The Bucks are not backing down on Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are going to try to pair him with another star.
Sam Amico of Hoops Wire reported Sunday that Milwaukee could chase Ja Morant on the trade market, with the strategy being to convince Giannis the team can win now if Morant is the second star. The idea is bold. It is also the only realistic move the Bucks have left.
Morant has been on the block all spring. Memphis is rebuilding, his on-court chemistry with the Grizzlies front office is fractured, and the cap math says he has to move. The Phoenix Suns have been the team most strongly connected to him, but Milwaukee has been quietly involved for months.
The wrinkle here is that the Bucks reportedly refused to include guard Ryan Rollins in any earlier trade package. That tells you Milwaukee is trying to thread a very specific needle: get Morant without giving up the young pieces Giannis would need around him.
For Bucks fans, the report is the first piece of real optimism in months. Every offseason story until now has been about Giannis wanting out, Giannis preferring Miami, Giannis preferring Boston. Both the Heat and the Celtics have submitted trade offers in the last week. Milwaukee was supposed to be the team waving the white flag.
Now there is a counter-plan. Keep Giannis. Trade for Ja. Convince Antetokounmpo that the franchise is serious about chasing another title while he still has the prime years to do it.
The basketball fit is interesting. Morant is a downhill attacker who needs the ball, which is the one thing Giannis also needs. But Morant has shown he can adapt to playing off the ball, and the gravity Giannis creates would open driving lanes Morant has never had access to in Memphis.
Defensively, the pairing is a problem. Neither guy is an elite defender at his position, and a Bucks team with both of them would be relying on a third or fourth piece to be a real stopper. That is a roster construction question Milwaukee has not solved in years.
The bigger issue is whether Morant actually moves the needle for Giannis. The Bucks star has been to a Finals before with a co-star in Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. He won a title that way. He knows what it takes. Pairing him with a flashier guard who is younger and more electric is a different bet, but is it enough to keep Giannis in green for the next three years?
That answer is the entire offseason in one question.
If Milwaukee pulls off the Morant trade, they will have done something no one expected. They will have flipped a franchise crisis into a fresh contention window without losing their best player. If they fail, they end up in the worst possible spot. Out of the Morant race, still uncertain about Giannis, and stuck watching Boston and Miami fight over their MVP.
The next two weeks are going to define the next five years of Bucks basketball. Morant is the lever.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
