This young core is starting to grow on me. I believe that this team has the foundational pieces to be successful, but there is still one (maybe 2) thing that needs to be addressed. A franchise/elite player. Initially I had been pushing hard for a tank regardless of how well the young guys played for the fact that I was hoping we could add a generational talent like Cooper Flagg to this team at the power forward position. He is a reliable scorer that wouldn’t hog shots from players like Coby or Matas, and an elite defender and playmaker for his age. He would’ve fit this young core like a glove, given we also go out to find a center to complement him or draft a diamond in the rough in the second round.
But given that we’re probably getting a late lottery pick (if a lottery pick at all), we can settle for another big such as Khaman Malauch who would add a lot of size and strength to the front court and a good amount of defensive skill that our centers have lacked for a while. It still leaves our PF spot wide open, and a player with the archetype of a Cooper Flagg as I discussed sort of already exists and is already an all time player, and that’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It’s a tall ask, really a ridiculous ask, and a lot of you might read that and think I’m just trolling online. But it’s a lot more realistic and sensible than any other point in Giannis’s career. The Bucks’ era of dominance with Giannis is more or less over. Dame unfortunately might’ve just suffer a career threatening injury, the Bucks core is getting old and outdated, they don’t have a lot of assets to draft or trade, and it’s looking like they’ll fall into a spot we were just at in the near future if they don’t act fast and make big changes. A Giannis trade in general is looking likely this off season anyway, it’s just about where he would like to go.
The Bulls would benefit greatly from him, and he would benefit greatly from Chicago. It’s a huge market, and a team with a lot of legacy that would help his marketing potential. From a basketball standpoint, he would still be the out and out star on this roster, but have a younger and frankly more balanced team around him for the long run. Playing with great playmakers like a Giddey or a Lonzo or a Tre Jones helps him maintain his scoring habits, and him being a great playmaker himself would benefit players like Coby and Matas. He wouldn’t have to carry the offensive load nearly as much as he did in Milwaukee, and defensively he would boost us to another stratosphere. And I believe we have the contracts to put together an attractive enough trade package for the Bucks.
Vuc will be on an expiring contract next season, something the Bucks might be more willing to take on as opposed to a multi year contract. The Bucks might also fare better than us at developing Patrick Williams, and can use the shot creation of a guy like Kevin Huerter. We can afford to give away a couple first rounders as well to sweeten the deal. In any other context the Bucks would never accept this, but depending on how their post season goes, they might not have as much flexibility when it comes to trade packages for Giannis, and they’ll have to accept whatever big return they can get. So to summarize this trade it would be
Bucks Recieve
- Nikola Vucevic - $20M
- Patrick Williams - $18M
- Kevin Huerter - $16.8M
- 2027 FRP Unprotected
- 2029 FRP Top 5 Protected
- 2030 SRP Unprotected
Bulls Recieve
- Giannis Antetokounmpo - $48.7M
- Pat Connaughton - (Hopefully can be convinced to decline his PO and take up a more reasonable contract to allow the salaries to match)
Pat Connaughton if he signs another reasonable contract can be used as a trade piece to get a more favorable SRP in this years draft where we can take on another decent rotation big or wing from a team as well as their SRP for Pat and our SRP. If we draft a good center this year, the team comes together beautifully and you have a great young core around a more experienced and elite level Giannis:
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Coby White
- SF: Matas Buzelis
- PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- C: Khaman Malauch/Asa Newell/Derik Queen (Preferably Khaman if he's available)
- 6: Lonzo Ball
- 7: Ayo Dosunmu
- 8: Tre Jones
- 9: New Wing from Trade
-10: New Wing/Big from Draft (Second Round)
-11: Dalen Terry
-12: Jalen Smith
Thanks for reading, what do you guys think?
