NBA rumors: Nets' 'Plan A' remains Giannis Antetokounmpo trade with Bucks

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There is no shortage of paths available to the Brooklyn Nets as they navigate their rebuild. With 12 tradable first-round picks — including their own this year and next — and over $50 million in cap space, they can build through the draft or expedite their timeline with a star acquisition. They reportedly prefer the latter, with one player in mind: Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Multiple league personnel say a trade for the Milwaukee Bucks superstar has been and remains Plan A for the Nets, according to the New York Post’s Brian Lewis.

Antetokounmpo’s future has been a main NBA storyline amid the Bucks’ struggles since winning the 2021 championship. A 2022 second-round loss has followed first-round exits in the last two seasons. They appear destined for a similar fate this year with Damian Lillard sidelined indefinitely amid a 4-9 stretch over their last 13 games.

With an aging core surrounding Antetokounmpo, the Bucks have few avenues to improve. They have no cap space or intriguing young prospects and only one tradable first-round pick (2031). The soon-to-be 35-year-old Lillard is owed $113 million over the next two seasons, and their supporting cast — headlined by Brook Lopez, Kyle Kuzma, and Bobby Portis — is far from championship-caliber.

Antetokounmpo is still playing at an MVP level during his age-30 season, averaging 30.2 points, 11.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.2 blocks on 60.1 percent shooting. He has said numerous times that competing for a title is his No. 1 priority, and he will do so elsewhere if he needs to.

"I’m a Milwaukee Buck. But most importantly, I’m a winner. I want to win. And I have to do whatever it takes for me to win. And if there’s a better situation for me to win the Larry O’Brien, I have to take that better situation,” the two-time MVP said before the 2023-24 season.

"I'm a Milwaukee Buck, but most importantly I'm a winner. … If there is a better situation for me to win the Larry O'Brien I have to take that better situation."

Giannis on his future with the Bucks. pic.twitter.com/XzucRXtmOv

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 13, 2023

With Milwaukee’s championship window appearing to be closed, the question has become: When will the two sides move on from each other? And should the Nets cash in their chips if Antetokounmpo has them on his list of preferred destinations?

Should the Nets expedite their rebuild with Giannis Antetokounmpo trade?

The Nets’ moves this summer appeared to signal a clear direction. After trading Mikal Bridges, general manager Sean Marks paid a steep price to reacquire his 2025 and 2026 first-round picks from the Houston Rockets, allowing his team to tank for a top pick in two stacked draft classes.

Brooklyn has done a far from optimal job executing that vision this season. The team is essentially locked into the sixth-best lottery odds following Monday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks. However, many scouts view the top of the 2026 class featuring Darryn Peterson, A.J. Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer as better than this year’s.

A Giannis Antetokounmpo trade this summer would end any chance of landing the above players and require the Nets to part with a significant chunk of their assets.

This Brooklyn regime has been down the veteran superstar path before. While the failed Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden big three era struck fear into the team’s fanbase, its management appears undeterred. However, the situations are far from the same.

Unlike Durant and Irving, Antetokounmpo would not be coming with another star attached to him, as far as we know. The Nets’ current core consists of Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton. A trade for the Bucks star would likely require them to part with multiple of those players and a handful of first-round picks.

Brooklyn would have draft capital and cap space left over, plus Antetokounmpo and the New York market to pitch other stars on joining. Would that be enough to build a championship team within the constraints of the new CBA? How long will Antetokounmpo sustain his level of play to keep a title window open? And is that worth passing up an opportunity to draft the franchise’s first-ever homegrown superstar in 2026?

These are the questions the Nets’ ownership and front office will be mulling over this offseason. Their decision could determine the franchise’s future for the next decade.

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