This Giannis Rumor Is The Most Terrifying Thing I've Ever Heard
(NBC Sports) – The Golden State Warriors have a plethora of superstars, so many in fact that the league has taken an extended break from believing they can win a championship, at least until Kevin Durant heads outside the Bay Area.
Durant could be headed for the New York Knicks or some other such location this summer when he is a free agent. No doubt Golden State will want to retain Durant’s services, but in the event that they are unable to do so, they need to look elsewhere to improve their team.
The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson wrote recently that Golden State could go after Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo when he becomes available for free agency in the summer of 2021. This was just fun supposition on Thompson’s part, but it was followed up on Tuesday by some important rumoring by Marc Stein of the New York Times in his weekly newsletter:
“Yet it’s likewise undeniably true that Steph and Giannis are buddies who are both represented by the same agency (Octagon) and share a mutual admiration that has resulted in Curry and Antetokounmpo selecting each other first overall with the No. 1 overall picks as captains in the first two All-Star drafts.
I can promise you, furthermore, that the Warriors have internally mused about a run at Giannis — however futile it may prove to be — in the event they can’t convince Kevin Durant to re-sign this summer. Trying to sign the most attractive free agent available is on the first page of the Golden State owner Joe Lacob’s playbook.”
No. Absolutely not. I don’t care how improbable this may seem right this second, just the mere thought that the Warriors front office is exploring ways to get their ducks in a row to potentially go after Giannis in 2021 is absolutely terrifying. It’s not exactly news that everyone is going to be interested when that time comes, and who knows maybe Giannis signs an early extension or something and we won’t have to worry about this, but the fact that this is even being put out there in the universe by very credible people sends a chill down my spine.
We know Giannis loves being in MIL, that he doesn’t care about a small market and wants to be the face of that franchise blah blah blah. We also know there’s a chance that by 2021 this very Bucks team may have some big time postseason disappointments. The fact that this feels all too familiar to another small market MVP candidate is what I can’t get past. Obviously by 2021 we’ll know what the Warriors did with Durant/Klay/Draymond, but if Durant bounces and they don’t pay Draymond, or somehow if they are able to find a different way to open up space in order to make this pipe dream a reality, who have we seen say no to the Warriors? I don’t think anyone is under the impression that their dominance will be over by 2021.
My question is this. Let’s say Giannis does join the dark side and the Warriors continue their dominance. Does he get the same treatment that Kevin Durant got? You could argue there is not a more beloved NBA player in the league right now than Giannis, but if he leaves MIL to join GS, another example of a small market losing their franchise player to a super team, does he suddenly become one of the most hated players just like KD did? Remember, before Durant made the switch everyone loved him and I would say he’s been treated a little different since. Could what happened with Durant be what deters Giannis away from GS? I fucking hope so.
I get that this is just a rumor and a fun thing for Warriors fans to think about, but this is sort of how they operate. You don’t think they were planning years in advance to be in a position to bring Durant in? The Warriors have proven they can make the moves they need to make in order to land that big fish, and that means we all have to collectively pray that this doesn’t happen. We cannot live in a world where a stacked Warriors team adds Giannis.
All I know is there is no worse feeling as a fan than hearing the Warriors have their sights set on your best player. Poor Bucks fans.