Is the Warriors’ “substantial offer” for Giannis Antetokounmpo enough?
The Golden State Warriors have discussed with the Milwaukee Bucks “their willingness to put a substantial offer on the table,” including as many as five first-round draft picks, for Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
The Warriors own unprotected first-round picks in 2026, 2028 and 2032, plus a top-20 pick in 2030 (due to the Washington Wizards if it drops from 21-30) and a swap of first-round picks.
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The Bucks have expressed interest in 23-year-old Jonathan Kuminga since the summer, and 22-year-old Brandin Podziemski “could also help move the needle,” Slater reported. Jimmy Butler’s contract, which will pay him $56.8 million next season, would almost certainly be required to match salaries in any offer for Antetokounmpo.
In fact, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, the Warriors let the Bucks know that a similar package was available for Antetokounmpo, even before ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that the two-time NBA MVP “is ready for a new home.”
This is the first of several “aggressive offers” made to the Bucks that has been detailed.
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Why might Milwaukee be interested? For starters, Kuminga is an exceptional talent, capable of scoring 20 points per game and doing so in the playoffs. There are questions about whether he can do it for a winning team, as the Warriors have benched him for significant stretches, even when they needed a wing contributor who exactly fits his description.
Surely there are more attractive young people on the market than Kuminga or Podziemski. The Houston Rockets, for example, have Alperen Şengün or Amen Thompson to anchor an offer, though their level of interest in parting with either player is not yet known.
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Still, those draft picks — the last of which will drop when Golden State’s Stephen Curry turns 44 — are awfully tempting. They’re less appealing knowing that Antetokounmpo will be around 35 for most of that time, but that’s also the case for most interested teams.
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The Atlanta Hawks, on the other hand, control the top pick between Milwaukee and the New Orleans Pelicans in June’s draft, and it could be better than any pick the Warriors could offer. Atlanta also has more talented young players than Kuminga to offer.
We don’t yet know how aggressive the Hawks will become.
The reason why the Warriors would want this deal is a little more obvious. It’s a chance to pair Antetokounmpo with Curry, another two-time MVP. The Bucks outscore opponents by 9.9 points per 100 possessions whenever Antetokounmpo shares the floor with sharpshooter AJ Green. Imagine what Golden State could do with Curry in place of Green.
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It’s unclear how Antetokounmpo would respond to playing in Golden State, though if his past actions and comments are any indication — he once selected Stephen Curry first in the All-Star draft — it seems clear he would relish the chance to play with him again.
The Warriors’ motivations for such a bold move — which would severely limit their flexibility going forward — became clear once Butler suffered a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. With that injury went any chance that Golden State could compete again in the Curry era, except for a Hail Mary.
This is the Hail Mary. As Warriors executive Mike Dunleavy Jr. told reporters in the wake of Butler’s injury, “If there’s a great player to be had, we have everything in the war chest that we would be willing to use.” Whether the Bucks are convinced of this is another question.