The competitive landscape of the NBA was suspended during a potential apocalypse of lottery on Monday evening. THE Dallas Mavericks And San Antonio Spurs Found themselves as the last two teams for the right of Cooper Flagg on television broadcasting. The prospect of Flagg teams up with Victor Wembanyama would have been devastating for the idea of ​​parity that the League worked to cultivate, associating the two best prospects of their generation at the start of their career.
Instead, the Spurs were drawn in n ° 2, which means that the MAVs were in a way the lucky winners of the lottery with only 1.8% of the 11th place in the drawing.
Flagg going to Dallas only months after the franchise exchanged Luka Doncic at the Lakers slightly stolen from titles. The landing of spurs in n ° 2 in total is also a wild result since their rumor is attached to the second best active available on the NBA market this summer.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo competition has not yet started, but it only looks like a matter of time. Antetokounmpo would be “open -minded” on the evolution of the teams This off -season after Milwaukee Bucks“Third flame of consecutive playoffs. Giannis has already flirted by starting before, but it is different this year after the Achilles torn by Damian Lillard and with the limited ammunition of the Bucks to make another big business to turn them into real claims.
The Spurs were on our list of Giannis contenders from the start. If Antetokounmpo wants to play with another star player and compete for the championships, landing next to Wembanyama seems to be his best bet even with a passage from the easiest conference in the East to the West much more difficult. Take the choice n ° 2 and the rights of Rutgers Goalkeeper Dylan Harper gives his offer to Antetokounmpo much more attractive and gives them a legitimate chance of providing him.
First of all, let's add the players so that wages work.
Now include the compensation project. Spurs have already exchanged their choice in 2027 against D'aaron Fox in February. This means that they cannot exchange their choices in 2026 or 2028 due to the Stepian rule. Fortunately, San Antonio has a few first teams, and it's great for Bucks, who probably want to diversify their choice portfolio.
Here is a realistic choice package in Milwaukee: the choice of Atlanta in 2027, the choice of Boston in 2028, the choice of spurs in 2029. This makes the offer of spurs look like this:
San Antonio Spurs::
Milwaukee Bucks::
- Stephon castle
- N ° 2 GOLOPS in 2025
- Choice of first round of the Hawks in 2027
- Celtics'2028 Pick of first round
- Spurs first round pick in 2029
- Harrison Barnes
- Keldon Johnson
Should Spurs make this offer?
There is a case to do so that the Spurs are better preserved on their assets for the moment than to take them all for Giannis. There is no doubt that Giannis is currently one player among the first 3 in the world, but he is 31 years old in December, and he endured a ton of physical hammering with a few expensive injuries. Giannis has no three -point shot, and he always relys on his athletics, which is scary for a player as he ages. Stephon Castle has just won the recruit of the year, Harper is a very good perspective at No. 2 this season, and it is a lot of future choices that could be exchanged for a player who corresponds better to the chronology of Wembanyama.
However, I would do this like the Spurs.
A Wembanyama-Asetokounmpo couple would be great at both ends of the ground. The defensive advantage speaks of itself; It would be the best defensive base in the league. I also like offensive adjustment if spurs can get some additional shooters on the list. Wembanyama could space Giannis, the Spurs could smash their minutes to always have a superstar on the ground, the rebound would be overwhelming when the two play, and the transition possibilities caused by their defense would be very effective.
A tweet was going on a fan of the spurs on Tuesday who said “Castle / Harper can be something similar to SGA / J-Dub in 4-5 years.” The most likely scenario is none of these players is never as good as Jalen Williams, not to mention Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Castle is a poor shooter who cannot even make his free throws, not to mention his three. He marked well below the effectiveness of the league as a recruit with 52% shots. I liked his defense that comes out of UconnBut he feels best suited as a fourth leaving in an elite team, and he is not a player on which you are reluctant when Giannis is on the table. I like Harper more than Castle as a perspective, but he also has faults that do it less than a slam dunk at n ° 2.
Spurs fans will say that it is a lot to offer to Giannis. They are right, but it may not be the best package on the market.
Should Bucks take the offer of Spurs for Giannis?
I think it is possible that the bucks can do better than that.
I named the Houston Rockets Like the biggest pretender Giannis at the beginning of the month. Houston can offer young and more attractive young players with superior recovery choices. If the Rockets have built an offer around Amen Thompson with two by Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard, plus the Phoenix Suns“The choices of first round in 2027 and 2029, as well as some of their own choices, it resembles me the best possible offer from the point of view of Milwaukee. Oklahoma City Thunder may also go up in the Giannis derby if they do not win the 2025 championship.
The Bucks will want an auction war if they exchange Giannis, and the Spurs winning the choice n ° 2 to the lottery certainly help. It will probably take a huge package to get antetokounmpo, and it must really do it from the point of view of Milwaukee since they do not control their own future assets and cannot tank. It will be a stressful decision for each party involved, but this time, I have the impression that it will happen.
