The Portland Trail Blazers have some leverage in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes that is potentially unfolding this summer after acquiring valuable draft capital from Milwaukee as part of the blockbuster Damian Lillard deal.
But it doesn't sound like Giannis is the one they will be cashing in these picks for, as the interest may not be mutual.
Howard Beck joined The Zach Lowe Show, discussing potential landing spots for Antetokounmpo.
"Does he have a list? I poked around a little bit a few days ago, and the initial thing I got from one person was just like some rumblings that it's already just the big cities: One of the LA teams or one of the New York teams or maybe Miami, not a big market, but a glamour market, mid-size market," said Beck.
Portland may be too small of a city and market for Giannis
That's not what Blazers fans wanted to hear, as Portland is a below-average-sized city and market in NBA terms.
Giannis is under contract until 2026-27, with a $62.8 million player option the following season. So the odds of Portland sending Milwaukee their picks back along with young talent to acquire Giannis aren't zero. However, one would assume that if Giannis prefers a big city, the Bucks would find a way to accommodate that request.
The Blazers are one example of a team that didn't send their disgruntled superstar to his top preferred landing spot, which was the Miami Heat for Lillard. But GM Joe Cronin found common ground, giving Lillard what at the time appeared to be a realistic shot at a championship without compromising Portland's return.
There are examples of surprise teams making an aggressive trade for a superstar who didn't necessarily want to go there -- the Raptors' 2019 championship run with Kawhi Leonard comes to mind. But unfortunately, it looks like if the Blazers get involved in a Giannis deal, it will be in a multi-team trade that gets Milwaukee their picks back.
Not only is Giannis the most coveted player on the market, but plenty of big-market teams are willing to sacrifice valuable assets to land him. Blazers fans are used to missing out on superstars' wish lists by now. Even when they landed Carmelo Anthony, he was 35 and had already been out of the league for over a year.
The silver lining is that it's still an extremely coveted position for the Blazers to be in as those picks continue to gain value after Milwaukee's early playoff flameout and Lillard's heartbreaking Achilles tear.
But their quest to secure a bona fide superstar to return to contending status will have to be kicked down the road.