When you think of the Portland Trail Blazers, you don't think of a potential landing spot for a superstar. However, the Blazers could be well positioned to land Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Thanks to the Jrue Holiday trade, the Blazers have the rights to Milwaukee's 2028, 2029, and 2030 first-round picks. That gives them a unique leg up on the competition in the Giannis sweepstakes. They could offer Milwaukee each of those picks back as well as Jeremi Grant, Matisse Thybulle, and Scoot Henderson.
The biggest question mark is whether Giannis would want to play in Portland. They are currently ninth in the Western Conference but are an up-and-coming team full of promising young players.
In fact, Deni Avdija was just named an All-Star for the first time. And while he isn't the highest-profile player, he is already among the game's best scorers.
Whether that might influence Giannis to add Portland to his list of potential destinations is unclear. But the Blazers may have enough to convince Milwaukee to trade him.
Will the Portland Trail Blazers trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo?
No matter who the Bucks trade Giannis for, they are likely to be a lottery team in the near future. Unfortunately for them, with them having already traded many of their assets, they can't rebuild through the draft. That is, unless they were to trade him to Portland.
Of course, there are other teams that can make strong offers for Giannis. The New York Knicks could trade star Karl-Anthony Towns or OG Anunoby and Josh Hart plus pick swaps.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors could trade up to four first-round picks and three pick swaps as well as Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski. My money would be on the Warriors to land Giannis, but the Bucks may opt to wait until the off-season to trade him.
Why? Well, teams will have more assets to trade, including the Los Angeles Lakers. They could offer three firsts and absorb him into their cap space. More competition wouldn't bode well for the Blazers, though they are a fringe Giannis team to begin with.
Odds are that he is traded elsewhere and the Blazers continue to steadily improve internally and through the draft. Still, the picks that they own from the Bucks mean we can't close the door on a Giannis trade to the Blazers.