The Milwaukee Bucks are headed into a somewhat surprising off-season. After their early exit from the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Bucks moved on from their head coach Mike Budenholzer. In the wake of the early exit and new head coach for the 2023 season, many are speculating that the Bucks could make a splash move this off-season. As it turns out, the Bucks were named in a trade that would bring a two-time NBA champion to Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Bucks Named In Massive Trade That Lands Kawhi Leonard
According to Jack Deignan of Clutch Points:
This one is much more of a long shot than going out and getting DeMar DeRozan, but it makes sense. The Kawhi Leonard era with the Los Angeles Clippers should be over, as his inability to stay healthy is plaguing the current team. Not to mention, fellow Clippers star Paul George can’t seem to stay healthy either, creating the most disappointing superteam in the modern NBA.
Although both have the potential to return to elite form, the Clippers can’t rely on two injury prone stars in a league where every season teams improve and players emerge. The Clippers need to start thinking about the future, and the haul they could get for Kawhi Leonard would guarantee the assets needed to build a star roster within an immediate timeframe.
Although the haul would be almost every asset the Bucks have, pairing Kawhi Leonard with Giannis Antetokounmpo could essentially guarantee a championship, barring Leonard stays healthy. The Bucks could afford a deal like this, because at the end of the day, any team with Giannis is going to compete. Even if the Bucks did nothing this offseason, the Bucks will be NBA Finals contenders again in 2024; Giannis is going to be better and continue to defy NBA standards on an already strong roster.
If they traded for Kawhi Leonard and gave up an arm and a leg in the meantime, they would still have a fighting chance even if Leonard gets hurt. If Leonard stayed healthy, the rest of the league could essentially mail it in.
It is awfully lofty to just guarantee a championship, but the winning mentality and execution that Leonard and Giannis have already demonstrated would make them ridiculous to bet against. They both have shown they can be the number one option on a championship team, only joined by LeBron James and Stephen Curry in that category amongst NBA players. Pairing them together would be so feared that the aforementioned pairing of Giannis and DeRozan would look docile compared to it.
Again, the assets needed to pull off such a deal would essentially jeopardize the future of the Bucks organization. If Kawhi Leonard stays healthy alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, multiple NBA rings would make up for any lean years down the line.
While it may be tough to imagine the Clippers ever moving on from Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors did short after they won a championship with him. Leonard teamed up with Giannis Antetokounmpo would immediately make the Bucks the heavy favorite in the Eastern Conference. It would be tough to imagine any team beating the Bucks in a seven game series in the Finals as well.
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3 Comments
Why would the Bucks do this besides helping a big market team stay on top? Like in the old days when Milwaukee gave Kareem to L.A. for a song and a dance. I forgot that the NBA needs the Clippers to have a great team to fill their brand new arena. I thank God that David Stern didn’t let Chris Paul team up with Kobe for little to no competition. It’s hard to imagine the Clippers moving on from Kawhi? Kawhi and George getting back to elite status? This is pure comedy 🤣.
Umm the major part of this story is wrong and the facts are missing. The rumors are that Portland would trade the 3rd pick, Simons, Nurkic, Sharpe, and other future picks for Giannis to play in Portland with Lillard! Its not Lillard for Giannis!
Writer spends first half of article describing how injury prone Kawhi Leonard is, then makes the case for Bucks to trade all future assets for the guy? What a clickbait lol