Just like when there were questions about his future in the offseason, one of the teams rumored to trade for the Greek Freak’s services are the San Antonio Spurs.
SAN ANTONIO — The future in Milwaukee for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is once again up in the air after reports that he and the Bucks were discussing whether he should stay on the team or not.
The Bucks are currently 10-13 and sit at the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference.
And after a right calf strain injury that’s expected to sideline Antetokounmpo for two to four weeks, that record may be getting even worse.
At 31 years old, Antetokounmpo doesn’t exactly fit the timeline of a rebuilding team, so a trade to a contender might be in the cards for the Bucks.
Just like when there were questions about his future in the offseason, one of the teams rumored to trade for the Greek Freak’s services are the San Antonio Spurs, who are currently 15-6 and sitting at the 4th seed in the Western Conference.
After almost a quarter of the season done, the Spurs have proven they’re a solid team, even winning games without their back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.
But a question some people have: Is this enough to compete for a championship this year?
In a loaded Western Conference, trading some young players for a superstar could be the difference in making the NBA Finals.
In the west, the Spurs are competing with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who are sitting at a historic 21-1, the Los Angeles Lakers lead by 4-time champion LeBron James and Luka Doncic, the Houston Rockets lead by 2-time champion Kevin Durant, and the Denver Nuggets lead by 1-time champion Nikola Jokic.
Bottom line, the main threats in the west all have playoff and championship experience, something this Spurs teams lacks.
Of their players who are in the top 10 in minutes played, Harrison Barnes is the only one with significant playoff experience, winning a championship with the Warriors in 2016. He has since played in 71 playoff games but hasn’t played in one since 2022-23 with the Kings.
De’Aaron Fox has only made the playoffs once in his nine-year career, for those same Kings in 2022-23, and Luke Kornet played sparingly for some early-to-mid 2020s Celtics teams which got him one ring.
Wembanyama, Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie have all never played in the playoffs in their short careers.
To win in this league, playoff experience is important.
Look at the Oklahoma City Thunder: In their first year as a real contender in the 2023-24 season, they finished 57-25 and finished as the one seed. However, they were upset by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, one of the main reasons being their core hadn’t had any playoff experience.
Fast forward to last season, the 2024-25 Thunder were once again the one seed, this time sitting at 68-14. After a year of experience in the playoffs, they finished the job this win winning the 2025 NBA Championship. Now, they have started the season in historic fashion, winning 21 of their first 22 games and look like the far and away favorites to repeat as champions.
All that to say experience matters, and maybe a trade for a player in Antetokounmpo who has played in 84 playoff games, won a championship and a Finals MVP in the same year can put this Spurs team over the hump.
One trade crafted by ESPN lands Antetokounmpo in San Antonio in exchange for Stephon Castle, Harrison Barnes, Jordan McLaughlin and three first round picks.
A trade for Giannis would theoretically need to revolve around one of three good point guards on the roster: Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper or De’Aaron Fox.
Reason being: the Spurs have a logjam at the position and could replace one of them for another position of need, in this case power forward.
In this case they would be trading Castle, who has shown improvements in almost every way this season following last year’s Rookie of the year campaign. He’s averaging 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.7 steals while shooting almost 50% from the field, all career highs. He is currently sidelined with a left hip flexor strain.
Dylan Harper is also intriguing, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft has only played 11 games but has averaged 13.6 points, 3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals on almost 50% shooting from the field in only 21.3 minutes, all off the bench.
Then there’s De’Aaron Fox, who in 13 games is averaging 25 points, 6.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals on almost 50% from the field. He’s having almost a career year after coming back from an injury himself. The issue with him is he’s 28 years old.
So the Spurs could send one of these guys away in a Giannis trade and give the Bucks a good point guard for the future. Considering they traded for Fox last season, you would expect that he’s their short-term starter for the near future, so I’d expect either Harper or Castle to be the centerpiece in a trade.
Then you would add Harrison Barnes’s contract to make the money work and some additional assets (three first round picks, Barnes and McLaughlin) to match Giannis’ value, and you could have a deal.
If they do this theoretical trade their starting lineup (when healthy) would look like:
- C: Victor Wembanyama
- PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- SF: Devin Vassell
- SG: Julian Champagnie (or Dylan Harper if he cracks the rotation)
- PG: De’Aaron Fox
Defensively, this team would be insane: Wemby and Giannis are two of the greatest defenders in the last 20 years, and to have them in the same frontcourt? It could be one of the best defenses of all time.
Another option is to stand pat and not do anything.
Castle, Harper and Fox are all playing great right now and the Spurs are winning games. They could just see where this core takes them this season without rocking the boat.
Take the Rockets last season, they were in a similar spot to the Spurs this season where they finished with a top seed in the West with a team grown mostly from draft picks. They ultimately secured the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and home court advantage in the first round.
Then they played the 7th seeded playoff-experienced Warriors in that round and lost in seven games. This series made them realize they lacked 3-point shooting and scoring, specifically in the clutch.
They then made a blockbuster trade with the Phoenix Suns for the aforementioned 2-time champion Kevin Durant for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the No. 10 pick that turned into Khaman Maluach.
They saw what their core could do in the playoffs and addressed a huge need in the offseason. Now they have the 4th best offense and have the second best 3-point shooting percentage in the league while sitting at 14-5 in a loaded Western Conference.
This is a route the Spurs could take, ride out this year with your core of Wemby, Castle, Fox and Harper and see what they can do, then make changes to their weaknesses they see if they make the playoffs. If that means make a move for Giannis, then that could be the answer.
Or they can skip that part and trade for Giannis now, as I’m sure a bunch of other teams are calling the Bucks’ phone with trade requests for the Greek Freak.
It comes down to the question of if the Spurs want to prioritize youth or experience for the rest of the year.
If they were to make a move, they have some time, the trade deadline is Feb. 5. That could be enough time to determine what path they want to take for the rest of the season.
However, by that time Giannis could already be on his next team.
Do you think the Spurs should trade Giannis? Or should they keep their core and keep grinding for a playoff spot in the west.