Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective - EMERGENCY POD: Giannis Ready For Trade From Bucks

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to react to the news that Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready for a new home ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. The guys break down what the Bucks need to get in return and what team can make the best offer to Milwaukee.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Hello and welcome to the Hoot Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're doing on Wednesday, late morning, early afternoon, because there's been some new Yadis Tinnacompo information.

Joining us from New York City, where he is just back from Philadelphia after watching the Milwaukee Bucks loose of the Sixers on Tuesday night is Timbontas. Hello, everybody. Tonight's from Dallas, Texas, where he's still iced in, his band McMath. Howdy, partners. It's starting to thaw. I think I'll be able to make a Mavs game tonight. You know what? This whole Yonnes thing reminds me.

Have you guys ever watched Sanford and Sun growing up back in the day those reruns? Oh, man, iconic. You're really dating yourself right now there, but... No, I was the iconic theme song. Jackson and Devon, who are here. This is the big one. Have either of you... Do either of you have any idea what he's talking about with Samfran?

There's literally no chance, Jackson and Devon. I had to retire. I had to retire making Seinfeld references like seven years ago. Yeah, this is like decades before that. Go ahead. Fred Sanford would always clutch his chest and say this is the big one being the heart attack. That's what it feels like with all the Janus trade stuff. But this might be the big one.

What a way to start off a Janus trade pod. Let's redo this. Jackson, I dare you to put that in the YouTube has. line. How Janus is like Sanford and sons. Yeah. It's going to get a huge number of clicks. Oh, God. So this has obviously been a saga. There are probably more twists and turns in it. Shams has worked very hard. He's been reporting on this for months. Everyone is a little sensitive. So it's our job to not worry so much about the sensitivity. And that is...

My specialty. Yeah, that's what we're going to do here. Janus wants to be traded. Doesn't want to be attached to that demand, but that's what he wants to be traded. And because he's leaving space there in what he's willing to say publicly, the bucks are, you know, hanging on for dear life. Essentially, this is like the fourth quarter of an NBA game, and it's like, What do you want to say? The bucks are down like 22 points and they're still playing.

And, you know, you do still play because sometimes you see, you know, once or twice a year, you do see a comeback from 22 down. Janus is the guy who's gathering up his coat and, you know, telling his kids to, you know, pick up their coats. He's walking up the stairs to the exits. That's the best analogy that I can make. Has Janus left the game yet? Well, he's not outside, but he's on his way up the...

Do you disagree with that, Bontemps? I don't know if that's quite the way I would frame it. I think, like, look, as we all know, because we've all done these types of stories, like to get everybody on the same page with this kind of story, if you're Shams, is really complicated, right? So the fact that the story is out there, and it says Janus is ready to leave,

and it says the Bucks are engaging, on trades means that we all have out in the open what we've all kind of known and have been waiting for to fully be out there for a while, which is that everybody is looking at the possibility truly of Janus being moved in the next nine days. Now, what I am not certain of is I don't think this definitely means he's getting traded. Exactly. You're down 22. They're still playing. Well, they're going to hoist up some threes. But that doesn't mean they're coming. They're coming back either. Exactly. Right. The game is very likely over, but you play to the buzzer just in case.

I mean, I would kind of look at it as the game is on. And I would sort of say that like over by doing this now and having this out there now, you're essentially, if you're the bucks, what you're doing is having nine days, I guess eight days, or about, you know, eight days and a couple hours ahead of the trade deadline, where it's now fully out in the public that Janus is available, that they're not 100% trading them, but there's no like, well, we're not taking calls,

we're not interested. Like, this is clearly, I would say, the most aggressive position Milwaukee has had this whole time, the whole time Janus has been there to the possibility of doing a deal. And so now, rather than talking about the bucks being down and trying to come back and any of that, I would say it's more, okay, if we're open for business, who's coming to try to shop in the store?

And you now have eight days for, as you said, Brian, the league as a whole, to come in and say, okay, here's what we have. Here's what we can get from somewhere else. What do you think of this? Can we maybe do this? Can we maybe do that? And it now, I think, is fully uncovered the fact that Janus could be moved. in all the possible permutations that could come out of both the trade for him directly

and then trades that could come as a result of that initial move. And I think what's really happened is it has reached a point where it is in the buck's best interest to let's get the bidding war going in full. Like this trying to salvage things with the honest, it kept getting more and more, like he's not asking for a trade, he's just making sure everybody in the world around him is completely miserable. he's alienating the entire team. They're not good.

There's not a path to them to get good again. They're in a very difficult situation in terms of a rebuild because of all the picks they've given up and all the things they've done to try to continue building around him. They do have the benefit of bottoming out this year. It's a swap, but fortunately they're swapping with the pelicans. And then, you know, like you're not building another contender around the honest.

It's not happening. So let's get bidding war beginning in full. And instead of just whisper, whisper, let's get it on. More Hoop Collective podcast after this. Right. So basically, do yourself a favor. Don't focus on who's asking for the trade. Move all that out of the way and focus on what could actually happen here.

So when you look at what the bucks are doing, I believe the bucks have two things to consider. One, they have to prioritize the draft, okay? This year's draft and their pick situation going forward. Their future is going to be tied to draft, okay? Can I make one? Can I make one polite tweak to that? I'm not surprised that you would jump in while I'm in the middle.

Well, I just, I think I would just say, I think the box have to identify the best. best package of stuff they can get and get that. I don't think that necessarily means prioritizing the draft. I think they absolutely have to prioritize the draft. Well, if they can get... Wendy was midpoint. Let Wendy finish. If they can get really good young players,

that I think that's a worthwhile path to pursue. That's all I would say. They can get young players, but that comes after the draft. and that includes this year's pick, because as you just said, McMahon, this year's pick is not irrelevant. It is extremely relevant. It includes this draft, whether it's their pick or other pick they may be able to acquire,

and it includes the next couple of years drafts. They are not going to rescue this season with the players that they receive in this. If they think that they're going to do that, they're going to fail. And so we certainly agree on that. An interesting point, though, you're saying the near future drafts, this one in the near future where, look, some of the teams are talking to, they're pretty handcuffed on picks to where they're, you know, if it's multiple picks, it's going to have to be 2031, 2032. And that's where I think you can have a Sam Presti special here. Or, hey, we're not trake, we're not drafting three guys in this draft. Here's a couple picks in this year's draft for down the road.

I know Utah is positioned to be a facilitator with that type of deal. Utah is also positioned financially as are some other teams. But I would look for OKC and Utah to potentially be involved if the priority is near future draft picks instead of potentially juicy ones down the road. So this builds into my second point. So my first point is they got to come out of this with draft assets. You can debate whether you think 2032 is more important than 2028. You can make a case for that, depending on. on whose pick you're getting or picks you're getting.

Okay. The second thing is they can make trades with single teams here. There are teams that will make offers here that it's just there, you know, just two teams making swaps. But very likely this is going to end up being a multi-team trade where either the team that the Bucks are dealing with goes out and improves its offer by trading some of their pieces for other stuff or whether the Bucks receives. something in trade for Janice, that they go out and swap because you are, it is incumbent on the bucks to maximize this potential return. You have got to do as best you possibly can on this. Like Bontem said, it is your duty. John Horst as the, as a general manager, even really, I would say ownership, because, you know, the steward, the steward of the franchise, it is your duty

to maximize this. If you handle this correctly, you can set yourself. up the Thunder are a classic example of this, but you have got to turn over every stone and look in every corner. That means potentially going to second, to third teams and fourth teams. And that's going to take time. And that's one of the reasons I think that there is a possibility that you could see this not happen by next Thursday. I think, Bont, I don't you think there's a good chance this is going to happen by next Thursday, but that because you've got to maximize this, there's a possibility that it might not. Yeah. I mean, look, let's go back to a trade our guy Bobby Marks made the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trade.

The Celtics started talking about Paul Pierce trades in February. They didn't make a trade in February, but they gathered a lot of information and sort of had a sense of where the market was. And then they came back at the draft and they made a trade, right? I could see that happening here. Because again, arguably the best thing the bucks are going to get in this trade, whatever they get is their draft pick this year. And by Yonis being hurt, it's removed some of the necessity to immediately make a trade to ensure that pick is going to be really good.

Because the pick's going to have a chance to be good either way. And so because of that, I do think they have the ability to survey the market, see what they can get. If they don't necessarily love what they have available right now, wait and see where things are at at the draft, see where draft picks are at the draft. right. Priorities for teams could change depending on where they land in the lottery. Like when Anthony Davis got traded to the Lakers, in part because the Lakers jumped from 11 to 4 in the lottery that year. There's a lot of things like that that could come into play. And the only thing to go back to the Bucks return that I think is worth emphasizing is what you said at the end, Brian, I would push back on the draft pick part because for one thing, if you talk to people who study the draft,

the next two drafts are supposed to be historically bad. So I would not necessarily be saying we absolutely have to get picks in the next couple years' drafts. But what the bucks have to come out of this with is building blocks for the future. And whether that is they get great young players that they can grow forward with with their team or they can get great draft picks that they can get that kind of young players with or some combination of the two, that is what they. They got to focus on this draft, 2026 this draft.

Yes. Yes. If they can get another pick in this draft, a really good pick, that would be great. But that to me, whatever the ultimate outcome looks like from the package they get, I think the key for it has to be, you look at the outcome of the trade and say, okay, the bucks have these three to four to five assets going forward that can help them grow into whatever the next good bucks team is going to be. And if it's some trade for like ready-made veteran players to try to win games right now, to your point, that would be

just an awful move that they can't be trying to do. I'm holding in my hand. We're back to the Bobby, the guide. Now, let's talk about the teams who can... By the way, to find all those, all the bucks picks, you've got to go,

you know, you've got to flip the pelicans and trailblazers. And that's the thing. And Hawks. That's right. And that's the thing, the bucks are in a position where The post-Yannis phase is going to, they have to try to salvage the post-Yonis phase now because they put so much into trying to maximize the time. There's going to be a bleep ton of picks in this trade, okay?

And therefore, I'm going to the chart, and we're going to focus on two things. The teams that we think could make an offer, how many picks they can offer, and how many picks that they can offer after the season. Okay? I'm going to go straight down the list and you tell me what you think. Brooklyn, okay? Brooklyn has 10 tradable firsts, Michael Porter and 11 tradable firsts as of draft night. Do we think Brooklyn? I also want to point something else out. If you're trading for Janus, who was 31 years old, you were also trading for the right to pay him $270 million in an extension this fall. Like if you're going to do that, I think you have to commit to that. Do we agree on that? Yes. Okay. You would certainly think any, but you would think there can't imagine many teams that would want to take Yonasan for the price it would take to get him that would only want them for a year and a half.

Agree. Brooklyn, 10 tradable first. Do we think that Brooklyn will make an offer? I mean, it's the ultimate pre-agency move. I would not rule it out, though. Are we, or this is going to be aggregation central? We're really going to do this? We're going to go through aggregation central?

I'm saying, do we think? We're not saying that they are. And speculate. It's informed speculation. I'm just given our guy who hates aggregation a hard time because this is all going to get aggregating. I think the Nets. I think the Nets would make an offer, yes. Okay.

Charlotte. Wait, you're not answering Wendy? I think the Nets. By the way, I think there's like, there's offers already in. You can aggregate that. There's offers already in. Listen, if a top five player becoming available, a lot of things are going to be discussed that you don't know. about and you don't expect to hear because players like this do not become available very often.

And while there are concerns about Janus's out years with the contract, there's concerns about his calf, all this stuff. At the end of the day, he's a top five player on the planet. And those players are still going to return big value and trade. More Hoop Collective podcast after this. A lot of teams are either going to make offers or seriously consider making offers. So, Wendy, you've got Brooklyn as a bidder. I think Brooklyn will seriously consider making an offer. Chicago.

Charlotte has eight tradable first round picks, nine at the draft. I agree. That does-Rotland. Potential facilitator. Potential facilitator. Sure. Chicago, five tradable first round picks. I would say I would put them on the list if for only because Janice has openly talked about the Bulls in the past.

So, I mean, maybe he wants to play in Chicago. They have ownership that famously is not interested in a rebuild. Okay. Dallas, two tradable first round picks now four at the draft. No, I don't think the Maddox would be bidders. There was a time where you thought they would be bidders. Oh, yeah, before last year's lottery, for sure. Okay. Golden State, four tradable first round picks and they have tradable slots. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think Golden State's one of those teams where, you know, depending on the far out picks and the buck's interest there,

could be a 13. And by the way, Golden State has shown in the past they're willing to facilitate even if it's a team they might run into in the playoffs. They did it with Dallas. They obviously have Jonathan Cumminga

that they could use and they have Jimmy Butler. Hey, they also have Jermong Green. They also have Jemong Green. But Jimmy Butler, you know, has some Milwaukee ties. Because Jimmy Butler is hurt,

because Jimmy Butler is hurt, I would say if they're going to do a trade, it would only really make sense if they did it with Jimmy Butler. But yes, I, Gold State has to be included. If you're talking about far-out picks, picks, like when the Thunder did the deal, knowing that Paul George and Kauai Leonard were going to the Clippers,

they took the farthest out picks possible. Literally the farthest picks they were allowed to trade for because they figured they would be very good. And that's why there's still stuff coming to them. You know, for all the Thunder knew, the Clippers would have won a title or two over the last six years. It hasn't happened. The Thunder also had their own picks for the next several years, which the bucks do not.

That's a drastic, drastic difference. That's fine. But I've heard plenty of people say things like, why would you want Miami's picks? Why would you want Golden State's picks? Why would you want New York's picks? Well, because you know what? Look at the clippers. Like, if you just have teams picks for a long time and they're unprotected,

a lot of things can happen. And just because you're in a big market does not guarantee you're going to be good. The Lakers had like two losing seasons in 50 years. and then had the second pick on the draft three years in a row. Like Golden State's picks during Seth's 40s are attractive for sure. That's the point. The point is the Golden States picks potentially are. If you can get a team's draft, you get a team's draft and you see what happens.

It doesn't matter what market they're in. I haven't thought about this, but just because I'm going down, Detroit has four tradable first round picks, plus they would have Tobias Harris to use the sentence. I do not think Detroit is making a Yonis trade. I don't either. Another potential facilitator, though. Houston, five tradable first round picks. We heard what you said.

I have been told that the Rockets will not be bidders. Now, hey, nobody was in her oath, but I've been told that repeatedly, and I'll say that they've got a pretty good track record to shoot me straight. For the sake of satisfying the largest fan base, the Lakers have one tradable first round pick and three tradable picks at the draft.

They have 40-something million in expiring contracts. I don't think they can make it. Look, if Yonis gets to the, the summer and declares he wants to be a Laker, perhaps there's a world the Lakers could get in there with the three firsts. However, there's not a trade to be done now. The Lakers also have swaps, as you know, they already are trying to do. I agree. I think that if they're trading him now, the Lakers offer could just be beat. It's not even really, can be beat by 15 or more teams. It's not even a discussion. Miami, two tradable firsts now, three tradable firsts in the summer.

young players like Khalil Ware, Tyler Hero is under contract would be the big thing. I mean, maybe Terry Rozier's contract, especially if the Bucks are saying we want to dump more salary if we're going to do this deal. That's a good point.

I mean, Terry Rozier's contract would be in the trade. I can pretty much guarantee you that. Well, is it allowed to be? We still don't have a firm rule on that. I would say Terry Rozier's contract will be in the trade

if they do a Yonis trade. I feel comfortable. I feel comfortable saying that that will be happening. New York Knicks, one tradable first, two at the draft. We didn't really have a discussion about Miami. I mean, Miami absolutely. Miami absolutely. And again, Miami is another one of those.

Like, if it's multiple picks, it's got to be far out. Would you rather have volume sooner than upside later? And if that's the case, there's going to be other opportunity to involve other teams. Miami has, I mean, Tyler Heroes from a. They have Coletteau Ware. They have Jaime Hockes. They have some interesting young players. They have a couple picks.

They could do swap. They have Nicole Jovich. Don't you think that their bid can be out? Well, that's what I was going to say. That's what I was going to say. They have enough that if, again, like the Lakers, if Yonis says, I want to be on the Miami Heat, they can at least give some solid collection of stuff. But if it gets to it, again, this is where you do the open.

bidding, if you do the open bidding, they don't have enough to win an outright bidding war, in my opinion, for it. All right. Just because I think they're under some level of pressure to do something, I will point out Minnesota has no tradable first round. Yeah. I just, I don't see how that. It's just like New York.

I mean, cat plus phony pick. New York is in a different, we can get to New York in a minute. Minnesota, I don't think Minnesota has a path to getting something. something like this done for exactly what you said. They have some interesting players and no picks. I think the only way would be if Janice said, I want to be a Minnesota Timberwolf, and I will only resign there,

something like that. But even then, but even then, I think teams would call Janus's bluff on that for two reasons. One, they're not going to have money, and they're not going to be able to get the money to do it. And again,

what is the, like, Minnesota has, like Julius Randall, Jane McDaniels, Rudy Gober. Like, these are good players,

but it's not. Not for rebuilding team. Other teams would beat, other teams could beat that with a Kauai to Toronto trade. They've got to prioritize the draft. Yeah. I'm not saying that that's the only thing they can do, but that's got to be where they start. Yeah. Minnesota just doesn't seem, I don't see how that one happens.

Okay, let's hit New York then. New York, next, one tradable first, two after the draft. And that tradable first is that Washington protected one, right? That's not going to convey. It's not a first. So essentially they don't have a tradable first. They don't have a real tradable first. here's what I would say.

And this is a little complicated. But if the Knicks, if the Knicks end up doing, to Brian's point earlier, any of these trades are going to be three-team trades because virtually every trade in the NBA and now has to be a three-team trade because of the way the rules are.

If the Knicks trade, Carl Towns and OJN and Obie in a Yonis trade, OJN and OB just auctioned off could get you an absolute metric ton of stuff. Because while O.G. Ninobe is not Yonis, what he is is the absolute perfect finishing piece for a title team.

And there are title teams with a whole lot of stuff that OJN and Obie would be a perfect fit on. So I'm not saying it would be a very complicated deal to pull off and it would require a lot of jujitsu to get it there. But the Knicks not having picks, I think the Knicks could turn their stuff into a lot of stuff. And if Yannis wants to be a Nick and say he wants to play with Drew Holiday on the Knicks, for example, and Portland has some Milwaukee swaps in the future.

Let's take an off ramp to Portland here real quick. This one's interesting. Portland themselves, okay, has four tradable firsts, five at the draft. Now, what are those firsts? Let me just remind you what they traded, what they received when they traded Dame Lillard. And by the way, this was, again, looking for far out post-Yonis, which, you know, it looked like it will be post-Yonis. The Trailblazers own Bucs swaps in 28 and 30 and the Bucs pick, I believe unprotected, in 29.

So they own the Bucks draft between 28 and 30, one pick outright, two of the swaps. that would be incredibly attractive for Milwaukee to get back. Yeah. Especially if they were entering a rebuild. Now, Milwaukee might say, well, by 2008, we're going to be ready to go again because we're going to get good picks in 26 and 27 or whatever and good players here. But, and as you mentioned, Drew Holiday. Drew Holiday and Janice have a championship pedigree together.

So the Blazers are in a position where I think their phone will be ringing here. Let's just be honest, guys. The Blazers' phone's already ringing. We know that they already ringing. And Drew Holiday is there and those three bucks assets. That becomes a potential third team to be roped into this, where the Blazers can say, we're very happy with our buck stuff.

We think that the bucks are headed for a rebuild. So why would we give you back? But, you know, we're going to pick up the phone. We'll listen to what you want to say, what you want to send. So that is interesting. And well, they've also got, they've also got a lot of money in both Jeremy Grant and Drew Holiday over the next couple of years and aging players that don't have a lot of that. And again, say what you want about Carl Towns. He's a very good player who, if you put him on the Blazers between Denny Javvia and Donovan Klingin at the cost of getting off of Jeremy Grant, like that, you can make an argument for that.

Like that, he would be an interesting fit there. So, you know, or to your point, Portland is kind of an interesting, I mean, Portland could end up with Gaudis, at least in that construct. I don't think they're doing it. I mean, Johnus is going to have some say on where he goes. He is. The buck's ultimately going to have to operate off of a short list that he provides him. So I would just say, as we've gone through this exercise, but all the way through it yet, but Golden State can make a compelling offer. We agree.

four firsts plus swaps plus the players okay Miami can make an offer maybe not quite as compelling but they can put together an offer that is you know you would have a meeting about it okay the Knicks despite only one tradable first and kind of zero tradable first yeah they if they want can make a compelling offer the question bond temps is do they want

because we have Jim Dolan on the record saying what he said about this team. He believes in this team. The fact that they're in whatever, third or fourth place right now, just got their third winner in a row last night. I'm going to just say, want. There's a lot of smoke around, a lot of smoke around cat. There's a lot of smoke around cat as far as a fit moving forward in New York. I would just say want. I would go back to the most important thing Jim Dolan said. They have to make the finals and they should win. If that's the standard, if you can get Yadestinacupo,

you're going to try to do it. Okay, that's what I would say. But I'm just saying, the owner is on the record believing in this roster. And he's also saying that... I don't care about any of that. I care about...

You should care about it because he flat out said that he's made... He's one of the things he's learned is that he shouldn't chase a shiny object and that he gets in trouble when they get off the plan.

This would be exploding the plan. I'm going to buy a referee shirt so I can get between you two. Plus I'm over six feet tall, also become in my size. There you go. We got the joke in. All right.

I got a lot of experience watching Jim Dolan's movements in New York City. I would just say he fired his coach after they made the conference finals for the first time in 25 years. And then in his first interview in two years said, we have to make the finals and we should win. So I'm setting the rest of it to the side. And if they could get Yaz Tena Kupo, they're going to do it. Okay. I'm just saying, I believe, we all believe they can make a compelling offer, but it would take a massive mid-season redirection of their last four years of progression.

I agree. I agree. Philadelphia, three tradable first round picks. Lots of young players, lots of tradable salary. I mean, here's a deal. The box are going to start that with Vijay Edgecom. And, man, I don't know that. Well, that's an example of Vonts talking about a young player.

You're going to start it with Tyrese Maxie? Yes. I think Maxie's off limits, but... Well, I'm just, I, here's the thing. The Sixers, like, Darrymori runs the Sixers. So I would say, sure, just because Darryl Morey runs the Sixers. And this is the kind of thing he would typically look to do. However, I would just say, having just been in Philadelphia,

Philadelphia has been very mad about their team for a while, and they're very in love with their backcourt. and for as great as Janice is, I think there might be a lot of anger in Philadelphia if they made a trade like this. And I just don't see the Sixers doing this. But you're having a meeting. I mean, every team in the league should have a meeting to discuss it.

But I don't think they're, I don't think they're doing it ultimately. San Antonio. I have been told, I've been told by, folks with the Spurs, we're not a home for Janus. And there's a lot of smoke around that, like going back to the summer. But everything in San Antonio is about the wimby timeline. And this is a decade past the wimby timeline when you bring in Janus at his age.

I do not think the Spurs are a bidder. Three tradable firsts, five at the draft, I thought I would just say. And they have awesome young players. I mean, if I'm the Bucks, I'm calling the Spurs and saying, hey, you interested? You want to do it? But I don't, I don't think they are. Toronto Raptors, four tradable firsts, eight at the draft. Yeah, and the thing with the Raptors is they have been.

I'm sorry, five. That was, I'm sorry, five. The problem with the Raptors is what they're trying to give up in the market in terms of players. This is where the thing where if you, you can't prioritize current players unless. Here's what I would say. Here's what I would say. if I am the Bucks and I could just get Toronto's entire draft, I'm thinking about it.

I'm thinking about it. Are you waiting until the draft? Well, I mean, this year's pick is probably going to be a pretty good pick, or a pretty bad pick relatively. But I mean, like, if I could get seven years of Toronto Raptors' drafts fully in control, I'm thinking about it. Like, that could lead to some really, really good picks down the road.

I'm also probably getting Brandon Ingram. I don't think they're giving up Scotty Barnes, but maybe I'm getting Brandon Ingram and Jamal Shed and maybe I get Colin Murray Boyles who's a very good young player. Like Toronto, if they

decided to be a bidder, could make an interesting offer. And again, if I can get the whole draft for a team, I have to think about it. it because that can lead to a whole lot of stuff later. Yeah, just some of the players that they would be getting back are not great contracts.

And again, can that, like, if you're going to get an entire team's draft, do you want, whose entire team's draft? Because there's only a few teams that can offer their whole draft. Like, which would you prioritize if you were the bucks? Let's just say you got, let's just say you're in the meeting with the bucks. Would you prioritize getting their draft back? Like let's say they can get those three picks back from Toronto, or Portland, the two swaps in the first,

or they can get the entire future draft of the Warriors, or they can get the entire future draft of the Raptors. I would personally rather have somebody else's entire draft. I don't need the two picks. Honestly, the Warriors would be. Which would you prefer, Golden State or Toronto? I'd go Golden State just because, you know, the end is near for stiff. I don't know if it's two years.

years, three years, but, like, Steph's not going to be hooping when he's 43. It feels like we keep coming back to that. I would take Toronto. However, I think I am of the opinion that these Golden State picks could be very valuable, and I would, again, just point to the Clippers as a prime example of how people are like, ah, these Clippers are, they're always going to be good, they'll spend money, it'll be fine, and they got Jalen Williams out of that. We'll see where the Clippers land in this year's draft.

Well, look, when it comes to, for the Warriors, with all due respect to their management and ownership, they were bad for decades before I stopped there. Yes. It was different ownership and different management. Be that as it may. It doesn't matter. Again, if you give me seven years of control of a draft, that's a lot of bites at the apple.

There's a good chance of misfortune benefiting you in that. But like, for example, the Hawks this year are getting a pick. that was traded as part of the Drew Holiday trade, which was seven years ago. Like that could be Derek Peterson or Cameron Boozer or AJ DeBancel. Like, it's a long time. It's a very long time. You know what that fake first that the Knicks have?

You know what that's from? That is from, I can't remember the trade. I am annoyed that I can't remember. Is it John Wall, the John Wall, I believe so, yes. And then that went from Houston to OKC as one of the two picks

that was for the Alpishangoon deal from OKC to New York when the next word. Yes. Yes. All right. We didn't actually talk about Atlanta before. I started with Brooklyn for some unknown reason.

Atlanta has four tradable firsts and they've got the swap at the Pelican zone. I mean, it's a Pelican. Atlanta certainly would be the team I'd be calling first because you could get you could get both halves of this year's draft at the top

which would be an incredible get for Milwaukee. They also have Jalen Johnson. However, I don't think Atlanta is going to be in the mix for Janus. I think they're very happy watching ping pong balls. They also have Porzingis. They also have Porzengis so they can make the money work pretty easily. If I was Atlanta, I would say

the Pelicans are your, you know, that is your move. And by the way, if Atlanta wants to a big trade, they can go try to make a big trade this summer after they see where that pick is. Atlanta has a very young team under Nazi solid. They've done a nice job, accumulating assets. They got a bunch of young players. They've got a chance to have an incredible pick in this draft. I just don't think they're putting the pedal down on that kind of move. That's a way different thing

than like the potential AD stuff we were talking about in the past. That was, you know, maybe expiring contracts and one asset. Like, this would be a lot different. I do wonder how much expiring contracts will be of value to the bucks here, not necessarily in a straight return for Yonis, but are they trying to get off of Kuzma? Would they like to pull the plug on Miles Turner after they moved Heaven and Earth to get him? You know, Miles Turner, as he enters his 30s on that deal, I don't know if that makes sense for a rebuilding team.

I just think it all comes back to maximizing as many assets as you can get out of the deal. But the priority has got to be a draft. Picks, picks, picks, picks. It's got to be this draft. That's got to be your first order line of business. Well, again, building blocks, which you can identify in a couple ways. Really good young players and or draft picks. And if you can get Vijay Edgecom, then you can lower your focus on the 26th draft.

But it's got to be building blocks. One of those two things. Prime draft assets or prime young talent. Okay. Boston, two tradable firsts. I don't see it. I don't see it. Also just because I know there are Celtics fans in my life who say to me, can they get you?

Well, listen, obviously, if you're doing a Celtics stock trade. It would take trading Jalen Brown or Jason Brown for Janus with Steylon Brown and stuff for Janice. I just don't think that's not a Brad Stevens move. I don't think the Celtics are doing that. The Celtics are currently second in the east. Jason Tatum is coming back. I don't. It would be very unlike Boston to do that kind of deal.

Now, if Danny Andrews running the Celtics, different story. The bottom line is, you know, Jalen Brown's significantly younger than Yannis. Like, if you did that, even if Janus is a better player, although Jalen might put his fists up on that, your window with Jalen is just bigger. And again, like we've talked about, I mean, you brought it up, I think, the other day on the pod. Janus has had four calf strains and four calf issues and a year and a half and he's older and he's going to cost a ton of money. and it's like there's like look everybody's we're talking about this because he's an incredible player but there are real possible downsides down the road and potentially not super far down the road so i Boston obviously is an as an obvious team to look at because of

what they have but i don't i don't think that's a like you this situation really kind of reminds me of that one episode of all in the family um all right anybody else have anything to say on this emergency pod you skirted right by memphis memphis has picks that's true i skirted by several teams i skirted by cleveland cleveland could if they wanted to cleveland has one tradable first but cleveland could make a player offer um again i don't think that is super interesting uh i mean unless you're offering donovan mitchell like i don't think um um it helps you with the with the the really good young player uh or the 26th draft.

But Cleveland could make an offer. And again, this is a team you would have a meeting with. Like, I don't think Jared Allen and Darius Garland are getting a tough. As good as, even though on the other side of that, like, of all the trades that that the Bucks could make. Might be the best present talent they could get, but that's not, but that's not. Right. But the Bucks goal is not to be as good as they can be right now because the simple fact is it's going to be mediocre. Right.

I mean, that would actually hurt your trade. tried to put him a position to have a decent rebuild. That's right. I mean, you would ask for Donovan Mitchell or Evan Mobley is what you would do. And Evan Mobley, Evan Mobley is interesting. Well, Evan Mobley is, you know, I guess you can't say he's untouchable because if Shea or Victor or somebody was available, obviously they would do it. I would say the one thing that we would say about Cleveland is that, um, by, Contempts you've been saying this for years.

I've been in agreement with you. The key for the Cavs' future is for Evan Mobley to become their best player. Or for Donovan Mitchell to be the second best player. Hey, he'd be Milwaukee's best player. Well, I've been phrasing it as Donovan Mitchell needs to be the second best player. He would be the second best player playing with the honest. But yes. Like, look, if Evan Mobley, if Evan Mobley got in the mix again, like we talked about with O.G, again, if Cleveland, now look, Cleveland's in the second apron.

Well, the Cavs can't offer draft picks. So like you say with the mix, they would have. to do something that, like, if they were serious about, like, I'm not saying that they wouldn't, but cats are also $20 million into the second apron, so they have to get out of the second apron to be able to do any of this stuff. So again, this is, we're talking about, you're having a meeting and you're thinking about it. You're having a meeting. You're having a meeting. If the bucks would get their hands on Evan Mobley in a trade, again, in a hypothetical world

where they could do that, if you then put Evan Mobley on the block and say, what can we get for Evan Mobley? Again, like O'JN and Obie, they could get back a mountain of things, and that leads you to being in a position where you have a ton of stuff out of the right. So they don't physically have the draft assets, but they have the ability to potentially get the draft. That's right. And I, you know, because of the of the toe situations with Darius Garland, I don't think that he would have the same value in the market. And Mobley, by the way, is dealing with reoccurring calf stuff too. Yes, he just had his second calf injury of the season and is probably out until after the All-Star break. So you're at a calf,

unfortunately. All right. Do you want to talk about Memphis or? No. I think McBan was messing with you on that. Yeah. We talk about Utah or Sacramento either. They both have a ton of picks.

Listen. And again, this is a good exercise, though, because this is the kind of thing the teams do. Sacramento, would you take Sacramento's entire draft? Absolutely in a heartbeat. Now, Yonaz is going to put the, you know, he's going to make the break screech on that one. Yonis is going to have some say here.

But, again, I think if we're going to talk, talk about those, these are potential facilitating teams. And if you're the box, right, and if you're the bucks, this is what, this is what they're doing. They're sitting and they're, they're in their war room and they've got all these teams on the wall and you're going through it and you're saying, okay, let's call, you know, let's call the Knicks, let's call the Warriors, let's call the Raptors, let's call the cast, let's call everybody and see what they have. Washington has seven trainable first. I mean, the Rockets are a potential facilitating team.

Right. Well, Washington has, has Alex Sarre. Call the wizard. Call everybody. Trey Johnson has six tradable first and 15 seconds. You can give them like nine seconds. Yeah, I don't think the second round picks are going to be the determining factor. I mean, look, to go back to Cavs Corner, right?

When Cavs Corner traded for Donovan Mitchell, there was basically a universal agreement. There was one team trading for Donovan Mitchell, right? And out of the clouds, here comes Kobe Altman and the Cavs, and they trade for Donovan Mitchell. Now, I'm not saying, obviously, I'm not saying this situations are one to one. Donovan a couple more years on his deal, et cetera. We didn't have Kauai going to Toronto when he got traded to Toronto. It was always going to go to the Lakers and then he ends up in Toronto. I do think the other thing here is as uncomfortable and kind of messy as things are right now

with Yannis and the Bucks and especially over these last few weeks, Janice and Tito Kupa will have a statue outside that arena. He's not just going to have his number in the rafters. He brought a championship to Milwaukee. He's a Hall of Famer if he never plays another second. And so it is different circumstances. For sure. Donovan Mitchell in Utah, who was a very good player in Utah, but is not getting his number retired.

I also would say that I'm not ruling out the possibility of Yonestan Akupupo being on the Bucks on opening night of 2026. I'm just going to say that right now. For all that we just talked about, I'm not ruling it out. Fred Sanford. Again, 22 points in the fourth quarter. Doesn't mean you stop playing. Well, in Yonis, if we go to the pod motto, actions over words. At every turn, when Yonis has had the ability to sign the extension, he has signed the extension.

So until he doesn't sign the extension, and until he's traded, you have to leave open the possibility of him signing the extension again. Reminds that episode of Three's Company when Mr. Wilburne. old Jack. I don't remember what Jack's last name was. It was heavily in reruns by the time I was in. Get it to be witch. You get into a show. Be witch is way back.

I like different strokes. What you're talking about? That was a good one. These are all, yeah, these are all, these are all, these are all things. We could go on and on. All right. Thank you to Devon and Jackson for putting together this emergency pod. Thank you for checking us out.

Are we doing, are we still doing a third pod this week? I don't know. maybe Yon's will get traded tomorrow. The next one is the one that Bond Tims and I aren't invited to anyways. I might invite you if Yannis gets traded. Wow. But I might prioritize 2026 draft. Hey, if he gets traded to Golden State, you're inviting Slater over one of us.

I can assure you of that. I'll tell you, Slater doesn't have any idea what these TV shows are. He would be completely lost if I spread up Laverne and Shirley. Go ahead, miss. Adios, amigos.