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Giannis Antetokounmpo wants the Milwaukee Bucks to trade him even if he won't make an official request. All reporting indicates it's a near certainty to happen in the next five-plus months. The question is whether it goes down before next Thursday's deadline or the Bucks hold off until summer when they would perhaps have more suitors with grander packages to offer. 

For the purposes of this article, we're going to rank the realistic deadline offers the Bucks could receive. We say realistic because the Thunder, if they wanted to, could just bury anyone else's offer with a boatload of picks and young players without compromising their core, but they're almost surely not going to do that. 

For that reason, OKC won't be included here. Nor will...

  • The Spurs: San Antonio is following the exact OKC blueprint with a young team headed down a long road of annual contention. They aren't going to mess with that for a guy who might only have a few elite seasons left, which would cost them much of their depth and all this future draft capital they have to build any way they want around Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. 
  • The Rockets: They took their win-now swing on Kevin Durant without depleting their future. To do it again for Giannis would put too much pressure on these next few years when they're perfectly set up for a much longer run. If Giannis isn't moved at the deadline, and the Rockets disappoint in the playoffs, then we may find ourselves sussing through a lot of Giannis-to-Houston rumors this summer. 
  • The Pistons: Detroit owns all its future picks and could offer exciting young players in Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson. A trio of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Giannis would have serious spacing issues, but if the Pistons look bad in the playoffs perhaps they would consider it. Until then, however, they're likely to let this play out organically before getting drastic. 
  • The Hawks: If the Hawks were to make the 2026 pick available that will come as the more favorable of New Orleans' and conveniently, Milwaukee's, it would likely be the single best asset the Bucks could recoup in a deadline deal. But with Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa expected to be on the board, all of whom are projected as major franchise guys, it's hard to imagine Atlanta giving that pick away before it knows where it has landed. If it falls outside the top three, maybe the Hawks pick up the phone. 
  • The Magic: This is a serious summer team to watch, in my opinion. Imagine starting your rebuild with Paolo Banchero and Anthony Black or Jalen Suggs. Orlando doesn't have a ton of draft capital as it gave it away in the Desmond Bane deal, but in the form of actual players that's a strong sell. Problem is, Banchero is a poison-pill contract, which becomes very difficult to deal before his rookie extension actually kicks in and he can just be aggregated at what his 2026-27 salary will be. I suppose the Magic could do the same deal with Franz Wagner and do it at the deadline, but at this point, my guess is they see Wagner as the better player and better potential fit with Giannis. Keep an eye on this if Giannis doesn't get moved next week. 
  • The 76ers: There has been light rumors of the Sixers being interested, and you can't ever rule out Daryl Morey making a big move, but V.J. Edgecombe is the prized asset and it is very hard to see Philly giving up the next 10 years of him and Tyrese Maxey even if you could get Milwaukee, or someone else, to take Paul George. 
  • The Nets: They have a mountain of picks and the cap space to absorb some of Giannis' money, but do they really want to go older-star hunting again? Don't put it completely past Joe Tsai, but don't bet on it. 
  • The Raptors: It worked once with Kawhi Leonard, but that Raptors team was truly one piece away. This one isn't. It's doubtful the Raptors are trading Scottie Barnes, making Collin Murray-Boyles the only prospect the Bucks would care about. They do own all their firsts through 2032, but they wouldn't be too valuable with the Raptors aiming as a top team. Just not enough here to see it happening, certainly not within the next week. 

I'll reiterate, if the Thunder, Spurs or Rockets were to get in this thing in the next week, or any number of these teams listed above, all bets are off. But based on all reporting and other factors, the four most realistic options for a deadline deal are listed below. Let's rank them.

1. Golden State Warriors

Who knows if Joe Lacob is willing to empty the cupboard, but, if he is, the Warriors can offer the Bucks a lot. From a money standpoint, Jimmy Butler for Giannis works straight up. From there, it could be all about the Warriors' future draft picks. 

They can offer four of them right now, per ESPN, and swap rights in up to seven seasons. Let's imagine a package where the Warriors give the Bucks picks outright in 2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032 along with a 2031 swap, and then force the Warriors to trade first-round swap rights in 2027 and 2029 to other teams for even more assets to give Milwaukee.

The deeper into the future those picks go, the more valuable they become. In 2028, 2030 and 2032, for instance, Stephen Curry will be north of 40 years old ad possibly retired. Draymond Green will be done presumably by 2030. The Warriors could be drafting pretty high a few years from now. 

It's also possible that with Giannis and a premier brand, the Warriors could attract another star with the max money they would have with Curry and Green potentially off the books, in which case they may still be very good. But Giannis is getting up there in age, too. He'll be 32 at the start of next season. Milwaukee would have to project how likely it would be that Giannis would still be leading a contender sans Curry in Golden State by 2030. 

There's also the Jonathan Kuminga card. Milwaukee could demand all of Golden State's draft capital plus Kuminga as a young player with untapped upside. This is where things could get really enticing for the Bucks, who could make Golden State take back the Kyle Kuzma contract that they would love to be rid of. Also, Butler would be an expiring deal next season so perhaps they could flip him for more depending on how his ACL rehab is progressing and when he'll be ready to get back on the court. 

Either way, four first-round picks, at least two or three three of which stand to be very valuable, swaps, plus Kuminga and possibly even Brandin Podziemski Moses Moody and/or Will Richard depending how big the deal might get (Thanasis Antetokounmpo and his $2.3 million would probably have to be factored in), would be a tough deal to beat if the Warriors were willing to offer it. 

2. Miami Heat

Miami's package would be built more around young talent than draft capital, namely in the form of Kel'el ware, revitalized Jaime Jaquez Jr. (who looks kind of awesome again) and possibly Kasparas Jakučionis, who's just 19 and suddenly starting for Miami. Tyler Herro would go as well, though Milwaukee may not desire the Wisconsin native long term. He's a 20 PPG scorer and still just 26. It's not nothing. 

As far as picks, Miami can offer two firsts in 2029 and 2031, and swaps in '28, '30 and '32. Golden State's picks are far superior. In a potential bidding war, how much would Milwaukee really value Miami's players? My instinct says the Warriors would win that war if they fired all their bullets. 

However, I do think Miami's package, in a vacuum, would probably beat those of the next two teams on this list, or at least be more structurally straightforward. 

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota emerged as a potential Giannis destination when Brian Windhorst reported on Thursday that Giannis is interested in landing with the Wolves. For Giannis, pairing with Anthony Edwards makes obvious sense. For the Wolves, at first glance, it wouldn't seem like they have a chance to put together a serious offer as they don't currently own any trade-able first-round picks, but what they do have are a lot of players that a lot of teams would be interested in for separate trades that could return draft capital to Minnesota, which could then be rerouted to Milwaukee. 

Let's start with Jaden McDaniels. If Desmond Bane is worth four picks, even in a tighter market three is reasonable for McDaniels -- an elite defender and continually growing offensive threat who's still just 25 years old and averaging 14.6 PPG on 51/52/84 shooting splits. 

After that, what could the Wolves get for Donte DiVincenzo? Rudy Gobert? Julius Randle? This would be a three- or four-team deal with somebody else taking on Randle/Gobert and probably a younger team with a desire for McDaniels and draft capital to spare (Utah? Charlotte?). Brooklyn has cap space, always helpful in these expanded structures. 

To me, with all these moving parts, this seems like a deal that would be more likely over the summer when Minnesota would also gain an extra pick of its own to offer. Even then, it would be tough for Minnesota to scrape together a pick package that could beat Golden State's potential offer. 

But if the Warriors and Heat don't go all in, and it comes down to Minnesota and the Knicks, I think a young team that would have the prospect/draft assets that Milwaukee would want would be more inclined to move them for a 25-year-old McDaniels than Mikal Bridges or even OG Anunoby, who are both older and signed to more expensive deals. 

4. New York Knicks

Look, if Giannis puts his foot down and says I won't sign an extension anywhere else, and I want to go to the Knicks, these things have a way of happening for superstars. But removing that variable, the package New York can offer is far from a head turner. 

Deuce McBride is a solid young pice, but like Minnesota, the Knicks basically have no draft capital as they gave it all away in the deal for Bridges (they do own Washington's 2026 pick, but it's top-eight protected and all but guaranteed to convert to two second rounders), meaning, as outlined above, they would have to flip Bridges and/or Anunoby for the kind of draft assets Milwaukee would covet. 

Even if they do that, Milwaukee almost certainly doesn't want Karl-Anhtony Towns, who makes the money work in this deal. So now Knew York has to move him, too, but how much does Towns really have in the marketplace at $57 million and $61 million in each of the next two years? No young team with big assets will want anything to do with that. 

As noted above, if both the Knicks and Timberwolves have to start canvassing for capital to then route to the Bucks, I just think McDaniels has more market value given his age and salary than (definitely) Bridges and (probably) Anunoby. 

Plus, what does a Knicks team look like with no Towns and either no Bridges or Anunoby, or maybe both? That question may be moot; they want Giannis and Giannis has long wanted them, and often that's all that matters. But if we're just talking potential packages, and all the work it would take to even put it together, it would be hard to make a case that the Knicks have anywhere near the best one at the deadline.