Scottie Barnes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cI would be shocked if the Bucks would include a deal that doesn\u2019t include Scottie,\u201d texted one Eastern Conference executive.<\/p>\n
Another: \u201cScottie has the most trade value and should be the ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third: \u201cIt would have to be picks and Scottie, in my opinion. I just don\u2019t see any other way that they do it. I just don\u2019t see how it works without Scottie and draft assets. That\u2019s the only thing that makes sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A fourth: \u201cIt\u2019s got to be Scottie. If you\u2019re Toronto, you\u2019re giving up a lot if you\u2019re giving up Scottie, but if you\u2019re Milwaukee, certainly that\u2019s the ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo is an icon, leading the Bucks in career points, rebounds, blocks, assists (he\u2019s a close second in steals) and field goal percentage, while also having led them to their only title in more than half a century.<\/p>\n
Even the discussion around trading him as the team has slid out of their competitive window has been excruciating and exhausting. And Antetokounmpo remains a singular force, putting up MVP-level statistics (28 points, 10 rebounds, 5.6 assists) in the 30 games he has been healthy for this season.<\/p>\n
For that reason the Bucks need to emerge from this transaction \u2014 if it comes to pass now or in the summer \u2014 with a clear ‘win.’<\/p>\n
So no, let\u2019s not pretend the Raptors trading Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji and a couple of protected firsts is getting this done. Like, dream.<\/p>\n
They Bucks need to get a star in return as well as a geyser of secondary assets. If they were to engage the Atlanta Hawks \u2014 who, by all indications are perfectly happy to sit on the sidelines, watch the Bucks bottom out given they have the rights to Milwaukee\u2019s 2026 draft pick, or swap it with the Pelicans if it is even better \u2014 the ask would start with emerging all-NBA talent Jalen Johnson. If it\u2019s the San Antonio Spurs, it\u2019s recent No. 2 pick Dylan Harper, if it\u2019s the Houston Rockets it\u2019s Alperen Sengun or Amen Thompson.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why teams that Antetokounmpo has reportedly been interested in joining \u2014 the Knicks and the Heat \u2014 face an uphill batter in getting a deal done, since they don\u2019t have a young star to trade.<\/p>\n
Would the Raptors be willing to part with Barnes, hypothetically?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think so, and I don\u2019t think they should.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no doubt that at the moment Antetokounmpo is the better player; even Barnes soundly slightly awed when we had a conversation about him earlier this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy I\u2019m so shocked with is Giannis,\u201d Barnes said to me when we were chatting about his role defending so many of the league\u2019s top stars. \u201cThe way he plays with force every single night, he\u2019s constantly attacking downhill, playing through so much physicality because he\u2019s six-11, seven-foot, super strong, they allow people to kind of foul him. To be able to that every single night, don\u2019t care, go up on three people, dunk on \u2018em. It\u2019s a different type of intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n
But trading an all-NBA level player \u2014 and that\u2019s where Barnes stands when his overall impact is accounted for \u2014 who is 24 years old and has four more years remaining on a deal that is pegged at roughly 25 per cent of the salary cap (Barnes is in the first year of a five-year, $224 million contract) is bad business. Barnes best seasons will be his next three or four, most likely, and his deal will be at peak value.<\/p>\n
As one of the executives I spoke with put it: \u201cOne guy is 31 and he\u2019s going to want that extension and the other is 24 and you have him for four more years after this one. Is Giannis going to be the better player over those years? I don\u2019t know about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As great as Antetokounmpo is, he is undoubtedly beginning to decline just as he\u2019s about to get the most expensive. Age is a cruel master. He\u2019s missed an average of 15 games the past four seasons, has missed 16 this season and will be out another month with his second calf injury this year.<\/p>\n
Another factor to consider is that that there is a proven path to winning a title with Antetokounmpo: put the ball in his hands and surround him with as much shooting as possible. In the three years he won his two MVP awards and the 2021 NBA title, the Bucks finished second, fourth and fifth in three-point field goals made, and in the top five in attempts, on average. The Raptors rank in the bottom quarter of the NBA in attempts, makes and percentage when it comes to three-point shooting.<\/p>\n
Now, that\u2019s not a permanent state of affairs. As one general manager I spoke put it: \u201cGiannis is in that Joker, Shai, Luka group: you just figure it out,\u201d he said, referring to Denver\u2019s Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic.<\/p>\n
Is there a path to an Antetokounmpo-Raptors deal that doesn\u2019t include Barnes?<\/p>\n
One of the four executives I spoke with thought so. \u201cIf I\u2019m the Bucks I\u2019m focussed on getting the best picks and young players possible and forget about what the media or fans say.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an example he went on to suggest that a deal built around Raptors youngsters Collin Murray-Boyles, Ja\u2019Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead, bolstered by all the picks (2027, 2029 and 2031 firsts, and pick swaps in 2028, 2030 and 2032 plus several second-rounders) would be a worthy ask by the Bucks and competitive with rival offers, with some combination of Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to make the money work.<\/p>\n
The question for the Raptors, at that point \u2014 and this is my two-cents \u2014 is what the Raptors would (hypothetically) have left over a championship contender?<\/p>\n
Because if not, then why do it, especially considering you are handing over another team control of your draft picks for seven seasons. A title might be worth it, but falling short of one would be a disaster, long term.<\/p>\n
Even in the short term depth would be a significant issue. The fit among Ingram (if he\u2019s not in the deal), Barnes and Antetokounmpo seems awkward. And there\u2019s the matter of what do with Poeltl (presuming good health) as playing the Bucks star with a centre that can spread the floor seems essential.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all interesting fodder for discussion, but likely only that, given the Bucks chances of the Bucks doing a deal that doesn\u2019t include Barnes seems \u2014 like spring at this point in Toronto\u2019s winter \u2014 remote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Remember the 2020 NBA off-season? You might not, given it lasted all of about 10 minutes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-443414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}