Interesting West team emerging as Giannis Antetokounmpo trade suitor
Apr 3, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) gets ready to play the Memphis Grizzlies at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Giannis Antetokounmpo might just pull a Moses Malone and play for both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Houston Rockets.
Veteran NBA writer Marc Stein reported to his Substack page this week that rival teams are beginning to consider the Rockets as a possible trade suitor for the Bucks superstar Antetokounmpo. Stein cites Houston’s combination of “rising prospects and draft picks” that they would potentially be able to offer to Milwaukee in a trade package.
The Rockets, who are the third-best team in the West this season at 10-3, look ready to enter their window of contention. They also do indeed have a very compelling group of talent to offer, including young studs Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun (both 22), lengthy high-motor athletes Tari Eason (23), Jabari Smith Jr. (21), and Amen Thompson (21), and unproven high-ceiling youngsters Cam Whitmore and Reed Sheppard (20). Win-now veterans like Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Steven Adams could also hypothetically be thrown into a trade package as filler.
As for the former MVP Antetokounmpo, still only 29, he remains under contract with Milwaukee through at least 2027. Though the Bucks would obviously prefer to keep him, they have a rapidly aging core and are just 4-9 this season. We also recently learned of one circumstance under which they would consider trading The Greek Freak.
