to fall in the same years the Bucks’ own first-rounder is swapped to the Portland Trail Blazers. So there’s a chance for Milwaukee to move back up even if the Knicks are higher in the standings those seasons. — Pelton

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San Antonio Spurs get:

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Bucks get:

Stephon Castle
Harrison Barnes
Kelly Olynyk
Jordan McLaughlin
2027 first-round pick (via Hawks)
2029 first-round pick
2032 first-round pick

Pairing Antetokounmpo with Victor Wembanyama would make for the most fascinating basketball experiment. The price to accelerate San Antonio’s timeline wouldn’t be cheap, costing a set of first-round picks and Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year.

Still, the potential to team up two MVP candidates in the frontcourt might be too great for the Spurs to resist. Since drafting Wembanyama, they’ve already traded future assets for one veteran All-Star, De’Aaron Fox, and Antetokounmpo is a much more valuable player than the former Kings point guard. If Wembanyama is healthy, a team with Fox, Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama — let alone rookie guard Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and standout reserves Luke Kornet and Keldon Johnson — could compete for the title this season. After all, the Spurs are 15-6 with Fox, Castle, Harper and Wembanyama all missing time. And the Giannis-Wemby pairing could dominate for the next several seasons.

Castle would be a prime pickup if the Bucks have to trade their two-time MVP, as he seemed in the midst of a sophomore leap before straining his left hip flexor last month. This deal would also allow them to refill some of their barren draft coffers — albeit not with their own picks. Milwaukee could additionally try flipping Barnes, a veteran having a solid season, for additional picks at the trade deadline. — Kram

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Golden State Warriors get:

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Thanasis Antetokounmpo

Bucks get:

Draymond Green
Jonathan Kuminga
Buddy Hield
2026 first-round pick
2028 first-round pick
2030 first-round pick (if 1 through 20)
2032 first-round pick

This would be a Hail Mary trade for both teams.

Milwaukee could give Kuminga plenty of runway to see if he’s a long-term keeper and reroute Green — a proven winner and still elite defender — to a contender and extract the maximal pick package from Golden State, hoping that some of those outlying picks could be extremely lucrative once Stephen Curry retires.

For the Warriors, a blockbuster trade would represent an attempt to break out of the funk that has plagued them this season. Adding Antetokounmpo would be a supercharged version of last season’s trade for Jimmy Butler III and create a championship-caliber core, potentially with enough depth behind that star trio to scare the Thunder and the West’s best teams.

Except for a partially protected pick they owe to the Wizards in 2030, the Warriors still possess all of their future first-rounders. They need to decide whether they’re holding onto those picks to build for a post-Curry future, or whether they want to go all-in to pry open Curry’s championship window one final time. — Kram

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The best trade for Milwaukee is …

The thinking in Milwaukee should be how to get two bites of the apple: players on controllable contracts that can help now and first-round picks to rebuild draft selections.

There is no incentive for the Bucks to enter a full-scale rebuild. Therefore, what Atlanta could offer — Young, Risacher and four first-rounders — would be too much to pass up.

The Hawks deal has tremendous appeal because the Pelicans’ first-round pick in June could easily end up at No. 1. Combined with their own, the Bucks would likely have two first-rounders in the lottery. The Bucks would also get three additional firsts in future years.

Risacher would give Milwaukee a big athletic wing it lacks and who isn’t eligible for an extension until the 2027 offseason. Any apprehension comes with the cost of Young’s next contract. He is eligible to sign up to a four-year, $229 million extension and can be a free agent in July if he declines his player option.

• Despite the Knicks’ inclusion of Towns, their offer should be a nonstarter due to the lack of first-rounders — aside from the Wizards’ top-eight protected pick in 2026 — headed to Milwaukee.

• The Warriors trade, meanwhile, is probably the best value when it comes to first-round picks. Even with Antetokounmpo, the roster will continue to age, leaving the first-rounders in 2028 and 2030 as possible lottery picks in a potential post-Curry era.

• A Spurs trade involving Castle gives the Bucks a player they can build around that has three years remaining on his rookie contract. Although Barnes is starting and having one of his better shooting seasons, he and Kelly Olynyk are salary filler. While there are three unprotected first-rounders included, the Bucks’ concern would be how much value the Spurs’ 2029 and 2032 first-rounders actually hold with Antetokounmpo, Wembanyama, Fox and Harper anchoring a chase for a title in San Antonio.

• Houston’s deal features Sengun as the best player included in any of the trades who also has four years left on a non-max contract. However, can he and Myles Turner play together, or is it best to do the trade and worry about that later? (The Bucks would have $60 million per season tied up in two centers.) VanVleet has a player option for next season and would give Milwaukee a starting-caliber point guard if he opted in. The 2027 first-rounder via Phoenix holds value because it is unprotected, but it could easily land outside of the lottery if the Suns’ start to this season is any indication of their trajectory.

— Marks