Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols break down how Giannis Antetokounmpo has forced the tanking Bucks to play him and what the team will do with him in the offseason
To a team that is not going to win the Eastern Conference or get anywhere, uh, the Milwaukee Bucks are officially, no faith, they're eliminated.They're officially eliminated from playoff contention, play in contention, uh, not a good year in Milwaukee.
Lots of injury issues, of course, most notably to Giannis Takumpo, but this team, uh, feels like it was snakebitten from day one now.You have been a long advocate to not trade him anywhere.Keep him until he asks out, but it sure seems like there is overwhelming momentum building towards a Giannis trade. You had Wes Edens, the co-owner of the team, telling Ramona Shelburne over at ESPN acknowledging the obvious.Now, who has the final say there?But ultimately, whoever's in charge is gonna have the same decision to make. Do you keep Giannis going into a walk year, which makes no sense, or do you look to deal him to the highest bidder? And based on everything we've seen this year, I have a hard time seeing the Bucks doing anything but auctioning Giannis off at the end of the season. I'm sure that there are scenarios being spun in the Bucks office to use their multiple first-round draft picks they're gonna have on draft night, some of the tradable assets that they still have on their books to go out there and try one more time. To get a difference-making star, but it just feels like John Horst, who has been a wizard in that front office, who has accomplished so much in a small market over the last 6 years, going back to, you know, acquiring Drew Holiday to help them win that championship, it just feels like he's played all of his cards.Bucks, yeah, look, I actually had a lengthy one on one chat with Giannis when they were here in LA, and I think that what's been so fascinating about the Giannis situation really for the last year and a half is that we have gotten to see so much more of it than as fans or media we usually get to see so many more of these conversations are internal usually. And I think what has gotten everyone having an opinion and people sometimes being frustrated is that they're like, well, does he want to stay or doesn't he want to stay? You're hearing Giannis's actual internal debate in real time throughout all of this, and I think that's unusual for a player, and he does want to stay, and he also wants to go be on a competitive team.I think it is a hard decision for him and I think that in talking to him, in talking to people around the team, I have never seen it this strained between the Bucks and their star player.I think the fact that that interview was given , it's a great get from Ramona Shelburne, and she wrote a fantastic story as usual, but I think there was a little bit of like, why are we talking about this in public from multiple sides at that point. I, I just, we have seen all of this play out publicly in real time, and I think that is why it feels so exhausting because usually these conversations are held behind closed doors.To show the fan base that he loves them, and I think he does.It's just there doesn't seem to be a pathway right now, and everything he's done and the people around him have done over the last year has been to say one thing publicly and then behind the scenes kind of sort of do something else.The union comes out and is saying like they, they're saying stuff but they need to play him , but like, and Giannis is saying, I wanna play, but there's been no grievance filed with the NBA. So it's like the It's like he's just, he's, he's messaging to the Bucks fans that he wants to be out there.It's like I'm, I'm, I'm, I mean, I think, I think the PA statement was sort of the next escalation. Yeah, but the next escalation is like, are you gonna really file a grievance and say they're not letting me play, I, I don't think it's gonna get to that point.Yeah, but I mean that's incendiary to do.Doing the right thing here.What if he hurts himself?I would not be surprised to see him on a different team starting next season. However, I think you always have to leave that window open because he does want to stay if things were different.Pathway and every time they've done something that has made him believe that they can be a sustainable winner, he's re-upped with them, re-ups with them after the Drew Holiday acquisition, re-ups with them and didn't wait to for them to win.He was like, Great, you did, you did help them that season.I needed a full team this year, but he's not wrong in that the noise probably adversely affected the Bucks this year. All the noise around Giannis, every two weeks having the same conversation about whether or not Giannis ultimately wants to be there.Um, and then Damian Lillard, the same thing kind of happens.I mean, maybe Horst is that good at his job. He did it with Miles Turner, and the Bucks ownership has proven they'll eat whatever they gotta eat to, to make a big deal happen.Like, can you package Kuzma, Bobby Portis, multiple draft picks and get what?I, I just, even still, that's one of those like I don't, I don't know what the, the out is there. I think, I think when we get to the true offseason you're gonna see a bidding war like we've never seen before.Well, that's the question I have for you is, are we gonna see a bidding war like we've never seen before, or are some of these naysay are some of these naysayers who are out there saying, oh.He's not worth that much because of the injuries.Um, the injuries are very much a concern, uh, especially the type of injury, the repetitiveness of the injury, but I think there are enough teams out there that look at Giannis as being the guy that can push them over the top.Think about Giannis with the Heat.The price to astronomical numbers. I just think 4, and there could be other teams out there that could easily get into the mix when this postseason dust settles.I think waiting until the true offseason is gonna yield a much better return. I think, I, I just think , you know, I, I hate to see it because he is such a legacy player and he's done so much for that city and so much for that franchise.And I think for Milwaukee, you're better off long term doing it. We might disagree on that one, but I think like, hey, like if you can get 3 or 4 first-round picks, 1 blue chip prospect , some expiring contracts to have some flexibility, all of a sudden you, you spend the next couple of years accumulating draft picks and you, you rebuild that way. I, I think you're in a better position long term anyway, because Giannis to me is like, does his game age particularly well?Um, you know, if that explosiveness only lasts for 2 or 3 more years, I, I think he's got 3 great years left in him, 3 great years, which could help a team like the Lakers, like the Rockets, like the Heat, like the Knicks, like somebody else that could put them over the top with the Bucks. I, I just, even in the Eastern Conference, I don't see a, a scenario where they can get an upgrade that's good enough to make them better even with a healthy Giannis.I'd love to see a guy stay his whole career with the team, especially a guy as close to the city as he is to Milwaukee, and I think it's, as I said, just every time I've spoken with him, it just feels that the stuff we are getting. In the public sphere is just his internal debate inside and it's not him playing games as much as it is him being genuinely conflicted about what to do next completely agree, yeah, I look, the, and he said this before, he's done some great interviews, um, where it's like if I.Like he wants to win multiple championships badly.But maybe when these lottery odds get changed and everything, then, then, hey, everybody can win everything all the time.That'll be like a I, I can say I ran by him a couple of the things that have been said about him like, oh, he wants to go to a city, a bigger, a bigger city, a bigger market.He said, that's not true, that's not true.You know, again, his first priority is, is to see if there's a way to play in Milwaukee, but otherwise it didn't seem as if he has a set.I mean, if you could trade him to Oklahoma City, I think he'd probably go there. Like, you know, I don't, I don't know if that fits what Oklahoma City's doing, but like any location.He stays there. There's also something to be said for if they do part ways this summer, however it ends up happening, whoever asks for what or whatever, whoever lays down whatever ultimatum. You know, it gives him more control over where he goes, and that is sort of, you know, if we are going to have a Giannis in the league, it would be good to see him be able to be in the playoffs and be in good places. If he signs an extension, they can't trade him for a year, but after that, if somebody comes to the front office and decides, or, you know, the owners change in that city, they rotate every 3 years or something like that, like someone could, you know, ship.I mean, someone could ship him off somewhere where he doesn't compete for anything ever.Having some agency and where he goes this summer by the fact that he will only have a year left on his deal. Whoever wants to give up big, big, big assets for him will want an agreement that an extension can be signed, and he could go forward with a team that's a contender.You never know.Thank you very much.
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