NBA insider Jake Fischer recently named the Portland Trail Blazers as a surprise team in on the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. They've been viewed as a facilitator in any potential Giannis trade with the Bucks looking to regain control of their 2028-30 draft picks that the Blazers acquired in the Damian Lillard trade. But the Blazers don't want to just be involved in the deal. They want Giannis.
"The Blazers themselves are trying to get into the mix to bring Giannis Antetokounmpo to Portland to play alongside his former teammate Damian Lillard," Fischer said on a Bleacher Report livestream. He also adds that Lillard has "been behind the scenes" trying to get the Greek Freak to PDX.
Damian Lillard is helping Blazers' pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo
Thanks to the leverage they have with those valuable Bucks picks, the Blazers can put together an extremely competitive offer. Milwaukee wants to rebuild if it were to trade Giannis, and the easiest way to achieve that would be to regain control of its own draft.
Fischer mentions the pathway to acquiring Giannis would also be simple for Portland from a financial perspective. Giannis makes $54.1 million this season, which the Blazers could match with a combination of Jerami Grant's $32 million and some mid-tier salaries.
Scoot Henderson, Robert Williams III, and Matisse Thybulle are all in that $10-13 million range and would be easy to move. Milwaukee could want to take a flyer on Scoot reaching his upside as a former No. 3 overall pick, while Time Lord and Thybulle are both on expiring deals.
But the Blazers are in a unique spot in the Giannis sweepstakes; their biggest hurdle isn't the offer they can make; it's that Giannis doesn't want to come here. Portland is the exact opposite landing spot he's looking for: a small market, rainy weather, and, for what it's worth, a long plane ride from Greece.
Although landing Giannis still appears to be a pipe dream with just days to go until the Feb. 5 deadline, you can't rule out the Blazers entirely. They should be considered a dark horse given their unique connections to Giannis and the Bucks, both in terms of the draft capital and former teammates.
Hopefully, Dame can work his magic and convince Giannis they have unfinished business after the dynamic duo fell short in Milwaukee. But Giannis is also under contract next season with a player option in 2027-28. The Blazers seem to be trying to land him regardless of his level of interest. Even with no guarantees, that could be a worthwhile bet. They'd have an entire year to convince Giannis, a superstar with a loyal reputation, to stay and contend in Portland.
They'll eventually have to take a swing to elevate their ceiling to become genuine contenders, and this may be their only shot at landing a top-five player in the world.