Rich Paul breaks down the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade from Bill Simmons

In the middle the flurry of trade rumors surrounding Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bill Simmons represented a potential Antetokounmpo-for-Trae Young trade. But Rich Paulone of the NBA’s most powerful agents isn’t buying it.

Paul, whose agency Klutch previously represented Young, discussed Simmons’ trade idea on his new podcast, saying that a a deal with Antetokounmpo and Kyle Kuzma being shipped to Atlanta in exchange for Young, Kristaps Porzingis, and four first-round draft picks “has no chance” of happening.

“You can’t (do that). It’s not right,” Paul said. “With Giannis, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a star because you don’t get a star per se. Maybe you could. … Let me say, you’re not going to get a Giannis-level star back. You don’t get Luka, you don’t get Jokic, you don’t get Shai. You can get an All-Star back.”

When asked by his ‘Game Over’ co-host Max Kellerman who he would look to trade for Antetokounmpo, he specifically named his client, Jalen Johnson of the Hawks.

“If I’m the Bucks, I’m looking at (a) young player — high character, high talent, high IQ, assets and maybe some utility guys,” Paul said.

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Johnson, 23, would be almost the best outcome for Milwaukee if they fail to land an MVP candidate in exchange for Antetokounmpo. A native of Wisconsin, Johnson was born in Wausau, a town nearly 200 miles northwest of Milwaukee, and graduated from Nicollet High School in Milwaukee County.

Johnson had a chance to show very little in his first two NBA seasons, playing in just 22 games in his first season and starting just six in his second before exploding two seasons ago. In his third year in the league, he averaged 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and shot a career-high 35.5% on 3-pointers. He continued to impress last season; he averaged 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals. And this year there is only betteraveraging 23.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 53.4% ​​from the field and 40.4% from three.

Still, a trade would be a huge blow to the Bucks, who have benefited from Antetokounmpo’s size for more than a decade. Before going down with a calf injury, Antetokounmpo was averaging 30.6 points on 63.9% field goal percentage and 43.5% 3-point percentage.

If traded, any deal involving Antetokounmpo would require some maneuvering, given that he’s making $54.1 million this year — by comparison, Johnson is making $30 million — and will make $58.5 million and $62.8 million over the next two years, respectively.