You'd be hard pressed to find many players better than 2025 Giannis Antetokounmpo that have ever been traded. Sure, there's the last Milwaukee Bucks MVP to get moved, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but his situation isn't really analogous. He wanted to play only in New York or Los Angeles for personal reasons. He wasn't truly on the market.
Let's say you discard Wilt Chamberlain's moves as well. They were anachronisms in a pre-merger NBA that operated under different literal and figurative rules. In the post-merger league, there are really only seven players in Antetokounmpo's universe that have ever been dealt: Luka Dončić in 2025, Kevin Durant in 2023, James Harden in 2021, Kawhi Leonard in 2018, Kevin Garnett in 2007, Shaquille O'Neal in 2004 and Charles Barkley in 1992. Every player on that list was either a regular-season MVP or a Finals MVP by the time he was traded except for Dončić, who was the youngest of the group to get moved at 25 and may have gotten there if given more time. Antetokounmpo is a member of both clubs.
The NBA has developed a reputation for blockbuster moves like these, but they're far less common thank you think and they're usually black swan events based on once-in-a-lifetime circumstances. Dončić only moved because he happened to play for the one general manager foolish enough to trade him. Nico Harrison didn't even hold a bidding war. He just ditched him in the dead of night. Kawhi Leonard was injured when he was moved, and the whole world knew he wanted to end up in Los Angeles. The Lakers moved O'Neal in part to convince Kobe Bryant to re-sign as a free agent. Barkley was so frequently involved in controversies that Philadelphia was ready to move on of its own volition.
None of this is what is happening with Antetokounmpo. With the Bucks exiting in the first round of the postseason (again), and with Damian Lillard facing a long absence with a torn Achilles, Giannis has simply reached the logical endpoint of an otherwise productive and happy relationship with the team that drafted him. He is healthy, has multiple years remaining on his contract, and so far as we know, not dead set on a single destination. He declined to discuss his future with Milwaukee in depth after the Bucks' season-ending loss. But rumors began in earnest in the middle of May when a report surfaced saying Giannis is "open-minded" about exploring trade options.
Put all of this together and Giannis is essentially the perfect trade candidate. Everybody should want him. "But Sam," you, a fan of a team light on shooting and heavy on front court depth might say, "what if he doesn't fit on our roster?" You remake your roster for him. Chances to land players like Giannis Antetokounmpo are precious. Everybody, to some extent, is going to try.
So we're not going to limit a list of possible suitors to just the best of the best. We're going to address every team by ranking all of them, not including the Bucks (think of them as No. 30 for our purposes), according to how much sense an Antetokounmpo trade makes for all parties involved. Keep in mind, we know very little at the moment about what the Bucks would want in such a trade. We will therefore keep an open mind when it comes to packages based on picks, youth or veterans.
Tier XIII: Don't waste our time
29. Sacramento Kings: They couldn't convince De'Aaron Fox to stay but they're convincing an MVP to stay?
28. New Orleans Pelicans: Bad front office, cheap ownership, injury-prone star at the same position, no thank you, at least as a landing spot. Keep an eye on the Pelicans as a facilitator, though. They control Milwaukee's first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, so if the Bucks want to tank, they have to work with New Orleans.
27. Portland Trail Blazers: Portland is in the same boat as New Orleans. The Blazers won't get Giannis, but they control Milwaukee's first-round picks in 2028, 2029 and 2030, so they're an obvious facilitator. They rank above New Orleans because, well, they don't have arguably the worst ownership-front office combination in basketball.
25. Washington Wizards: The front office seems to know what it's doing and it's a city starved for a basketball star like this, but they're just too young. Check in again in two years, they'll be a player in talks like these.
24. Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball would be a more fun Antetokounmpo teammate than an effective one. It'd be fun if this sort of trade kicked off a starter jacket renaissance, though.
16. Utah Jazz: Utah was somewhat tempting sleeper before the lottery. They are so asset-rich that they could have theoretically gotten Antetokounmpo and immediately paired him with the co-star of his choice. After falling to No. 5 in the NBA Draft, though, that probably isn't feasible. There just isn't a premium trade chip here, so the Jazz would have to win a bidding war on volume. They could do that, but not while maintaining enough assets to keep them at all enticing to Antetokounmpo.
23. Toronto Raptors: Rumored in the past, but that's when the Raptors were good and Masai Ujiri's reputation was impeccable. The last few years have been puzzling and the roster is aimless. Antetokounmpo isn't betting the end of his prime on this team.
Tier XII: Cool city, bro
22. Chicago Bulls: Chicago is a desirable enough market that it can't be listed in the absolute bottom tier, but the basketball situation is enough of a mess that it can't be ranked any higher.
Tier XI: Fun idea, not enough to trade
21. Phoenix Suns: I mean, you know Mat Ishbia is going to try, but the only thing he has of any value (besides the only thing that could make them desirable to Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker) is Kevin Durant, and there's just no way Phoenix gets enough back for him to make a run at a younger, better player.
20. Los Angeles Clippers: Lots of fun win-now stuff here, but none of it is all that valuable in a trade. Kawhi Leonard is too injury-prone. James Harden is 35, not known for his conditioning and has a history of causing problems when he doesn't want to be somewhere. There's no real youth here. Most of their picks are still gone.
19. Denver Nuggets: A few years ago, the Nuggets would have come in pretty high on this list. Since then, Jamal Murray's injuries have piled up and Michael Porter Jr. has stagnated. Besides, even if that weren't the case, go ahead and take a look at how most players who have left Nikola Jokić have performed without him. It's not pretty.
Tier X: A real stretch but...
18. Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant might actually be pretty valuable to a Milwaukee team in need of a franchise player. The Grizzlies control their future picks. Zach Edey has upside. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane are pretty easy fits next to Giannis. We've just never, not even once, seen an established superstar who wasn't already there appear all that eager to live in Memphis. Jimmy Butler reportedly made it clear during his trade brouhaha that he wasn't interested in going there.
Tier IX: You can have anything but _________
17. Minnesota Timberwolves: If they had any picks to trade, an Anthony Edwards partnership might be Antetokounmpo's best path to more rings. They don't. They have players plenty of teams would want like Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Donte DiVincenzo. They have interested youth as well with Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon and Jaylen Clark. They just don't have a viable centerpiece.
16. Orlando Magic: OK, now we're talking. Franz Wagner is a viable centerpiece. Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black are pretty valuable here too, and the Magic have all of their pick. But Paolo Banchero is a clunky fit, and if the Magic couldn't get him shooting before a blockbuster like this, it seems hard to imagine they'd do so afterward with their assets spent.
15. Indiana Pacers: The Magic have more to trade. Wagner is obviously a good deal younger than Pascal Siakam, and Andrew Nembhard and Benedict Mathurin haven't proven nearly as much as Suggs has. But the fit with Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner is so clean that a guy can dream. The Pacers control all of their picks, so their offer would at least be competitive. Indiana likely sits out if it wins the Eastern Conference, but if they don't, they've at least seen for certain this spring that they're close enough to justify a risk like this.
14. Atlanta Hawks: No team has risen higher up this list throughout the process than Atlanta. Trae Young is an obvious fit as a half-court shot-creator, and Onyeka Okongwu's growth as a shooter makes him a nice fit at center next to Giannis. Even without them, the Hawks could offer a future All-Star in Jalen Johnson, Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Dyson Daniels and a recent No. 1 pick in Zaccharie Risacher alongside several future picks. That's a pretty compelling package.
13. Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham is better than Trae Young, and Isaiah Stewart could theoretically be the shooting big man here. What edges Detroit past Atlanta is that its young players, while not quite as good as Atlanta's, are more diverse. Jaden Ivey can be your perimeter scorer, Ausar Thompson can be your defensive ace and athletic upside play, and Jalen Duren can be your long-term center. That the Pistons have a bit more pick control than the Hawks seals the deal.
Tier VIII: Maybe you could, but you shouldn't
12. Philadelphia 76ers: You just know Daryl Morey wants to try. He has a like-sized contract to use in Paul George, but Milwaukee probably doesn't want to eat the last three years of that deal. More tempting is his surprisingly deep cache of draft picks, which would obviously include the No. 3 overall pick this year as well as the picks acquired from the Clippers in the James Harden trade. Would George, those picks and promising rookie Jared McCain tempt the Bucks? Probably only if a half-dozen or so other teams bring underwhelming offers to the table, and even then, as dominating a trio as Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Antetokounmpo could be, Embiid's injuries probably kill a trade here. They're not a certain enough contender for Antetokounmpo, and they probably want to focus on building a post-Embiid core anyway. Morey has said he plans to use the pick, so as badly as the NBA's most notorious star-hunter is surely tempted, it seems as though cooler heads will prevail here.
11. Dallas Mavericks: Nico Harrison has already traded away one beloved homegrown star in Dončić. The basketball gods, for whatever reason, have decided to give him a chance at another one in Cooper Flagg. Ownership in Dallas fortunately seems to understand what a gift they've been granted in the impending No. 1 pick. According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks will keep the pick and select Flagg. However, we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't point out how the badly mismanaged Dončić situation could have cost the Mavericks a shot at Antetokounmpo. If he were still on the team, they could have offered him for the assets to go get Giannis. If they'd negotiated harder with the Lakers, they might have the spare assets to make a run at him anyway. But the butterfly effect is a tricky thing. Change anything Harrison did and maybe Flagg isn't on the team. The Mavericks may have mismanaged their way into a top prospect, but now they have him and plan to keep him.
Tier VII: Normal rules rarely apply
10. Miami Heat: Octagon represents three superstars. One of them is Antetokounmpo. Another is Bam Adebayo. We'll get to the third later. Agency packaging is a real thing in the NBA, just ask the Klutch Lakers or CAA Knicks. Miami has pulled rabbits out of the star hat before, and the Heat have been linked to Antetokounmpo every time his name has hit the rumor mill. Making a fair offer to the Bucks is the hard part, especially if Adebayo isn't involved. Tyler Herro is a Wisconsin native, which helps, and Kel'El Ware showed a lot of promise as a rookie. But the Heat owe out two first-round picks and the rest of their young players have disappointed. They can sneak into the top 10, but no further.
9. Los Angeles Lakers: Oh, that's cute, you don't think the Lakers have enough to trade for another superstar? You must be new here. NBA history is littered with lopsided Laker trades. We just saw one three months ago. Can you name anyone they gave up to get Abdul-Jabbar? An offer of Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, cap filler and some deep future draft assets shouldn't get a normal team Antetokounmpo, but we can't rule out that it might get the Lakers Antetokounmpo. If he wants to go there and is willing to make things uncomfortable enough for other suitors, it's possible even if it's unlikely.
Tier VI: Never say never, but less likely after the playoffs
8. New York Knicks: The widespread expectation was that the Knicks would lose in the second round to the Celtics. That, obviously, didn't happen, and now the Knicks have their best chance at a championship in two decades. Could they build an appealing "stay relevant now" package around Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges? Potentially, if that's what the Bucks want, and Antetokounmpo has said himself that New York is his favorite road market to play in. However, given the success the Knicks have had this postseason, a trade is certainly less likely today than it was a month ago.
7. Boston Celtics: The heartless offer here would be Jayson Tatum straight up for Antetokounmpo. It actually makes plenty of sense for both sides. The Celtics could maintain their championship pursuit right now, without waiting on Tatum to get healthy. The Bucks could have a superstar locked into a five-year deal. But there's just no way a team with a new owner coming off of a recent championship would take the PR hit of a move like this, and with Tatum out, a move centered around Jaylen Brown and draft picks is a good deal less likely. Kyrie Irving waited a full year for Kevin Durant to return when they partnered up in Brooklyn, but typically, stars don't want to waste a year of their prime in that way. The mere fact that the Celtics basically have an entire championship roster sans Tatum plus most of their own draft picks gets them pretty high in these rankings, but the stars just didn't really align for such a move to be likely.
Tier V: Flattered but spoken for
6. Oklahoma City Thunder: You're going to hear a lot about the Thunder in these conversations, but it would be so out of character for them to do this. They've been so methodical in this rebuild, with Sam Presti saying last season that they "have to finish our breakfast before we start acting like we're on the cusp of something." They could probably sew up multiple titles with an Antetokounmpo trade if they stayed healthy, but that's never a guarantee, and the Thunder like to bake risk into their roster-building. They're hoarding these picks so they can replace cheap players when they get expensive, not so they can take one, massive swing. The playoffs haven't gone quite as smoothly as they likely hoped, but that doesn't mean they're prepared to tear down a 68-win team.
Tier IV: You have to try after how you went out
5. Cleveland Cavaliers: Everyone told the Cavaliers to break up after their recent postseason disappointments. They resisted, hired Kenny Atkinson and won 64 games. The decision to stay together looked brilliant until they got run off of the floor by the Pacers in the second round. Yes, they dealt with injuries and bad shooting variance, but by the end of Game 5, it was evident to anyone watching that Indiana had solved Cleveland. Now the Cavaliers are in cap hell, and they aren't even sure if they have a true contender yet. It would therefore be irresponsible of them not to at least consider Antetokounmpo. If he can be had for Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and the meager draft capital Cleveland has left after the Donovan Mitchell trade, the Cavaliers should pull the trigger. If it costs 23-year-old Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley? That's a reasonable place to draw the line. But start out without him in the deal and make Milwaukee find a better offer, at the very least.
Tier III: How these things tend to work
4. Golden State Warriors: Remember when Anthony Davis went to the Lakers? It wasn't because they had the most to offer (they didn't) or because they were the best basketball situation for him (they weren't). It was because, in a back room somewhere, he and LeBron James decided they wanted to play together in a cool city. That is very often the way these things work. Two stars have a preexisting relationship, decide they want to team up, and do everything in their power to make it happen. Who could that star be for Antetokounmpo? The obvious answer is Stephen Curry, the other Octagon All-Star we mentioned earlier. The two frequently picked each other in All-Star drafts. They're incredibly complimentary of one another in interviews. By all accounts, the two are friendly. Do the Warriors have that much to trade? No. But they control most of their picks, have a few decent youngsters, and could probably generate some more value by flipping Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green. The Warriors have been after Antetokounmpo for years. If they have a real chance, they'll do what it takes to get him.
Tier II: The asset-rich favorites
3. Brooklyn Nets: Our own Bill Reiter was the first to report the Nets as a Giannis favorite all the way back in October. The rumor mill hasn't slowed down since, but it took a major hit on lottery night when the Nets fell to No. 8. That deprives Brooklyn of a premium asset to offer Milwaukee. Their ill-fated decision to swap Phoenix's future picks back for their own last summer could ironically be their downfall here. Their own pick next year isn't valuable if Antetokounmpo is on the team, and the No. 8 pick doesn't move the needle on its own. Still, the Nets have so many future Knicks picks that they can make a strong offer here on volume alone, and their cap flexibility opens the door to potentially absorbing Lillard's contract as an enticement. They'd have to convince Antetokounmpo he could win in Brooklyn, but if they could, they have the assets and the market to make this happen.
2. Houston Rockets: The Rockets can afford any superstar they want. They control their own picks. They control future picks from the Suns, Mavericks and Nets. They have a lottery pick this year (courtesy of, you guessed it, the Suns). They have a young All-Star in Alperen Sengun. Amen Thompson is even more promising. There's plenty of other young talent. Their team option on Fred VanVleet creates an easy, expiring matching salary. Antetokounmpo is not a snug fit with the current roster, which barely has any shooting, but the Rockets can retrofit as needed given all of the assets they've accumulated. Before the lottery, the Rockets had a reasonable argument at No. 1. For now, they trail a team in their own state.
Tier I: Team Unicorn
1. San Antonio Spurs: There might have been a bit of Thunder-esque hesitance to consider here before the lottery. The Spurs are built to win for the long haul, not just to go all out for a few years. By jumping up to No. 2 overall, though, they've set themselves up to do both. It frankly doesn't make sense to keep both Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper anyway, especially with De'Aaron Fox in the building. That's two top young point guards behind a third, former All-Star point guard, and none of them are known for their 3-point shooting. Moving one of them as the centerpiece for Antetokounmpo solves that problem before it becomes one while setting the other up to grow slowly into Victor Wembanyama's co-star. Even if it costs both to secure Antetokounmpo, nobody is topping such an offer. That means the Spurs could probably keep the rest of their draft picks as either trade chips or sources of cheap talent once Wembanyama gets expensive. Besides market, the Spurs just make sense on every level. They can offer more than pretty much anyone, they have a center whose shooting makes him an easy fit with Antetokounmpo, and they'll be ready to compete next season. All they'd need to find would be shooters and then they'd be good to go.
