Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are prepared to separate. It's simply a matter of finding an acceptable trade offer, whether it comes in before Thursday's trade deadline or in the offseason, when more teams can scrounge together the necessary NBA Draft capital. Either way, expect Giannis to land on a ready-made contender. A wide range of teams should — and will — express interest.
This article will not endeavor to determine which teams are most likely to land Giannis, or where he has the highest odds of winning a championship. Instead, we will determine the most fun landing spots, relying entirely on subjective on-court entertainment value. Which teams would be the most enjoyable to watch with Giannis? That is the question. Here are the answers.
5. Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls' odds to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo went soaring over the weekend, despite no tangible reporting to connect the former MVP to his longtime division rivals. This is not the forum to discuss the ethics or dependability of Polymarket, but there are dots to connect. Giannis recently purchased an apartment in Chicago and was seen at a Greek church in the city on Sunday.
That realistically means next to nothing, but Chicago is a stone's throw away from Milwaukee, where Giannis has put down roots. It stands to reason that he could be interested in a shorter move, rather than hopping on a cross-country flight to San Francisco or New York.
As for why this is fun — and I know, the Bulls and "fun" are rarely used in a sentence together these days — it comes down to Billy Donovan and how this Chicago team likes to operate. The Bulls can't find their way out of neutral, but the actual on-court product, NBA standings be damned, does have its entertainment value. Josh Giddey gets the Bulls out in transition. The team is equipped with a deep bench of playmakers and enough play-finishing and defense to at least stick around the Play-In race.
The Bulls front office, smartly (I know... I know!), has kept all its draft picks, not splurging in a way that just digs them into a deeper hole. Giannis is the kind of player Chicago should actually sacrifice its picks for. There is risk, of course, but acquiring a top three player in the world, with a reasonably deep bench and a balanced supporting cast, suddenly launches Chicago into the upper echelon of a very winnable East.
It probably doesn't happen this season, since Giannis won't return until late, but next season? Beyond? Chicago could start to do things, with Giannis fitting perfectly into their basketball ethos, in an offense practically designed to maximize his particular skill set.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are frequently linked to Giannis despite having basically zero picks worth trading, which is a bit confounding. How this actually comes to fruition is unclear to me, but if the front office (and the new ownership group) are creative enough, never say never. There's enough smoke here to at least discuss the possibility.
Their ranking here boils down to a simple fact: Giannis and Anthony Edwards would be an incredibly fun duo. Those two are in spiritual lockstep: two born competitors who take great pleasure in imposing their will on a game. Giannis has gradually opened up over the course of his career, becoming a jokester in the press scrum and a taunter on the court. Ant is entertainment made human — equal parts highlight reel and comedian, with an undercurrent of glee when he's dismantling an opponent.
Minnesota has been so close for so long. Giannis' slashing and Ant's perimeter shot-making immediate elevate Minnesota to the top of that second tier in the West, up there with Denver and San Antonio as OKC's primary challengers. Again, Giannis' injury complicates the outlook for this season in particular, but Edwards is still on the ascent. He can keep on rising as Giannis begins to slowly fall, making this quite possibly the ideal star partnership for the 31-year-old as he looks to author his second chapter.
There are personal benefits for Giannis, too. Like with Chicago, there's a geographic proximity between Minneapolis and Milwaukee. While it's not a huge market, there should be plenty of marketing upside with Ant as his running mate and a motivated new ownership group funneling money into the organization.
Beyond the Giannis and Ant connection, Minnesota would have the best defensive frontcourt in the NBA, assuming Rudy Gobert sticks around. The supporting cast probably gets gutted, but there's no way this is not a fun outcome.
3. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are stuck in no-man's land right now, with a great coach, plenty of capable players, but not enough top-end talent to really make noise in the East. Giannis flips the script overnight, giving Miami the superstar engine it has been searching for since Jimmy Butler's departure last winter (and really, since LeBron's departure all those years ago).
The prospect of Giannis, arguably the second-best player in the world, teaming up with a coach as creative and resourceful as Erik Spoelstra is awfully tantalizing. Spo has completely reimagined how the Heat's offense operates this season, eschewing the typical pick-and-roll trappings of this era in favor of tempo, ball movement and improvisation. Miami leads the NBA in transition possessions per game, and it's a style beautifully suited to Giannis' particular set of skills.
Miami probably coughs up Tyler Herro and Kel'el Ware, among many other assets, to make this trade happen. That leaves the backcourt a bit thin and alters the makeup of the frontcourt, swapping the lob-catching and floor-spacing of Ware for a downhill bulldozer in Giannis. Given Bam Adebayo's sudden affinity for 3s, however, it should work on just fine. On the defensive end, the combined range and versatility of Adebayo and Giannis will make Miami exceedingly difficult to score on, especially in the paint.
The Heat's roster around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo wouldn't amount to much, but there should be enough shooting and connective passing to make the engine hum. Spo knows how to maximize disparate parts, and in this Eastern Conference, Giannis, Adebayo and Miami's infrastructure is more than enough to keep Miami in the mix.
2. Philadelphia 76ers
There are different interpretations of the word "fun," especially when it comes to watching basketball. Many folks despise watching Joel Embiid systematically manipulate defenders, exploit advantages, and pummel them into foul trouble. Me personally? I think it's a total blast. Personal biases aside, the prospect of watching Giannis, Embiid and Tyrese Maxey on the same floor — man, that's just a lot of talent.
The Philadelphia 76ers would most likely need to include Paul George, VJ Edgecombe and all its meaningful draft capital to have a shot here, which is a lot. Most Sixers fans are ready to build Edgecombe's statue outside the arena. And while sacrificing the limitless upside of Edgecombe is an understandable turnoff, that upside invariably wilts in the face of Giannis' established, plug-and-play dominance.
There are age and mounting injury concerns with Giannis, of course, which become only more alarming when paired with the notoriously fickle joints of Embiid. But with Embiid beginning to look more like his old self, the Sixers feel as close to contention as ever. Especially with the East this wide open. Embiid feels like a top-five player again most nights. Maxey is charging toward a first team All-NBA nod. Giannis could not ask for two more talented teammates.
Philadelphia's roster is deeply flawed, but with Quentin Grimes, Adem Bona, Dominick Barlow and others, it feels like the Sixers can maintain an adequate supporting cast. It would boil down to health at the end of the day, but if the Sixers are healthy... this team should be favored to win the conference. Embiid and Giannis would be the most physically dominant frontcourt duo in recent memory. There'd be practically no way to hold them both at bay. Expect a lot of free throws, which maybe aren't fun. But watching the Sixers piledrive opponents, with Maxey stepping into easy 3s and wide-open driving lanes or backdoor cuts, would certainly register high on the entertainment scale.
1. Indiana Pacers
Credit to FanSided's Ian Levy for introducing the Giannis-Indy concept to the masses. There is no reported link between Giannis and the Indiana Pacers, which is understandable. Indiana currently sits at the bottom of the standings and cannot offer a path to contention this season. The clock is ticking on Giannis' prime. Also, there's a ton of bad blood here. The Bucks and Pacers do not like each other.
All that said, Giannis just has to wait until next season for this partnership to really flourish. He can take a gap year, much like the Pacers, and then return healthier in 2026-27. He would be joined then by a healthy Tyrese Haliburton, with Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, T.J. McConnell and other key role players hopefully surviving the trade deadline, too.
This Pacers offense — and stop me if you've heard this before — likes to get out and run. Functionally, Indy is replacing Pascal Siakam with Giannis Antetokounmpo. That probably hurts on a cellular level for Pacers fans, but watching Giannis and Haliburton drive opposing defenses into the ground will help ease the sting of Siakam's departure.
Indiana still needs to find a functional starting center next offseason, but folks will want to join Antetokounmpo and Haliburton. Even in Indianapolis, where market size is so often a hurdle. The Pacers are a year removed from the NBA Finals. Haliburton's Achilles injury was a tough blow, but it's easy to forget just how quickly this team can scale the competitive mountain once he's back.
Haliburton's volume shooting and high-feel, quick-hitting passes pair beautifully with Giannis on paper. Haliburton can take over games and hit clutch shots, but he's also the NBA's most chameleonic superstar, able to blend into the background and quietly pull the strings to facilitate explosive offensive results. He can make life a heck of a lot easier on Giannis. This won't happen, at least not at the deadline, but maybe it should.