The Milwaukee Bucks are seemingly engaged in trade negotiations with the rest of the league for franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even though it has been a couple of weeks since it was reported that the Bucks were looking to move on from their superstar until the NBA Draft, nothing has materialized so far. Yet, there are new potential suitors emerging every day.
The latest of these suitors is the Orlando Magic. After they hired former Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney as their new head coach, there has been widespread speculation that a reunion between Sweeney and Giannis could be of interest to Orlando. But what would a trade scenario sending the Greek Freak to Orlando look like?
How do you construct a Giannis trade that works for both the Bucks and Magic?
There are a couple of challenges to making this trade work. Antetokounmpo's fit in Orlando is questionable. Having Banchero and Giannis as the primary offensive options creates significant spacing issues. The Magic are already low on shooting, and this further exacerbates that problem.
More importantly, it is very difficult to construct a trade without including Franz Wagner or Paolo Banchero. Whether the Magic are ready to part ways with either player is unclear. They may understandably want to see their Wagner-Banchero-Desmond Bane trio have one fully healthy season before making that determination.
Without either Wagner or Banchero, there is very little Orlando can offer that would be of interest to the Bucks. Jalen Suggs will almost certainly have to be matching salary in that scenario. However, the Magic gave up most of their draft capital to acquire Bane last offseason, so they don't have any juicy first-round picks to send to Milwaukee.
Therefore, the most likely scenario still includes Wagner going to Orlando. A trade package built around Wagner, Suggs, and a future first-round pick could bring back Giannis and Kyle Kuzma to the Magic. Getting rid of Kuzma's contract would be a nice bonus for Milwaukee in any Antetokounmpo trade.
Ideally, Milwaukee would want to replenish its draft pick coffers in a Giannis trade, but this is a very solid return. Wagner missed most of last season with an injury, but he is an All-Star-caliber player. He is an all-around forward who can score, make plays, and defend at a high level. He is only 24 years old and is someone the Bucks can build around.
A Ryan Rollins-Suggs-Wagner trio is not a bad group to build around for the Bucks. They can remain somewhat competitive in the Eastern Conference while having their three best players under 25.
Whether Orlando's offer would be the strongest package for the Bucks in terms of trade value is unclear. But if Milwaukee's priority is to still field a competitive team in the post-Antetokounmpo era, they may struggle to find a better package than this.
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