The Golden State Warriors are in the running to land Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as the Feb. 5 trade deadline approaches. In fact, they've reportedly been the most aggresive team in trying to land the Greek Freak, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. The Warriors could make an all-in move to pair Giannis with Steph Curry, with no other player off-limits in order to make it happen. Sigel adds that Bucks general manager Jon Horst is "fascinated" by the young assets Golden State has to offer.
ESPN's Shams Charania recently reported that Milwaukee has submitted counteroffers for teams in the Giannis Sweepstakes. Our best guess is that Milwaukee holds onto Giannis past the deadline and reevaluates potential trades in the offseason when teams have more roster flexibility and, in general, more to offer.
But whether it's by Feb. 5 or this upcoming summer, the Portland Trail Blazers should absolutely not want Giannis to head to the Bay Area.
A Giannis-Warriors trade is the last thing the Western Conference needs
The Western Conference is already loaded enough as is, with the Blazers trying to catch the Warriors for the eighth seed. With a 37-year-old Curry, an injured Jimmy Butler, and another aging star in Draymond Green, it appeared like the Warriors' window was finally closing, giving the Blazers one less team to worry about in the future. If they manage to land a 31-year-old Giannis still in his prime -- and there's a realistic chance they do pull it off -- that suddenly extends the Warriors' window for at least five more years.
A Giannis-Warriors trade wouldn't be ideal for any team out west, but particularly the Blazers, given their connection to the Bucks. Portland has expressed its own interest in acquiring Giannis despite his disinterest in joining the Blazers. They could make a compelling offer by returning those draft picks received in the Damian Lillard trade. But because Giannis doesn't want to come, it was always likely that Portland would get involved to facilitate a trade in which he lands elsewhere.
That still was a prime opportunity for the Blazers to come away with a secondary piece in exchange for some of that draft capital. Jaden McDaniels was one player we were interested in if Giannis went to Minnesota, for example. But the Warriors, despite the Bucks' interest in their young assets, don't have that up-and-coming player worth surrendering any of that valuable draft capital for. Jonathan Kuminga still has red flags, while Brandin Podziemski has seemingly plateaued as nothing more than a role player.
That's why this would be a lose-lose scenario for Portland. The West only gets stronger with yet another juggernaut emerging, but they don't even come away with an opportunity to upgrade their roster to help catch up. The silver lining would be that they'd still have those Bucks picks to fall back on, but that's a lot of eggs to put into the same basket of a team with no incentive to tank at that point.
Of course, the dream is Giannis landing in PDX. But realistically, the best we can hope for is him staying far, far away. The Blazers already have enough superstars to worry about in the West.