Why Warriors must go all-in for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

The Golden State Warriors have a less a week to figure out what direction they want to take the franchise following Jimmy Butler’s season-ending ACL tear against the Miami Heat. The injury changes everything for the Warriors, and both now and for the future. And it’s why they must go all-in for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

The Warriors came into this season with the understanding that they weren’t the best team in the league, but felt like they could compete with the top of the West as long as they stayed healthy and continued to develop some of their younger rotation players.

Jonathan Kuminga was named a starter in late October, just one week into the season. But the 23-year old forward fell out of the rotation in December, and was consistently getting DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) on his box scores.

Thus, it appeared likely that Kuminga and his camp would work with the Warriors to find a new home for the fifth year forward from the G League Ignite by the NBA trade deadline.

And then Butler suffered a torn ACL against the Miami Heat, which now brings up more questions than answers:

Should the Warriors keep Jimmy Butler and the remainder of his two-year, $111 million contract on their books? Butler will be turning 37 and coming off a torn ACL.

Should the Warriors re-think trading Jonathan Kuminga?

And most importantly, should the Warriors go all-on on trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

The answer to the final question essentially answers the rest of the Warriors questions.

Warriors must go all-in for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been one of the league’s best players for the last decade, and is reportedly finally open to finding a new home after a couple of years of futility with the Milwaukee Bucks.

At 31 years of age, Giannis is currently in the prime of his NBA career and, while he does heavily rely on his athleticism, would be a near-seamless fit alongside Stephen Curry.

This season, the NBA introduced a new stat called gravity, which the league states, “quantifies how much a player pulls defenders towards them above expected, essentially measuring how much attention they draw compared to what the spacing on the floor predicts.”

For years, players, coaches, media, and fans have known how much gravity Stephen Curry commands, but haven’t been able to quantify it with a statistic.

According to the league’s new gravity database, Stephen Curry has a perimeter off-ball gravity rating of 29.6. What does that mean? Well, the league average is 0, and stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have a 19.7 perimeter off-ball gravity rating, Kevin Durant as a 18.6 rating, and Luka Doncic has a 17.4 rating.

Curry also currently ranks fifth in the league in perimeter on-ball gravity with a rating of 14.9 behind Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t meet the games played criteria to be listed on the league’s public gravity statistics, it’s also clear watching him that he’s always among the league leaders in interior off-ball gravity and interior on-ball gravity due to his size, speed, and athleticism.

Pairing these two players would easily create a matchup nightmare for teams facing the Warriors.

Stephen Curry is also set to turn 38 years of age in March 2026, and while his game has aged gracefully, he’s been tasked with putting the Warriors offense on his back since Kevin Durant left in free agency in 2019. The addition of Antetokounmpo, 31, would certainly ease the burden on his shoulders and possibly even extend his NBA career.

Draymond Green is still a solid defender and communicator on the defensive end, but his overall productivity and impact have fallen off quite a bit as he’s aged and the Warriors have failed to find a solid big man to play him alongside. And at 35 years of age — 36 in March — it’s unfair to ask or expect Green to be the guy he has been on that end of the floor. With Antetokounmpo on the roster, Draymond and Giannis would complement each other well and be a nightmare defensively for teams to have to go up against.

And if you needed any more reasons for the Warriors to go after Antetokounmpo, sometimes it’s as simple as this: How often does your team have a chance to trade for and acquire a two-time MVP, an NBA Finals MVP, a Defensive Player of the Year, and nine-time NBA All-Star in the prime of his NBA career?

It’s a no-brainer if you’re the Golden State Warriors. The questions for the Bucks center around where does Antetokounmpo want to play next and what Milwaukee is aiming for in return for their franchise superstar earning $51.4 million this season.

The Warriors can offer a package including Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, four first round picks, and two pick swaps. Is that enough for the Bucks to restart?

The Miami Heat — another reported destination that intrigues Antetokounmpo — has a number of young players that could blossom with increased opportunity. Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are among the players who could be involved in the deal, but how intrigued are the Bucks by that type of package?

Since we’re discussing the Warriors, let’s look into what their trade package for Giannis Antetokounmpo would look like.

It’s no secret that family is important to Giannis, so his brothers, Thanasis and Alex — the former of which is on a veteran minimum deal and the latter on a two-way deal, feels like players the Warriors are also going to have to acquire in any potential trade.

For the Warriors to get a deal done as a second apron team, a player package consisting of Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody could be heading to Milwaukee. Moses Moody could also be swapped out for Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis to get a deal done as well.

The Bucks have been trying to move on from Kuzma and the two years remaining on his deal since the start of the season, league sources told ClutchPoints, but have been unable to thus far. Whether Kuzma ends up on the Warriors or is rerouted to another franchise as part of a three or four-team deal, the former Los Angeles Lakers forward would also somehow be included in this deal.

As for draft picks, the Warriors have the ability to trade first round picks in 2026, 2028, 2030, and 2032, as well as first round pick swaps in 2027 and 2031.

That’s a total of four picks and two swaps, with a note that the 2030 first round pick can only be conveyed if it falls between picks 1 and 20, since the Warriors traded the 2030 first (picks 21-30) to the Nuggets in the Jordan Poole trade a few years ago.

OUTGOING:

– Jimmy Butler
– Jonathan Kuminga
– Brandin Podziemski
– 2026 first round pick
– 2027 first round pick swap
– 2028 first round pick
– 2030 first round pick (1-20)
– 2031 first round pick swap
– 2032 first round pick

INCOMING:

– Giannis Antetokounmpo
– Thanasis Antetokounmpo
– Alex Antetokounmpo
– Kyle Kuzma

And again, this doesn’t mean each of those players will be directly swapping teams, as there’s a likelihood other teams will get involved to make this a three or four-team deal.

The Golden State Warriors would be landing a superstar NBA Champion for the remainder of his prime to pair up with Stephen Curry while the Bucks would land a few talented young players and draft picks that could be valuable well after Curry retires. If Giannis Antetokounmpo is to request a trade to the Warriors, this feels like the best-case scenario for both clubs.

The post Why Warriors must go all-in for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade appeared first on ClutchPoints.