Grid Positioning for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ‘One Day’ Trade Pursuit

The The Brooklyn Nets were on the fight bus lately, currently at 13-25 after Friday night’s road loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Nets recently made some big moves trading Dennis Schroeder to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for capital and then which deals with Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton to the Los Angeles Lakers for D’Angelo Russell, who is currently out with an injury.

In their relatively short history since moving to Brooklyn, the Nets have never been afraid make big swings both through free agency and trade, and according to the latest information, they could try again in the near future if given the chance, according to NBA insider Marc Stein on his Substack account.

“The scenario that has been cited repeatedly in conversations with rival teams always ends up in the same place: The Nets have long been described and continue to be painted as a team determined to be in a position to trade for Milwaukee Giannis Antetokounmpo one day,” Stein reported.

However, Stein also noted that “there is no expectation that the Bucks will even consider the notion of trading Antetokounmpo unless he requests it.”

Still, “there are still rumblings that the Nets are positioning themselves to be ready for that moment if it comes,” Stein says.

An daring franchise

As previously noted, the Nets have never been shy about trying to attract stars.

This has sometimes had serious consequences for the team, such as when the team traded for a late 30’s version of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in an attempt to build a superteam and instead essentially gave the Boston Celtics the streak of dominance they are currently enjoying.

The team also lured Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving during 2019 free agency, later pairing them with James Harden. That team had much more success when the three stars were on the floor together, but unfortunately, that was an extremely rare occurrence, and the furthest the Nets ever got was Game 7 of the second round.

Now, the Nets have seemingly embraced a full rebuild, and it remains to be seen if they’ll look to move on from Russell, who doesn’t necessarily fit their timeline around young players like Cam Thomas and others.

The Nets also have other pieces that could be traded, including Cam Johnson, who a number of suitors would likely be willing to part with a lot for.

Either way, Brooklyn will next take the floor on Sunday against the Utah Jazz.