The Pelicans' draft-night trade suddenly looks even worse

The New Orleans Pelicans made one of the most shocking moves during the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft when they traded the No. 23 pick and an unprotected 2026 first-rounder to the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 13 pick. The 2026 pick is the better of their own or that of the Milwaukee Bucks, whose star point guard, Damian Lillard, just tore his Achilles in the playoffs and figures to miss most or all of next season.

Even in the moment, that looked like a massive overpay from the Pelicans.

On Thursday morning, it might have gotten even worse.

Giannis' future not resolved after all?

Trade speculation surrounding Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has died down as of late after reaching a fever pitch in mid-May around the NBA draft lottery. However, ESPN's Shams Charania went on Get Up and hinted that the saga might not be over just yet.

"He has said on record that he wants to compete for a second NBA championship," Charania said. "They've got free agents in Bobby Portis, Brook Lopez, Kevin Porter Jr. And so, he's gonna remain open-minded. I don't think his future is necessarily tied to this week, to free-agency week. It's gonna be a process to see how this team looks in July, well into July potentially. And then ultimately, he will see how the Bucks look, how the chess pieces look across the league, and ultimately have some form of a resolution."

The past two times that Antetokounmpo has had to make a decision about his future in Milwaukee, the Bucks have aggressively upgraded their roster to persuade him to stay. He signed a five-year, $228.2 million supermax extension after they swung a trade for Jrue Holiday in 2020, and he signed another three-year, $175.4 million extension after they traded for Damian Lillard in 2023. However, Charania noted that the Bucks "don't have the necessary tools" to make another blockbuster move this summer because they've already gone all-in twice before to appease him.

Back in February, Antetokounmpo told a pair of Greek reporters that he didn't think that he would ever ask for a trade because he was "not this kind of guy," adding, "they would have to kick me out." However, that was notably before Lillard tore his Achilles, which complicates both the Bucks' short- and long-term outlook.

The Bucks have already traded away their fully unprotected 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, along with first-round pick swaps in 2026 and 2028. They've also traded all of their second-rounders through 2030, although they do have the No. 47 pick in this year's draft courtesy of the Detroit Pistons. (Granted, late second-rounders have become significantly less valuable now that more prospects are returning to college due to NIL.)

The Bucks could still trade an unprotected 2031 first-round pick along with pick swaps in 2030 and 2032 to upgrade their roster this offseason in a last-ditch attempt to convince Antetokounmpo to stay. But if they hemorrhage talent in free agency — perhaps in part due to the uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo's future — that might only further push him out the door.

This situation harkens back to Lillard's exit from the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023. Rumblings began percolating about his potential openness to a trade leading up to the draft, although he didn't officially request a trade until after free agency began. Once the Blazers whiffed on an impact signing in the opening hours — their only move was re-signing Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million contract — Lillard officially requested a trade.

"Lillard had contemplated requesting a trade when he met with the Blazers and [general manager Joe] Cronin on Monday, but wanted to give them every opportunity to improve the roster as free agency opened so he remained as quiet and supportive as he could this week," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in the wake of his trade request. "On Friday night, he made the decision to ask for a trade."

There's no guarantee that Antetokounmpo will follow in his teammate's footsteps. However, he implied in February that he could be open to a change at some point.

"Man, he's not that bad,” Antetokounmpo told Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who faced vitriol after leaving the Milwaukee Brewers to join their divisional rivals. “Like, ‘You had the best years of my career, and I gave you everything that I could for you—and now, it’s maybe time for me to make a decision for myself.' I think it's totally, totally, totally fair."

Perhaps the Bucks will succeed in selling Antetokounmpo on their gap-year plan, particularly with Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton also on the mend from Achilles injuries that they suffered in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference now looks wide-open next year, and the Celtics are currently in the midst of a second-apron sell-off that destroyed any hopes of a dynasty. But if they can't, Charania hinted Thursday that Antetokounmpo could still be in play later this summer.

If that comes to pass, giving up control of the Bucks' fully unprotected 2026 first-round pick just to move up 10 spots in this year's draft could wind up being a franchise-crippling mistake for the Pelicans.