The Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers are NBA central divisional rivals and there is a chance that both teams are going to be making massive moves in the 2025 offseason. The Bucks could potentially be starting over by trading away superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
As for the Cavaliers, they may need to break up the core four and make a potential trade to get them over the top. Cleveland finished with a 64-18 record during the regular season, but they lost in the second-round in the NBA playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. Cleveland is missing an element of toughness on the roster and there is a chance that they try and find that this offseason.
Bill Simmons Creates Shocking Mock Trade Between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks
Bill Simmons on Sunday night on the Bill Simmons podcast was talking about the Bucks and where Antetokounmpo could be going in the near future. Well, he created an interesting mock trade between Milwaukee and Cleveland. He thinks that they should do a 1-for-1 trade by trading Milwaukee trading away Giannis to Cleveland for Evan Mobley. Simmons said,
“Mobley for Giannis straight up. What do you think? Straight up. He’s six and a half years younger… I think I’m doing it. I think it’s a great trade.”
Milwaukee may not be getting enough back in this, but they do get a potential superstar player in this trade for the future. The Bucks would be able to get more players back from other suitors like the San Antonio Spurs, the Houston Rockets, and the Oklahoma City Thunder for example.
The Cavaliers could very well take a swing for Antetokounmpo in the offseason to get them over the top, but Milwaukee may not trade within the division. Cleveland may decide not to trade Mobley or Mitchell, and they may feel that other pieces on the roster are tradeable.
Antetokounmpo in 67 games for the 2024-2025 season with Milwaukee averaged 30.4 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 6.5 APG, 1.2 BPG, 0.9 SPG, and also shot 60.1% from the field. He is 30 years old, and he would want to go to a team that is in win-now mode.
As for Mobley, he just won Defensive Player of the Year. He is only 23 years old. In 71 games with the Cavaliers during the 2024-2025 regular season, he averaged 18.5 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.6 BPG, and 0.9 SPG, along with shooting 55.7% from the field. Mobley is only 23 years old, and he has a lot of room to grow as an NBA player.
It is rare for divisional rivals to make a trade. This trade would be an interesting one. It would feel similar to the trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs from the Toronto Raptors for Kawhi Leonard even though they were not divisional rivals and it helped Toronto get over the top during the 2018-2019 NBA season.
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