NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo Targeted By 2 Former Championship Teams

NBA’s reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is reportedly being targeted by two former NBA championship teams for 2021.

Antetokounmpo continues to shine and has been living up to his title after winning the 2018-19 MVP award. The “Greek Freak” has been one of the most notable NBA stars this season and has been improving on different aspects of his game. All told, Antetokounmpo will definitely become a target as soon as he hits free agency next year.

In fact, former NBA champions Golden State Warriors are considering joining the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes as early as now. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, if the Warriors finish the 2019-20 season as one of the worst teams in the league and get the no. 1 pick in next summer’s draft, they would use it as bargaining chip to acquire Antetokounmpo from the Bucks.

“It’s highly unlikely that Milwaukee would make Giannis Antetokounmpo available in a trade. But if the Bucks did, they certainly would have a big asking price. The mega-trades that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers and Paul George to the Clippers have set the standard quite high. If the Warriors got the No. 1 pick, they’d probably need to offer Milwaukee that selection, D’Angelo Russell, Draymond Green or Klay Thompson, and another young piece or two — think Eric Paschall and Kevon Looney — just for the Bucks to take them seriously,” Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle said.

Another former NBA champion team is reportedly interested in inking a deal with Antetokounmpo. As per the Miami Herald, the Miami Heat is actively looking to preserve max cap space to land him.

"Miami wants to preserve max cap space that summer for a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo or, secondarily, a few other targets including Victor Oladipo," Barry Jackson of Miami Herald wrote.

Antetokounmpo’s free agency has been on the list of future goals of NBA teams. Shortly after the New York Knicks missed out on signing top free agent Kevin Durant last summer, reports claimed that the team has been saving cap space for Antetokounmpo.

Some sources also claimed that the Knicks were not willing to offer Durant a max deal due to the fact that the former MVP will never be the same player again even after recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.

Knicks president Steve Mills had opted to just settle for Tier 2-3 free agents and one or two-year guaranteed deals since the team will no longer have “KD”. The reason why New York did not want to give a fully-guaranteed third player is that the team doesn’t not want to jeopardize the flexibility they could have in landing Antetokounmpo in 2021.