Everything is bigger in Texas. And it’s about to get bigger. If the San Antonio Spurs are ready to pull the trigger, Giannis Antetokounmpo should already be in their crosshairs.
After the Spurs were awarded the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery on Monday evening, the Milwaukee Bucks should have been spamming the phone numbers of Spurs front office personnel trying to hammer out a deal with the fervor of a realtor hounding homeowners about selling their property.
Milwaukee is stuck in an untenable position, and their shrewdest course of action after the draft lottery is to trade the Greek Freak. The draft lottery elevated San Antonio above Houston as the front-runner for Antetokounmpo’s successor. The draft lottery may have provided the exit strategy both teams needed.
The Spurs can offer the Bucks the best trade return for Giannis Antetokounmpo
San Antonio earning a top-two pick after a 38-win season that didn’t end in the playoffs because of Victor Wembanyama’s blood clot was a high-arching Tim Duncan bank shot off the moon from the basketball gods. This was the best possible draft scenario for the Bucks. Houston, Detroit, and Oklahoma City were among the teams with both the interest and the assets to make a Greek Freak trade. San Antonio was a dark horse offering future draft NPCs and a few supporting talents.
In the short-term, San Antonio earning the No. 2 is as consequential as the No. 1 pick heading to Dallas. There’s still the possibility of Nico Harrison doubling down on his “defense wins championships” mantra. Trading the No. 1 pick for a former Defensive Player of the Year would affirm his brand as a wild card.
If the Spurs had wound up with the No. 1 pick, you could count on them to do the sensible thing to draft Cooper Flagg and terminate their interest in Antetokounmpo. The No. 2 pick has more value to Milwaukee than San Antonio. Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are quality prospects. But they don’t project to be trajectory-altering players in the next four years. Antetokounmpo raises San Antonio’s ceiling into the clouds, swings their championship window wide open, and removes the hinges.
A few weeks ago, the Bucks were due for a return to poverty franchise status. Instead, their reset has a clear direction and it’s pointing toward San Antonio. From Milwaukee’s perspective, they can immediately kickstart their rebuild with multiple picks, the best prospect in the draft not-named-Cooper Flagg, and Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.
It's been 20 years since Freakonomics explained human behavior through economics. Greek Freakonomics can be viewed through the same prism. Milwaukee has no financial flexibility as long as they’re paying $100 million to Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard annually. Lillard is untradeable while he rehabs from a ruptured Achilles. They lack the assets to draft coveted rookies and have traded their assets from their last decade of drafts.
Clinging to the past until it dissolves in their hands is what got the Bucks in this position.
This is a high-stakes moment for Jon Horst. He has the high ground, but can he use it? Greek Freakonomics is a simple formula. Milwaukee cannot afford to tread water. Armed with a transcendent big man, RC Buford and Greg Popovich can’t be foolish enough to to look a gift unicorn in the mouth and turn away. They have a rare chance to reshape the league’s power structure. Antetokounmpo’s future may no longer be in Milwaukee. But with the right deal, the Bucks can walk away with hope intact.