Those bucks firsts without Giannis are going to be so much more valuable than Bridges

If the Blazers give up some of the most valuable draft picks in the league for a 30 year old averaging ¹⁵⁄₄, they deserve to be relegated

Can we be a 4th team and get KAT?

At this point I’m hoping Giannis retires on the Bucks just to make this shit funnier in hindsight.

lol why in the fuck would Portland need another wing? they’re good at the wing positions.

The rumor was the Blazers offered Anfernee Simons and the 3rd pick of 2023 draft for Mikal a few years ago.

So this is just conjecture? He has no sources or anything saying Por is trying to do this. Plus if the Bucks are trading Giannis and tanking, their picks 3+ drafts away aren’t going to be a high priority.

Nah man, I wouldn’t give up any of those picks for Bridges. Those are gonna be extremely good picks if Giannis is gone.

“Hello other team, how would you like to overpay for a current Knicks player in order to help the Knicks bridge the gap on their underpay to Milwaukee for Giannis?”

I feel like Blazers only trade those picks if they’re getting Giannis

Bucks picks are much more valuable than Bridges and they already have Toumani and Deni at the wings. Mikal is not worth the hassle for them and I doubt they give up those picks for someone like Bridges.

Adam Silver seen begging (through text) for the Blazers to help facilitate Giannis to New York.

This would be fucking hilarious.

If POR does that I would feel so sorry for their fans

Portland is young and competitive and only getting better.

I can’t imagine they’d risk their only source of getting high level talent in the late 2020’s for someone who won’t move the needle much for the team.

Would at least make things a bit more reasonable for Milwaukee. Still not sure Giannis pushes the button though.

Bit of overlap between Sharpe Bridges and Deni no?

Joe Cronin is a fucking god. 

Anytime someone says POR controls the Bucks picks, disregard everything that follows.

POR does not have a 2028 FRP to swap if POR doesn’t make the playoffs until 27-28, due to the lottery protected first owed to CHI from the previous asshole. Even then, MLE has four more swap options on whatever they end up with, with WAS at the end of that chain. MLE has zero control over what they end up with in 2028, regardless of whether or not POR actually ends up with a FRP I’m 2028 to be able to swap with MLE.

POR has the best and worst of the three 2029 FRP’s. They could not trade MLE back their pick regardless, because nobody knows which of the three will go to WAS.

The only thing POR owns of MLE is a 2030 swap option. 

While I think this is incredibly unlikely, I guess I can imagine it happening if the Bucks think they can’t get back their ‘26 pick from Atlanta or their ‘27 pick from New Orleans. Without getting their own first(s) back the Bucks have zero incentive to be bad. If Giannis is truly looking to force his way out, their best bet is to try and scrape back their next available 1st so they can genuinely tank.

If they can essentially guarantee they can’t get their ‘26 pick back, then what they might be able to do (facing losing Giannis for nothing) is flip him for players that might be around next year for them to flip for further picks down the line. Something like the below might be workable (though cannot stress enough, incredibly unlikely):

Knicks

• Lose: KAT, Bridges, Yabusele (to make salaries work) a few 2nd round picks
• Gain: Giannis, Turner

Bucks

• Lose: Giannis, Turner
• Gain: KAT, Grant, 1 maybe 2 out of 3 of their own picks (‘28, ‘29, ‘30, most likely ‘28)

Blazers

• Lose: Grant, 1 maybe 2 of Milwaukee’s picks (2 if they take back more future draft capital)
• Gain: Bridges, Yabusele, Knicks 2nd rounders

The Bucks would be able to roll out Rollins, Green, Harris/Kuzma, Grant, and KAT. Yes, they’d be worse than before, but at least those guys are signed thru ‘27 (in Grant’s case, ‘28).

Kuzma’s deal could be flipped as an expiring contract (more valuable under the current CBA) next year and Grant + KAT’s deals are at least a little more palatable when they expire (both PO’s for ‘28) or are extended at lower rates later, making them more tradable as well. Then the Bucks would have their own ‘28 pick and could begin a genuine rebuild.

If I’m the Knicks, I’m basically understanding that I’m obviously comfortable swapping KAT for Giannis and would need to talk myself into losing Bridges in the process. Getting Turner back helps, especially as a big who can stretch the floor, but I’d be seriously concerned with my sudden lack of shooting. Two of my most important players (Giannis and Mitch) are non-shooters and Hart is not great from outside. Idk how those three could play at the same time. If I’m the Knicks taking in Giannis and Turner, I’d be looking for ways to keep Bridges and offload Mitch instead (I know, I know…but it causes far less spacing issues).

If I’m Portland, I’d basically need to assess how bad I think the Bucks are going to be vs. how good Bridges makes me immediately. If/when they trade Giannis, they’re going to be really, really bad for a long time (Lillard’s dead money lasts through 2030 and takes up over 12% of the cap that entire time. Insane). I don’t think Portland is nearly good enough to justify this deal. Bridges doesn’t turn them into a contender and all of those future Milwaukee picks are going to be really, really valuable. They’d turn this down, unless they absolutely love Bridges and were able to only trade back a protected 1st (somehow).

If I’m Milwaukee, I’d be way more concerned with putting together talent for the cheap in the next few years. I’d be looking to have a cap sheet like Brooklyn, where I have a bunch of young players for very cheap (thanks to Lillard taking up the table) and can facilitate other deals under the CBA while fostering the talent on the roster. To that end, if I’m trading Giannis, I’m WAY mroe interested in getting back my ‘26 or ‘27 picks and kicking off the rebuild ASAP. I’d be on the phone with Atlanta or New Orleans, not Portland or NYC. That being said, if those doors are all closed and Giannis is basically saying “I am not a Milwaukee Buck anymore and will only sign an extension with New York”…I could see this working. Even better as a deal for them if it’s done after the season.

TLDR: I’m bored and this deal won’t happen anyways so who cares.

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Reaves would make way more sense lol

I think KAT next to Clingan would be a better basketball fit than another wing for the Blazers. We all saw how Rudy masked a lot of KATs deficiencies in the playoffs.

Totally forgot the Blazers have all those picks. Those are going to be some juicy picks. Whoever is running the Bucks should have been fired at this point.

Admiring Mikal Bridges and helping New York get Giannis is such a mid franchise mood and thats a ceiling they’d be putting on themselves.

I rather have the picks 

Mikal netting 8 1sts overall(?)

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Why we would trade for a guy whos already injured…

What the Blazers desperately need is a consistent scorer, this team has the 5th best record in the NBA when every team is analyzed as shooting at least 33% from 3.

3 point shooting is our achilles heel right now, and anyone that moves the needle more in that direction for us is worth it especially if they can bring decent defense.

I can’t believe we let doc rivers ruin this franchise. Unbelievable.

Whoever gets Giannis is gonna be super disappointed, he’s just not the same superstar anymore. He’s cieling is 30 a night now, and way more jump shots. He’s not that insane downhill scorer anymore

Blazers could have had him at the 2023 draft, took Scoot instead. 

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