Is it a Texas Two-Step or No Dancing at All for Giannis and the Bucks?

Is it a Texas Two-Step or No Dancing at All for Giannis and the Bucks?

Are there only two landing spots for Giannis that make sense for both parties? And does that decrease the odds of him asking for a trade? Camille and I will take a look at that. And the Indiana Pacers refuse to go away as some of us warned you. That comes your way next on today’s Locked on Bucks. You are locked on Bucks. Your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome in to Locked On Bucks. I’m Justin Garcia, joined as always by Camille Davis. We thank you for making this your first listen of the day. Shouts to all the everydayers out there who have certainly left their thoughts on our most recent shows. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Uh, right now is the time for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, the Indiana Pacers won game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. We’ll get to our thoughts on that. There is um a former member of the Bucks who has announced his intentions to make a comeback and we’ll see what that means for not only him but potentially the Bucks. We’ll get to that a little bit later in the show as well. But we start things in the natural starting place for all of this offseason, not just for the Bucks, but for the NBA as well, Camille. And that is um the Giannis discourse, which in case you can’t pick up from a lot of our shows and the tone, I’m already growing quite tired of it. Um, but our guy Ben Thompson, who to all the tech uh fans out there, maybe you subscribe to Stretchery and consume Ben’s work, but he’s also very well known as a very, very vocal Bucks fan and somebody that’s caught the attention of Bill Simmons with appearances on his podcast the past few years. and he made another return appearance yesterday, two days ago to basically do the same thing we did and ask Bill what the hell was that moy for Giannis trade and push back on that. It it devolved into another thing that a lot of us have brought up. Why isn’t Giannis pretty well respected across the league and carrying the same reputation as a guy like Nicole Joic? But uh I would encourage any Bucks fan to listen to it. It is safe listening. It’s a guy that’s on your side. Um, but really the main point that came across is something that I know you, me, and Frank have talked about behind the scenes, if you will. I don’t know how deep we’ve gotten into it on on the show largely because of the fatigue that’s already around this Giannis trade topic. Um, but the notion of, well, is there really only two teams that make sense for both parties, for the Bucks and for Giannis? And in that sense, it makes more sense for the Bucks more so than Giannis, because let’s just start here. I think you would agree with this, Camille. If Giannis does in fact ask for a trade, it’s in his best interest to stay in the East, right? Yes. that’s going to be the easier pathway forward. Like we’ve mentioned it before, the East has gotten better over the last, you know, 5 10 years than what it was when LeBron was in his first Cleveland stint in the Eastern Conference. And even when you get to like the the beat the Heedles and all of that stuff, but the West is still a much deeper conference than what the East is. And with the way that the draft lottery is set up, it seems also like a lot of the young talent, some of the top talent coming into the league, projected top talent, is also going to land in the West as well. So like, yeah, that pathway forward to a championship, it’s an easier pathway to get there in the Eastern Conference. Even though, as I mentioned, it’s not as bad as it was before, I just think it’s not like the top teams and then like just trash after that anymore. It feels like you might have a couple of teams you see as contenders in the East and then like though that those teams underneath that it’s a bigger group of like on the right day they can take you out and depending on the matchups you might not match up well with them like again Orlando’s Detroit uh you can put the Bucks in there if you wanted to. What’s Philly going to be this upcoming season? The Hawks when Jaylen Johnson comes back healthy after what they established this year. like there’s some there’s some teams in there where it’s like not as scary as like you know the the the Spurs or anything like that on the other side, but it’s some challenges but just not as many as in the West. So yeah, I think the best interest for Giannis to get back to the finals would be to stay in the East. Yeah, the the East has gotten deeper. Um that’s but it’s not elite depth. So, the Celtics we anticipate are are maybe in a better spot than the Bucks, but in that area, assuming the Bucks bring back their full group, like Bucks and Celtics are are probably in the five, six range next season, maybe seven for the Bucks. Um, but you have all these other teams that have started to ascend. The Indiana Pacers are three wins away from the NBA Finals. We keep touting the Magic every year and saying, “Well, eventually they’re going to find offense and then that team’s going to be something to deal with.” The Cavs have started to build something, even though they’ve had some disappointing postseason exits. And you look at what the Knicks are doing. So, I think there’s more depth. We we didn’t even mention what Philly could look like with the third pick. And is this the time that Joel Embiid comes back healthy? So they they do have more depth with quality teams, but it’s it’s not the elite depth that the Western Conference has. Like I I would equate it to the Eastern Conference has a lot of Rockets out there. And you know, look at where the Rockets came up in the pecking order of the playoffs where you just have teams that are are better built to advance there. So, I I do think it’s in Giannis’s best interest to avoid the Western Conference, but that’s where it becomes interesting. And this whole thing of we’re plotting uh where would it make the most sense for both these teams when we don’t even know what Giannis wants to do is what’s become tiresome of this conversation, but it is one we have to have. Um, I don’t know that there’s a fit in the Eastern Conference for a team that number one has the assets. Giannis makes sense on that group. And Giannis, this is the thing that gets lost in all of it, would look at this and say, “Yes, that’s where I would like to go to compete for a championship.” Because, you know, even on that podcast we referenced with Bill and Ben, uh, the Atlanta Hawks came up in the same names that you mentioned. Well, Jaylen Johnson’s back next year and they do have a lot of nice pieces that they could kick in to the Bucks. I mean, is Atlanta a team that Giannis is going to look at and say, you know what, that’s marketkedly better than my situation in Milwaukee and I can go there and win a championship. So, that’s the tricky part is sure you can find teams in the East, but I you’re not going to convince me Giannis is going to look at that and say that’s a home run setup. Yeah. I mean, he has some history with Atlanta after, you know, the stories came out of his his draft experience of going to Atlanta being hidden in the A and whatnot, uh, while they were working him out. But yeah, I agree. And also, I don’t think that the Bucks would have an appetite to keep Giannis in the same conference either of like, okay, we’re trying to rebuild, too, but nah, like we’re not trying to keep you in the same conference. If anything, I know if I was the Bucks, I’m looking west because I don’t want to deal with this dude three, four times a year. uh if I if I don’t have to like two times a year, sure I can I can handle that. But not three, four times in the same division too. Like that gets tricky. Which is why I mean the moy trade as it was proposed initially which was just straight up who says no and it’s like not only that both parties have brought it up questioning I don’t know do the Bucks need to offer more? Yeah. Yeah. And it it’s weird how that goes, right? Like I thought it was funny too doing like the locked on uh Rockets crossover and how many Rockets fans were like y’all are out of your mind if you think that Aman Thompson’s going to be in this trade. Like the way that fan bases value their players as well and even how their front offices do can be different. So you know it the pathway yes in the East is easier for Giannis and I just don’t see a world where the Bucks would want to keep him in the East if they did trade him. I don’t see I don’t think that even factors in at all. It it’s all about best package. Best package in in in a sense doing him right as well. Though I I think you can make the case. Look, as as much push back as as we hear from fans on the front office, they have done right by him. You won a championship. They’ve been deep into the luxury tax. They’ve been a second apron team. they’ve done moves may not have worked out, but they have spent beyond their means a lot of these times to try to field that team around him. So, I don’t think this is the situation of like, oh, you can’t trade him to Cleveland because that’s in your division and you’re going to play him multiple times a year. Um, I don’t think that really factors in at all. It’s about what are you going to do to make yourself better if that’s the case. But, um, you and I, I don’t know if we’ve shared our numbers on the pod. We’ve had our percentages all throughout the course of the offseason in terms of I think it’s a x% chance that he does not ask for a trade and mine has really fluctuated for a couple of weeks now. It changed from where it was when we first entered the uh offseason and I had a chance to talk to some people around the situation. Um it started to change back as well. So, we’ll get into what those percentages are. But, as we mentioned, does it just come down to two teams now if Giannis asks for a trade that look, this is what works out best for both parties and what do they have to offer? We’ll take a look at that and talk about everybody’s favorite team, the Indiana Pacers, coming up after this on Locked on Bucks. Well, time now to talk to you about our friends over at FanDuel. 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If it wins, you’ll get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right. And and we uh as we’re live this morning, we once again have a very fiery chat section here. Um Camille, but so let’s just rip off the band-aid here. Um, I was about 65, 35 coming into the offseason that Giannis is not going to ask for a trade. Um, leaning towards the knot, right? That he would still be a member of the Bucks next season. Uh, I had a chance to talk with some more people in the league uh what in the second round and uh the night of the draft lottery. heard from a few who I think you can probably figure out who they are if you’ve listened to uh any of my radio shows in the past of some national people and uh somebody that was in the room during the lottery and said, “Hey, I heard a lot of interesting things.” And that swayed me to uhoh, is he actually going to ask for a trade? But now I’ve kind of swung back to where I was coming into the off season because of what we’re talking about now, and that is I don’t know what the perfect fit is for both parties. And you know, one of the main talking points that you and I have had throughout this off season so far is what we’re starting to notice in terms of trends for roster construction. And look, I’m not going to compare trading for Giannis to trading for a player like Drew Holiday. But I do wonder if we’re going to see teams say, “Well, look at the Thunder. Look at the Pacers. Look at the Rockets. Like look at these teams that pulled themselves out of purgatory and these teams that are now fielding these types of teams. How have they done it? Young players on very manageable contracts, good young players. It’s not just having young players, but all guys that did that they developed that they turned into assets and did so cheaply rather than going big game hunting. So, I do wonder if we are now headed into an era in the CBA where you don’t see a lot of first round capital kicked around of teams saying, you know what, I’m going to keep my first round pick here and just roll the dice with this group and see what we get in the first round. So, again, if you got a chance to get Giannis, you’re going to give up first round picks for him. But I do wonder if we’re seeing that shift in the league and then just the fit part of, you know, taking out what would the Bucks get out of this. What’s the fit for Giannis with these Eastern Conference teams and where does it make the most sense? Because I don’t mean this to uh I don’t mean this as a criticism on Giannis. And I know there’s a few people that will take it as such, but it’s not an exact plugandplay situation. Like you do need to construct the right group around him. You need a stretch five or a stretch four to play next to him. You need spot up shooters. You need guys that are good off the ball. And I think that was one of the clunky fits with Dame initially. and, you know, looking through the other teams and saying, “Well, where is that?” And especially if you figure you’re going to have to give up some of those young players and some of those guys in addition to draft picks. What does that do for the makeup of the roster? Like, is he only in a slightly better roster spot than he was with the Bucks after a trade, if that’s the case? Yeah, I mean, it’s something to consider for sure. And I know for myself, I’ve also fluctuated. I think I was the highest of the three of us of thinking like Jiannis is going to come back. I think I was initially like 7030. Then I kind of fluctuated like the draft lottery really shook some things up for me. But I did see uh from NBA big board. So shout out to I think it’s locked on draft uh here that we have. Um the mention of like a lot of the conversation has been around the top picks in the draft because of this Giannis news that’s out there of like hey the Spurs getting a number two pick in the lottery. like could that be something if Giannis does ask out where this now makes the Spurs a more likely destination for him? But he mentioned the fact that for this upcoming draft and to your point about how many teams are going to really be willing to try to trade this draft capital with how the league seems to be developing here. It made mention of the fact that Houston, Portland, and San Antonio with their late lotto spots, so 10, 11, and 14, those are the the areas where teams are thinking like we might be able to trade these because those teams in the particular situation that they’re in, it’s like for Houston, they have a lot of young dudes and they’re like, “Okay, well, if we can use this to get instant help, we’re going to do that.” The Spurs, they already have the number two pick, the number 14 pick could be used to get some more instant help there. Um, so it’s interesting to think about like the top end of the lottery, but also what teams needs are further on down there of like would that make them more likely to give up those young contracts if they feel that they’re close? And I think with all the parody too that we’re starting to see in the league that if you think that you’re close, you’re going to make those moves to try to get you over the hump because it’s like there’s no Warriors D or you know Warriors dynasty like it was in the mid 2010s and whatnot of like well it’s no point to try now like we can’t get past this but now is set up of like if you can move it go ahead and do it in this window. But I think more teams often than not are going to choose to keep those picks. But those teams I mentioned like Houston, San Antonio are in a different spot um than other teams. So like team building going forward I think is going to be really interesting because of that. And it’s why even when I’m thinking about the draft for this year, which we have all of June to talk about Bucks draft and whatnot, I’m really interested in the direction the Bucks will try to go with their second round pick this year because of all of that. So, the two names and the two teams to me that are the only two that make any sense are both in the West. The you mentioned them both, the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs. And um Houston is just under the first apron as of this moment. They have a team option on Fred Van Vleet, which they kicked down the road closer to the end of the league year probably. um because well let’s let’s wait and see for the season to end and see do we have a deal for Kevin Durant do we have a deal for Giannis and you’re going to have to be included in that deal you would assume because he is the highest valued contract in terms of money on the Houston Rockets so that’s the thing is the Rockets aren’t in a camp spot where they can just say we can absorb Giannis and here’s a bunch of picks and some cheap young guys you’re going to have to take back a deal so in the case of Fred Van Vleet it would make the most sense for the Bucks because of the high dollar figure and the fact that it’s a one-year team option team picks that up, includes him in a trade, and he’s a free agent next year, and that’s money potentially coming off the books in addition to whatever else you get from Houston. You mentioned what the uh Rockets fan base is saying, but look, Aean Thompson is included in the trade. You don’t get one of the 75 best players of all time uh in his prime. You don’t get one of the three best players in the league right now in his prime without including a young player that has looked very good and showed you some nice things early in his career um but is nowhere near the level of Giannis. So there is no world where Aman Thompson isn’t untouchable in a deal that gets you Giannis. What makes Houston interesting is their picks and how they came out of a pretty similar situation. Um same story for Brooklyn, right? where you’re starting to get these picks back. So, they have a 2025 firstround pick that is either theirs or the Clippers top 10 protected, I believe. Uh they can also swap with Brooklyn. Um for Phoenix’s first round pick this year, they have Phoenix’s 2027 first round pick. They have 2027 swap rights with Brooklyn. They have the highest of uh the first rounders between them, the Suns and the Mavs in 2029 and the second highest in 2029 of there’s the Suns and the Mavs as well. So they have assembled a nice collection of draft picks and look it starts with those Phoenix picks. We’re gambling on them being bad. So we need a young talent. We need those picks and we need something this year too if that trade were to happen. If that’s somewhere that Giannis decides I would like to go there. It would be interesting to um to see a fit between Giannis and Eime Odoka. Uh that’s something I’m not sure about, but yeah, that’s one of the teams. So, I do want to get your thoughts on any construction there. And the other team that would make sense in a Giannis trade, which again, we are not advocating for. We were both on the side of look, I want him to stay here. I want him to finish his career in Milwaukee. I do think there’s a pathway and I don’t know that the grass is necessarily greener on the other side. But if it does in fact come down to that, who’s the other team that makes sense? We’ll open up that discussion next. All right, before we get to that other team, any thoughts on a Rockets trade construction, Camille? Yeah, I’m pretty much with you. I saw one of the comments come through live here of just that if Giannis is traded, it feels like it’s going to be to one of those Texas teams. And that’s the best way I think to sum it up. I think it’s going to be one of those Texas teams. For a while there, I thought Mavericks because they got the first overall pick, but Nico apparently has been saying that the Mavericks intend to take Cooper flag. They intend not to trade the pick, but I also didn’t plan think they intended to trade Luca at one point either. And you also have to say that like no, this isn’t up for grabs. you got to blow us away for a deal. So, pretty much I’m not completely writing off the Mavericks, but cuz also he mentioned like their timeline. Nico said, you know, I only got about five years here and it’s like what if that’s what you’re thinking about. Giannis fits that timeline a bit better than a Cooper flag does. But for now, taking Neag’s word, but I do think it’s one of the Texas teams, the Spurs or the Rockets that can put together the best package in large part because of the draft assets they have for this upcoming draft, which is a pretty decent draft. Like Cooper Flag isn’t a wimpy level prospect, but at the very least, like his floor seems to be, is he just going to be a regular all-star? Like that’s like what seems to be his floor in that number two. You can get some interesting things there. But the piece of it again that’s most intriguing about the Spurs and the Rockets for what they can offer is that they have other teams draft picks because any team that’s going to acquire Giannis if he they acquire Giannis is going to be good and you’re going to be picking in the late 20s if you have those teams picks while he’s on the roster. So if you can trade with a team that uh you know could have some other teams picks like the Spurs have um I think the Hawks picks I think. We’ll get to it. Yeah. Okay. you you’ll set that one up. But as you mentioned, what the Rockets have, those Phoenix Suns picks, very enticing. What the Spurs have from other teams, very enticing. And that’s the best route forward when you don’t have control of your own draft picks. Yeah, you have to thread the needle where you need some immediate help, but you also need some things to offset what you’re not going to have down the road, which is the tricky spot the Bucks are in. I mean, I should say these two teams make sense in a two-team deal, but the the thing that may make the most sense for the Bucks if, again, if Giannis does ask for a trade, is a multi-team deal where you loop in the Pelicans and potentially the Blazers and you get your picks back. Um, but that’s also, okay, that’s going to diminish what we’re giving you. So you’re basically we gave up Giannis and we got one draft pick and what we used to have we got that back which is going to be a tough sell for convincing me hey you got value for Giannis and and look here’s the reality you are not going to get equal value for Giannis in any trade that’s something that you have to live with and I think that’s what makes it especially tough for any Bucks fan to come around and say yes I think it’s time for both parties to move on here it’s just the way trade works and we’re talking about assets you don’t know what’s going to happen with those things and that’s Why again I still advocate I would rather figure this out with Giannis because what if you get this nice uh collection of draft picks but you get another Jabari Parker situation or you see what’s happened with other first round picks of this guy didn’t really pan out as we anticipated and that’s what we got for Giannis that and one or two decent quality role players. um that puts you in a really really tough spot. So, the other team that makes sense in terms of what they have is the San Antonio Spurs. And I I’ll just be clear here. As much as I would love to see Giannis um accumulate more championships, one we all hope that’s in Milwaukee, but thanks. I I don’t know that I really want to see that super team of Giannis and Victor Webeyama together. I mean, how unfair that would be for most of the league. But you mentioned what San Antonio has and why they’re going to keep coming up as a possible suitor because all the moves that they’ve made to to round out that team so far, even the De’Aran Fox deal, it’s not like they emptied the war chest for him. They have their own first this year. It is number two. They have Atlanta’s first this year. it is number 14. So right there you would say, “Okay, we’re taking both of those.” Mhm. Um they have whatever is the higher first round pick between themselves and the Hawks next year. Well, if they get Giannis, it’s going to be the Hawks. So you would look at that one as well. They have Atlanta’s first rounder in 2027. This is all part of the Dejonte Murray trade. They have Boston swap rights in 2028 which under the radar under the radar that all of a sudden becomes very interesting when you look at a Celtics team getting older and now Jason Tatum coming back from uh an Achilles tier just what one year two years prior to that. Um same deal with Dallas and Minnesota. They have a swap with them and whatever is higher between themselves and the Clippers in 2031. So, they’ve got assets spread out all throughout the next decade and some that are low-key very interesting assets. Um, I just think this one makes the most sense for Giannis because as we said, the fit around Victor Wimbeyama that you need a stretch four or a stretch five to play next to Giannis. You think about the defense of that front court with Giannis and Wimi. absolutely insane. They do have some young players they can toss in there as well. Devin Vel’s making 27 million. You would assume he would have to be a part of that deal. Kell Johnson’s 17.5 million. So, you could take those back. Maybe even Harrison Barnes included because if you acquire Giannis, Harrison Barnes is your third or fourth front court player at that point. So, um they have some young players they can toss in. They got 10 players under contract and they are still about 40 million below that second apron. So unlike Houston, they are one of those teams that could say we can absorb a big contract. And in terms we’re not going to give up as many of the young players or as much matching salary. We’ll give you all these picks. You’ll get two this year. You’ll get that Celtics pick and you’ll get one other pick. Yeah. Again, I think that is probably the the best offer. And when I saw the Spurs get the number two pick, I sent you and Frank a message immediately of like if Giannis did ask out because we got to keep in mind too that the whole reason that this is even coming about is that Giannis has said consistently, I just want to be somewhere where I feel like I can compete for a championship. If that’s in Milwaukee, I am happy to stay in Milwaukee, which is why I’m hoping we hear uh maybe early next week if possible. how the meeting went with Giannis and the Bucks that was supposedly scheduled for sometime this week of what they’re pitching them, what the plan is going forward for him. And we probably won’t hear many details about what that is, but just rather if Giannis believes in what they’re putting down or not. But the Spurs, I was like a wimby Giannis combo. Like even if you have to build some more things around them, that front court pairing itself is a problem. And I could see him looking at the landscape and being like that offers me a better chance to win being paired with Wimi than sitting here in Milwaukee trying to figure that out. That’s like one of the only teams where I was like I could see him pointing at that and being like that’s a more favorable situation. Ultimately, again, I do think there’s a pathway forward in Milwaukee uh for Giannis to be content with what the plan is going forward if they can continue to hit have a decent free agency class this year, which is really retaining the young guys who showed that they could work last year um and going forward from there. But the Spurs is a team to definitely keep on the radar. I have seen reports of saying that, you know, it’s not likely for the Spurs to trade the pick, but again, a lot of smoke screens at this time of the year. So, I don’t necessarily believe much in that, but yeah, that’s that’s the location for me where it’s like I could see it if he does ask out. Yeah. And, you know, quite frankly, I hope this is the final conversation we have on this for quite some time now. Um, I know there’s a lot of very very pro all Bucks fans very very pro Giannis who are probably tired of this and why are we talking about Giannis being traded? We don’t want to trade him. We’re aligned with you. Yeah, this is just if this is what he asks for and you know the point too of we’ve done this annually. So why is is this a big deal? Now, what I would say is all the other times this has popped up, we’ve all kind of said, “This is crazy.” This is the one time where you just you have to take a step back and say, “Okay, there is some logic to this one.” That it’s it’s not a boy who cried wolf situation. This one may actually be legit this time. So yeah, that’s look, the point of all this was just to point out in terms of what’s going to benefit both parties. There really aren’t many options out there. And I think that’s part of what Giannis is evaluating and trying to come to grips with of again not saying the Bucks are going to be a top three team in the East because Jason Tatum got injured, but what we’ve seen for these what parts of two playoffs, but especially this postseason is it is important to have two-way players. It is important to have depth. That for the longest time we talked about depth doesn’t matter in the playoffs. You need to have eight guys and you need to definitely trust seven of them, but it can’t be a one-sided player. I mean, you know, go back to we said we were going to mention two things. We’ll just mention this quickly. Pat Beverly is the player who said he’s making a comeback in the NBA and wants an invite to training camp. Um I I think the Bucks need to look forward and not behind here. But the fact that Doc Rivers has that connection with Pat Beverly, that’s the only reason why we bring it up and say, “Well, Do we see a camp invite here? But the Pacers, um, they do it again, Camille, beating the Knicks in game one. And look, when it happens multiple times, I don’t think we can say it’s luck. The Pacers keep getting these breaks. You create your luck. And what we’ve seen with the Pacers, they are a deep team. They dictate the pace. They just don’t have any glaring weaknesses. And they have guys that can at least hold up on both ends of the floor. That’s where you get into trouble with where the league is headed now when you have to get into these offense defense subs. Knicks had to do it last night. Cavs had to do it before them and that’s where you get into trouble because you got to try to get this guy on the floor and you can’t because you’re playing the foul game and Indiana takes advantage of that stuff. So the important part is you need to surround Giannis with shooters. You need to surround Giannis with two-way players. And I think you saw some of those guys the last what 10 15 games of the regular season and in the postseason as well. You got to start if you can keep this team together. But you’re not done. You got to continue to add there. And that’s what’s the challenging part for the Bucks with basically no assets to do so between now and 2031. Yeah, that’s that’s the part like I think people misunderstood some people misunderstood our last episode of talking about. Okay. Well, if you do bring Brooke back, it’s it Listen, when we’re saying the Bucks need to move forward into this new direction, it’s with the focus on the young players that we saw working. We don’t want the Bucks to roll out another uh older roster, right? And I think looking at the comments here for the YouTube, it should be reminded that Brook Lopez is a free agent, y’all. He is not on the books for the Milwaukee Bucks at the moment. He is a unrestricted free agent where the people are saying we need to trade Brook Lopez. You could sign and trade him to a team is under the first apron. Yeah. But he is not on the roster right now. So the path forward which is why it’s like hey try to bring back Gary Trent Jr. try to get Kevin Porter Jr. back if you can’t extend AJ Green. like those three in particular, the young guard wings that you have seen that can defend, that can shoot, you need to have them around Giannis because we saw that’s part of what works. And to your point about it’s a start, but it’s not done. Yeah, that’s just the start to it. Um, so for me, it’s like you said, the Pacers do offer a pathway. I think it’s Tish in the comments who mentioned like the the Pacers are kind of like a model and I think to a certain degree of just try not to have the weak links. Just try to have guys on there that can play be two-way guys. Um which is again big summer for Andre Jackson Jr. because if he can put some offense together in addition to athletic tools that he has. Um he could be a big piece off the bench. Sims bringing him back uh as a change of pace big. Like there are some things that we saw from the Bucks last year that could roll over into this new season of what this next era of Bucks basketball looks like that has a good starting point. And if Brook Lopez was someone to come back for the Bucks, let me be very clear. The role for Brook Lopez that I envision is not 25 30 minutes a game for the team at that point. That’s a bench big to have if situation calls for it. So, you know, it’s a lot of time to continue to talk about it, but just wanted to make sure that was clear. And I agree with the pathway forward of being like, get young, get the shooting, get the defense, put that around Giannis, and see what you can do. Yeah. And your point about he’s a free agent. Um, so the only trade is a signing trade. And again, whoever would acquire him in that deal is hardcapped at the first apron if you acquire a player in the sign-in trade. And so you you’d get a trade exception and maybe you get a second round pick or something like that. Um but also it’s not like if you let Brook Lopez walk, okay, you freed up $23 million in cap space to go spend. You are still over the cap. You’re just not in the tax or projected to be. So that’s why you have that what 14 $13 million non- taxpayer mid-level exception. So it’s not like you let them walk and okay, now we got money to spend. Let’s bring in a max player. No, you’re still over the cap. Um, so this feel like we’ve said this many years, but this summer especially now that you have a little more wiggle room. You may not have assets, but you got financial wiggle room. This is going to be very important assuming Giannis is still on the roster to figure out how do we start to pivot to, you know, to borrow from the Warriors, the Lighty years, and uh this second era of Bucks basketball where all of a sudden Giannis is the vet on that team and ideally the oldest player on your roster at going on 31 years of age. Um, I think we’re going to get we’re going to try to get Frank back on the show in the next couple of days here to get his thoughts on any of that. Uh, also get some some Frank movie takes as there’s quite a few that are coming out. I’m sure he’s going to see the new Mission Impossible in the next couple of days. I am as well later on tonight. So, see if we can get Frank’s thoughts on that. And um I think we’re all looking forward to a nice relaxing Memorial Day weekend with no news or discussion on the Giannis. Yeah, please don’t ruin my birthday weekend, y’all. Please don’t don’t uh Yeah, please don’t. That’ll do it for today’s show for Camille. I’m Justin. We’ll talk with you guys once again tomorrow on Locked on Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future with the Milwaukee Bucks is a hot topic, sparking speculation about potential trade scenarios. Could the Bucks’ star player find a new home with the Houston Rockets or San Antonio Spurs? This episode explores these possibilities, analyzing the strategic fit and potential trade packages involving key players like Fred VanVleet and Victor Wembanyama. Justin Garcia and Camille Davis dissect the evolving landscape of the NBA, considering how the Bucks might navigate their future while retaining promising young talent.

Discover how the Indiana Pacers’ playoff success and the Bucks’ strategic direction could impact Giannis’s decision. Tune in for an engaging discussion on the Bucks’ path forward and the potential shifts in the NBA landscape.

0:00 Intro: Giannis trade possibilities and Pacers’ success
5:35 Only two realistic landing spots for Giannis?
11:41 Hosts share percentages on Giannis trade likelihood
17:11 Houston Rockets as potential Giannis trade partner
22:42 San Antonio Spurs’ assets make them intriguing option
28:58 Importance of two-way players in playoffs
34:24 Brook Lopez’s free agency and Bucks’ cap situation

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