Giannis Antetokounmpo has long been viewed as the Nets’ prime target. And for the first time, he might actually be in sight.
The Post has long reported that Brooklyn has been amassing draft capital and assets with acquiring Antetokounmpo as the proverbial white whale, but the Bucks had never shown any inclination to move him nor he any indication of being willing to move. That is reportedly changing.
While the two-time NBA MVP hasn’t made any firm decisions on his future, ESPN reported Monday that Antetokounmpo is open-minded about exploring whether his best long-term move is leaving Milwaukee.
With NBA teams all convening in Chicago for the lottery and the NBA Draft combine, along with a host of reporters, expect to see tidbits of news coming out of the next week, if not huge news.
Teams are expected to go from just loosely monitoring the situation to being on high alert. And the Nets will be one of them.
Brooklyn leads the NBA in not only salary-cap room (over $50 million) but also future draft picks (31) and future first-rounders (15). The Post has reported since last year that the idea of assembling all those assets was not to make every one of those picks but to have them ready if the right star became available.
Antetokounmpo would the right star, should he decide he’s finally willing to move.
The Bucks have been bounced in the first round of the playoffs three straight years and were knocked out in the second round the year before that. They’re getting old and All-Star Damian Lillard is likely out for next season with a torn Achilles.
Antetokounmpo’s agents, Giorgios Panou and Alex Saratsis, will meet with the Bucks in the offseason to discuss the future, per ESPN. Saratsis also reps Brooklyn restricted free agent Cam Thomas.
If Antetokounmpo leaves Milwaukee — a huge caveat — what would he prefer as a landing spot? If he wants to join a ready-made contender, the Nets need not apply. Teams like Houston or Miami make more sense.
But if he wants a blank canvas and be given the ability and leeway to design his own team around his unique skillset — as Carmelo Anthony recently suggested he should — then Brooklyn is the perfect match. That’s why CBS Sports just ranked the Nets as the best of all possible destinations for Antetokounmpo.
The Nets have 15 future first-round picks, meaning they could conceivably trade eight first-rounders for Antetokounmpo and an accompanying star and still be pick neutral going forward.
“If you’re going after max-level talent, they have [to] automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team,” general manager Sean Marks said last month. “This can’t be like ‘Let’s go get this [guy] and lock ourselves into being a six or seven seed.’ When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”
That market size is one of Brooklyn’s best lures. Recall what Antetokounmpo — who owns multiple businesses in New York, including Ante Inc. and Improbable Media — said after Luka Doncic went to the Lakers.
“I want Luka to the Lakers, I want [Nikola] Jokic to the Knicks. I want all the Europeans to go to all the big markets to see something incredible,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is what I want. This is my dream.”
This latest news could bring Brooklyn’s dream inches closer to a reality.
