The New York Knicks' trade of five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges has some NBA insiders hypothesizing that a potential deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo could net the Milwaukee Bucks double that draft capital.
"The first reaction I got from my friends around the NBA was, holy cow, that's a lot of picks to give up for Mikal Bridges," ESPN's Jonathan Givony told ESPN's Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post podcast (10:49 mark.) "Five first rounders. One friend of mine said, what happens if Giannis walks into Jon Horst's office tomorrow and says I want a trade? Is it 10 first rounders for Giannis? That's what some people were concerned about."
The Brooklyn Nets received four unprotected first-round picks as part of the Bridges trade, which Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer described as "one of the largest — if not the largest — returns for a player never to be named an All-Star in NBA history."
In addition to the unprotected first-round picks taking place between the 2025 and 2031 drafts, the Nets also received a protected first-round selection and a second-round pick in 2025, as well as an unprotected pick swap in 2028, for Bridges per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"The bar has been set so high now that, where are we getting to?" Givony asked.
Givony added that both the Bridges price, as well as the selection of French wing Zaccharie Risacher at No. 1 in Thursday night's draft, are due in part to their reputation as three-and-D wings. That role seems to have become increasingly attractive to NBA teams looking to build contenders, especially after watching the Boston Celtics dominate in the 2024 postseason.
Antetokounmpo signed a three-year, $176 million extension last October that will keep him under contract with Milwaukee at least through the 2026-27 season, with a player option through 2028.
Despite some rumors that the Bucks star might reconsider staying in Milwaukee after his team was bumped from the first round for the second straight postseason, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said in May that there were "no rumbles" that Antetokounmpo was considering asking for a trade.
There is no question that the Bucks would prefer to keep their superstar on the roster as the team looks to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since their 2021 title run. But if Antetokounmpo does at some point decide to look for a way out of Milwaukee, it seems almost certain the Bucks would at least be able to collect a historic haul in return.
