The Golden State Warriors have long had a dream of trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo, yet the prospect of the 2x MVP becoming available may actually be ruining the final years of Stephen Curry's extraordinary career.
The idea of trading for Antetokounmpo has loomed over other potential deals the Warriors could have made in recent years, including their refusal to trade both Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski according to a recent report.
Giannis Antetokounmpo dream has restricted other Golden State moves
Antetokounmpo's future is again in the spotlight as a trade becomes nearly inevitable, with Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reporting on Thursday that the Warriors have been hesitant to trade both of their young players for an opportunity such as this.
"Sources say Golden State, furthermore, has never been close to this point to putting bothJonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemskiin the same trade conversation — refusing to do so in their June (and July) 2024 talks with Utah for Lauri Markkanen— just in case the chance emerged to package them both for Antetokounmpo or some other major, major fish," Fischer wrote.
There's multiple issues with this from a Golden State perspective. Firstly, the current form of both Kuminga and Podziemski means that neither are anywhere near the blue-chip prospects that the Bucks would likely want in an Antetokounmpo trade.
Sure, the Warriors could still put a package together that includes a raft of valuable future picks, but the inclusion of Kuminga and Podziemski would be more about salary-matching and the Bucks taking young players for the sake of it.
Arguably the bigger problem is the fact that the dream for Antetokounmpo has potentially pushed Golden State away from other deals that could have aided Curry's hopes of adding a fifth championship since the last one in 2022.
They've subsequently missed the opportunity to sell high on both young players, especially during the 2024 offseason where -- as Fischer alluded to -- the Warriors were unwilling to move Podziemski in a trade for Lauri Markkanen.
The decision might prove worthwhile if Golden State are ultimately able to acquire Antetokounmpo, but that still seems very unlikely despite the increased possibility of the 9x All-Star departing the Bucks at some point in the next nine months.
Where to if Antetokounmpo heads elsewhere? The Warriors may have to explore Kuminga and Podziemski trades regardless, yet they won't get the same level of value and in the meantime have have wasted still high level play from Curry over the past couple of seasons.