{"id":139226,"date":"2025-05-12T22:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T02:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=139226"},"modified":"2025-05-12T22:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T02:14:10","slug":"rockets-enamored-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/12\/rockets-enamored-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"West Team Enamored With Idea Of Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets are trending in the right direction but they could leave the earth\u2019s orbit with a major offseason trade. It\u2019s one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA. With that being said, The Athletic\u2019s latest intel \u2014provided by Kelly Iko and Sam Amick \u2014makes it clear who the Rockets have locked in on<\/a>: Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rockets Enamored With Idea Of Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade<\/h2>\n

The Rockets are hesitant about trading for Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant<\/a> because he\u2019s already 36 years old. They \u201cpreviously held serious interest\u201d in his teammate, Devin Booker<\/a>, \u201cbut team sources said that is no longer the case.\u201d Then there\u2019s New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson<\/a>, whom Houston sees as \u201ctoo risky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do team officials still have faith in Jalen Green, who is five years younger than Booker and $66 million cheaper over the next three seasons, but also Booker’s struggles last season shifted the thinking on this front.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those doors are now presumably closed, but \u201cof all the possibilities this summer might bring, the idea of the “Greek Freak” donning a Rockets jersey is seen as the most intriguing within the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, the \u201cGreek Freak\u201d refers to Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

It Won\u2019t Be Easy<\/h3>\n

Like Durant, Antetokounmpo is one of the NBA\u2019s real superstar<\/em> players. At 30 years old, he\u2019s already a nine-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA selection, and five-time All-Defensive selection. Even more impressive, he\u2019s a two-time NBA MVP (2019, 2020) who\u2019s won the Most Improved Player (2017) and Defensive Player of the Year (2020) awards.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Apr 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) hugs his sons, Liam, 5, and Maverick Shai, 3, before game four of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So as Iko and Amick note, acquiring Antetokounmpo would come at a high cost.<\/p>\n

The Rockets would likely have to be willing to trade not only Jalen Green<\/a> \u2014who they\u2019re prioritizing over Booker \u2014but the 10th overall pick<\/a> in the 2025 NBA Draft. More than that even, with Amen Thompson<\/a> and Alperen Sengun<\/a> just two other players Milwaukee could have interest in. However, if the Bucks do decide to move Antetokounmpo, it\u2019ll be because he asked to be traded. Furthermore, they\u2019ll prioritize getting the best deal possible.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t necessarily favor Houston.<\/p>\n

Should Antetokounmpo go to the highest bidder, he could theoretically be sent to the Suns himself. The Dallas Mavericks have already attempted to land him<\/a> once and could again now that they have the No. 1 pick<\/a> in the upcoming draft. Frankly, it\u2019s hard not to see all 29 other teams pushing their chips to the middle. Perhaps they won\u2019t go all-in, but many suitors will definitely give the Rockets stiff competition.<\/p>\n

What If?<\/h3>\n

If the Rockets were to trade for Antetokounmpo (say for a package that included Green, Thompson, and the 2025 No. 10 pick), Houston would then have two more-or-less reliable go-to scorers in the starting lineup with him and Alperen Sengun<\/a>. Antetokounmpo is also a more savvy and seasoned playmaker than Green. Lastly, he\u2019s one of the few players who can replicate Thompson\u2019s dynamic defense.<\/p>\n

From a value standpoint, it\u2019s a fair deal.<\/p>\n

There are flaws to Antetokounmpo\u2019s game, namely his 3-point shooting. However, Antetokounmpo will essentially be a Super Saiyan version of Thompson, who emerged as a starter this season. Thus, figuring out the floor balance comes down to who replaces the streaky Green. Ideally, said player will be more efficient and heady but need the ball in their hands less, especially when considering Sengun\u2019s role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets are trending in the right direction but they could leave the earth\u2019s orbit with a major offseason trade. It\u2019s one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA. With that being said, The Athletic\u2019s latest intel \u2014provided by Kelly Iko and Sam Amick \u2014makes it clear who the Rockets have locked in on: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":139234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1608,30,15,62,556,33,3,28,4721],"tags":[4703,352,306,3256,69,98,4774,1684],"class_list":["post-139226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rockets","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-bucks","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-pelicans","category-news","category-suns","category-trade-rumors","tag-amen-thompson","tag-devin-booker","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-jalen-green","tag-kevin-durant","tag-nba-draft","tag-rumors","tag-zion-williamson"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139236,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139226\/revisions\/139236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}