Why the Warriors have to go all-in for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

The Golden State Warriors they have less than a week to figure out what direction they want to take the franchise Jimmy ButlerA season-ending ACL tear against the Miami Heat. The injury changes everything for the Warriors, both now and in the future. And that’s why they are he has to go all-in for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

The Warriors entered this season understanding they weren’t the best team in the league, but felt they could compete with the top of the West as long as they stayed healthy and continued to develop some of their younger players in the rotation.

Jonathan Cumminga was named the starter in late October, just one week into the season. But the 23-year-old forward fell out of the rotation in December, and kept getting DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) on his pitches.

So it seemed likely that Kuminga and his camp would work with the Warriors to find a new home for the fifth-year forward from the G League Ignite by the NBA trade deadline.

And then Butler suffered a torn ACL against the Miami Heat, which now raises more questions than answers:

Should the Warriors keep Jimmy Butler and the remainder of his two-year, $111 million contract on their books? Butler will be 37 years old and coming off a torn ACL.

Should the Warriors reconsider trading Jonathan Cumminga?

And most importantly, should the Warriors commit to trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

The answer to the last question essentially answers the rest of the Warrior’s questions.

The Warriors must go all-in for the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been one of the league’s best players for the past decade, and he’s reportedly finally open to finding a new home after several years of futility with the Milwaukee Bucks.

At 31 years old, Giannis is currently in the prime of his NBA career, and while he relies heavily on his athleticism, he would be nearly flawless alongside Stephen Curry.

This season, the NBA introduced a new stat called gravity, which the league says “quantifies how much a player draws defenders toward him beyond expectation, essentially measuring how much attention they draw compared to what floor spacing predicts.”

For years, players, coaches, media and fans have known just how much gravitas Stephen Curry has, but haven’t been able to quantify it with statistics.

According to the league’s new gravity database, Stephen Curry has an off-ball gravity rating of 29.6. What does that mean? Well, the league average is 0, and stars like Shai Giljus-Alexander have an off-ball gravity rating of 19.7, Kevin Durant 18.6, and Luka Doncic 17.4.

Curry also currently ranks fifth in the league in perimeter rebounding with a 14.9 rating behind Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.

Although Giannis Antetokounmpo has not met the games played criteria to be listed in the league’s public gravity statistics, it is also clear from watching him that he is always among the league leaders in off-ball and on-ball internal gravity due to his size, speed and athleticism.

Pairing these two players up would easily create a nightmare for teams facing the Warriors.

Stephen Curry is also set to turn 38 in March 2026, and while his game has aged gracefully, he’s been tasked with transitioning the Warriors’ offense to the back since Kevin Durant left in free agency in 2019. The addition of Antetokounmpo, 31, would certainly ease his career and further add to the burden on his NBA shoulders.

Draymond Green is still a solid defender and defensive communicator, but his overall productivity and impact have declined quite a bit as he’s aged and the Warriors haven’t been able to find a solid big man to play alongside him. And at 35 years old – 36 in March – it’s unfair to ask or expect Green to be the guy he was on that end of the floor. With Antetokounmpo on the roster, Draymond and Giannis would complement each other well and be a defensive nightmare for the teams they would have to go up against.

And if you needed more reasons for the Warriors to go after Antetokounmpo, sometimes it’s as simple as this: How often does your team have the opportunity to trade and acquire a two-time MVP, NBA Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and nine-time NBA All-Star in the prime of his NBA career?

It’s easy if you’re the Golden State Warriors. The questions for the Bucks are where Antetokounmpo wants to play next and what Milwaukee is aiming for in return for their franchise superstar’s $51.4 million this season.

The Warriors can offer a package that includes Jonathan Cumminga, Brandin Podziemski, four first-round picks and two trade picks. Is that enough to get the Bucks going again?

The Miami Heat — another reported destination that intrigues Antetokounmpo — has a number of young players who could blossom with bigger opportunities. Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware and Jaime Yaquez Jr. are among the players that could be included in the deal, but how intrigued are the Bucks with that type of package?

Since we’re talking about the Warriors, let’s take a look at what their trade package would look like for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It’s no secret that family is important to Giannis, so his brothers, Thanasis and Alex — the former on a veteran’s minimum contract and the latter on a two-way deal — feel like players the Warriors will also need to acquire in any potential trade.

For the Warriors to reach a deal as another team, a package of players consisting of Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Cumminga and Moses Moody could be headed to Milwaukee. Moses Moody could also be traded for Brandin Podziemski and Trace Jackson-Davis to get the deal done as well.

The Bucks have been trying to move on Kuzma and the two years remaining on his contract since the start of the season, league sources told ClutchPoints, but so far have been unsuccessful. Whether Kuzma ends up with the Warriors or is dealt to another franchise as part of a three- or four-team deal, the former Los Angeles Lakers forward would also be involved somehow in this deal.

As for the draft, the Warriors have the option to trade first-round picks in 2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032, as well as swap first-round picks in 2027 and 2031.

That’s a total of four picks and two trades, noting that the 2030 first-round pick can only be carried if it falls between picks 1 and 20, as the Warriors first traded 2030 (picks 21-30) to the Nuggets in the Jordan Poole trade a few years ago.

OUTGOING:

– Jimmy Butler
– Jonathan Cumminga
– Brandin Pod Ziemia
– 2026 first round pick
– Replacement of the 2027 first round selection
– 2028 first round pick
– 2030 First Round Pick (1-20)
– Replacement of the election in the first round in 2031
– 2032 first round pick

COMING:

– Giannis Antetokounmpo
– Thanasis Antetokounmpo
– Alex Antetokounmpo
– Kyle Kuzma

And again, that doesn’t mean every one of those players will switch teams outright, as other teams are likely to jump in to make it three or four teams.

The Golden State Warriors would get a superstar NBA champion by the end of his prime to pair with Stephen Curry, while the Bucks would get several talented young players and draft picks who could be valuable even after Curry retires. If Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking for a trade for the Warriors, this seems like the best case scenario for both clubs.