The Milwaukee Bucks are officially open for business on Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the clock is ticking. With two years remaining on his deal and an October 1 extension deadline approaching, the franchise is facing a binary outcome – and ownership isn’t hiding it.

Bucks controlling owner Wes Edens put it plainly: “One of two things will happen: Either he will be extended or he’ll be traded.” Co-owner Jimmy Haslam added that the draft is the natural inflection point: “Before the draft is a natural time. Because if Giannis does play somewhere else, we’ve got to have a lot of assets.”

ESPN’s Bobby Marks examined 10 teams with the assets, cap situations, and organizational motivation to legitimately pursue a deal. The bar is high – non-cap-space teams must send Milwaukee at least $46.6 million in outgoing salary and remain below the first apron – but the pool of suitors is real. Here’s the full list.

1. Golden State Warriors: The Curry Pairing That Could Define an Era

The Warriors missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, and their window with Stephen Curry – on the books at $62.6 million through 2027 – is narrowing fast. Pairing Curry with Giannis would be the most dramatic win-now move in franchise history, and GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. already signaled the appetite: “We’re willing to do whatever it takes to improve this team, whether it’s young players, first-round picks.”

Golden State can trade four first-round picks (2028, 2030 top-20 protected, 2031, and 2032), plus pick swaps over seven years. The salary problem is significant – Curry, Jimmy Butler III, and Draymond Green make up 79% of the payroll, meaning Green’s $27.7 million would need to be part of any matching package. Whether Golden State could field a championship-caliber roster after gutting the depth is the real question hanging over this scenario.

2. Miami Heat: The Pat Riley Factor

The Heat have never been shy about pursuing franchise-altering stars, and Giannis fits the profile of a player Pat Riley would go all-in for. Miami’s organizational culture and track record of convincing stars to commit are genuine assets in any recruitment conversation.

Cap flexibility and available draft capital will determine how competitive their offer can be, but the Heat’s ability to construct deals creatively – and their history of landing players others couldn’t – keeps them firmly on this list.

3. Houston Rockets: Young Assets and a Real Runway

The Rockets have accumulated one of the deepest collections of young players and draft capital in the league, which makes them a natural name in any star trade conversation. A roster built around Alperen Şengün and a healthy supporting cast already has a foundation – adding Giannis would accelerate their timeline dramatically.

Houston’s challenge is the same one facing every asset-rich rebuilding team: Milwaukee wants proven value back, not just a pile of picks. But the Rockets have enough live ammunition to at least put a compelling package together.

4. Boston Celtics: The Back-to-Back Champion Wildcard

The Celtics have the infrastructure of a reigning champion and the organizational credibility to pitch Giannis on a legitimate title contention path. Whether Boston is willing to disrupt a winning core for a superstar trade is the question – but dismissing them outright would be a mistake.

Any deal would require moving significant salary and likely some of their younger depth, which makes this more complicated than it looks on paper. Still, if the Celtics ever decided to make a swing of this magnitude, they have the pieces to do it.

5. San Antonio Spurs: The Victor Wembanyama Pitch

The appeal here is obvious – Giannis and Victor Wembanyama would form one of the most terrifying frontcourt combinations in NBA history. The Spurs have draft capital and young assets to offer, and pairing the two could immediately shift San Antonio from a developing team into a genuine contender.

The organizational hesitation is real, though. San Antonio is building around Wembanyama for the long term, and trading away core pieces and picks to win now could undercut that vision. This one is more realistic as a dark horse than a frontrunner.

6. Philadelphia 76ers: The Medical Risk Equation

The 76ers need a star who can actually stay on the floor – and there’s an argument that Giannis, despite his own injury history, represents a more durable bet than what they’ve been working with. Philadelphia has tradable contracts and some draft flexibility.

The bigger issue is whether Milwaukee views a 76ers return package as compelling enough, and whether Giannis would want to land in a market dealing with its own roster uncertainty. The fit is interesting in theory; the execution would be messy.

7. New York Knicks: The Market, The Moment, The Assets

The Knicks are coming off a deep playoff run and have positioned themselves as a team serious about contention. New York’s market appeal is a real factor in any free agency or trade pitch, and they have enough roster construction flexibility to put something credible together.

Whether the specific package they can assemble outbids the field is harder to answer. But the Knicks belong in the conversation on organizational credibility and assets alone.

8. Oklahoma City Thunder: Too Good to Blow Up, Too Good to Ignore

The Thunder have more draft capital than almost anyone in the league and a young core that is already winning at a high level. Adding Giannis would make them the immediate favorites in the West, which is exactly why this trade is so complicated to structure.

OKC’s young players are the matching salary, and Milwaukee would likely want several of them back. Whether the Thunder are willing to trade away the engine of their young core for a star on a two-year deal is the fundamental tension here.

9. Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron’s Last Window

The Lakers and LeBron James represent the most straightforward narrative case – but narrative isn’t a trade offer. Los Angeles would need to move significant salary and available assets, and their pick situation has been constrained for years by previous moves.

If the Lakers can structure something real, the combination of LeBron and Giannis would be historic. Whether the math works is what keeps this from being a clean fit.

10. Brooklyn Nets: The Unlikely Dark Horse

The Nets are in a full rebuild and have accumulated draft picks as their primary currency. They are not a natural landing spot for Giannis in terms of roster fit or win-now credibility – but as a trade partner that can move salary and picks, they are worth monitoring as a potential third-team facilitator or surprise direct bidder.

Brooklyn’s appeal is transactional, not narrative. If Milwaukee needs a specific salary structure to make a deal work and another team needs a partner to get there, the Nets have the flexibility to play that role.

The Clock Is Running

The June draft is the first real checkpoint – teams can begin folding newly acquired picks into formal framework conversations, and Milwaukee has its own 10th pick as part of any pitch to Giannis about staying. October 1 is the harder deadline, when the four-year, $275 million extension window opens, and the Bucks face a clear yes or no.

If no extension gets done and no trade materializes before that date, the leverage dynamics shift in ways that benefit no one in Milwaukee. Watch the days surrounding the draft for the first real signal of where this is headed – that’s when front offices stop monitoring and start making calls.

The post Giannis Trade Watch: 10 Teams to Monitor Before the Draft appeared first on The SportsRush.



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