There Will Officially Be No Giannis Trade At The Deadline, Which Now Opens Up The Path For An Even Larger Bidding War This Summer

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On a scale of 1-10, how painful do you think that tweet was for Shams to write? I mean, he's been leading the charge when it comes to a Giannis trade, and for a while there I'm sure he thought that he was about to be vindicated, only for the Bucks to officially take Giannis off the market….for now.

I suppose this shouldn't be all that surprising once we saw the other deals around the league start to come in. The Warriors moving Kuminga for Porzingis was a pretty clear tell that they were out of the Giannis sweepstakes, and then additional moves by teams like the Wolves told us that if all the suitors are pivoting, chances are it's because the Bucks were taking Giannis off the table. 

Despite how much ESPN and the like pushed for a potential Giannis trade, when the news first broke that the Bucks were entertaining offers, it always made sense for them to take this into the summer. Why not give yourself the best market possible? In season trades are tough, especially when it comes to getting the best possible return for Giannis, whereas if you take things to the summer, that opens up additional picks/allows other teams to enter into the running. Anyone who is making an offer now will be able to make the same offer this summer, and in some case,s the Bucks will be able to extract even more assets from a prospective buyer.

So while things may be put on ice for the next 24 hours, I would NOT say that we're officially done with any sort of Giannis trade or drama. It's going to pick righ back up once we get to the summer, because if you believe the latest Shams reporting

I can't imagine any of these "smaller' deals are going to make a difference 

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The question now becomes, if Giannis is staying, do the Bucks shut him down? At this point, it's a lost season. Given that they own their 1st round pick, it is now in the Bucks' best interest to lose and lose big. Get into the Lottery, see if you can get some lotto luck and land as high a pick as possible. Maybe you keep it and add an elite young piece, maybe you then flip it for more of a win-now player to put next to Giannis. If you're flipping Giannis this summer, you could in theory have a young foundational player to jumpstart your rebuild.

Given Giannis has suffered two different calf strains this season, I feel like you have to shut him down. He'll probably want to play once he's ready, but you have to squash that. Not just for what it could mean in terms of a pick, but what it could mean in terms of his trade value/health. You cannot risk him suffering an achilles injury, and as we know, calf strains are usually the first domino to drop. To have two separate ones in the same season?

So while I'm sure there are some fanbases like Heat fans that are upset about this development, it's great news for any other potential suitor that wants to get into the mix. It's unfortunate that Bucks fans now have to deal with this through the summer, especially because I'm sure there are some that are hoping this means Giannis doesn't get traded at all. 

Sadly, that's not what I think this is. To me, this is the Bucks doing their part to ensure they get the best possible return. The more teams you're able to add to the bidding, the more leverage you have. Now you're able to maybe squeeze a few more picks out of someone, which for a rebuild is very important. Now after the postseason, if there's a team that underachieves, maybe that team now enters the mix. 

For a front office and organization that hasn't made a good decision in what feels like forever, I'll give the Bucks credit here. They didn't panic trade their franchise player and basically did the opposite of Nico Harrison. I still think we'll see Giannis moved in about 5 months, but where he's going is anyone's guess now that we know the pool of potential destinations is expanding. 

If you're tired of all this back and forth, I dunno what to tell you. It's only going to get crazier once we get to the summer, so you may as well get used to it. At the very least, I guess it's a nice break over the next 24 hours, so there's that.