Sixers Standout Rookie Shouldn't Be On the Table for Giannis Antetokounmpo

The long-term future of Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was the main story leading up to the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline this year. ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Antetokounmpo was "ready for a new home," and the Bucks were starting to listen to the "aggressive offers" that several teams made for him.

The Bucks ultimately stood pat with the Greek Freak at the deadline, but another round of speculation about his future is right around the corner. Unless the Bucks unexpectedly land a top-three pick in this year's draft, he figures to be right back under the trade crosshairs this offseason.

Back in January, longtime NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the "prospect of teaming up with Tyrese Maxey" had the Sixers "on Antetokounmpo's radar." It seems as though he wasn't the only party willing to entertain a deal with the Sixers, either.

On Friday, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that the Bucks' asking price "was enormous" for Antetokounmpo. One executive described it as "all our draft picks and good young players." The Golden State Warriors reportedly offered four unprotected first-round picks for him "but never seemed to gain much momentum on a deal," per Shelburne.

Instead, the Bucks were interested in "younger building blocks" such as VJ Edgecombe or Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley.

While team president Daryl Morey has a long history of lusting after stars, trading for Antetokounmpo this offseason should be a non-starter, particularly in the wake of the regrettable Jared McCain trade. The cost would be too steep for the Sixers given where they are in their contention window.

Sixers must keep long view in mind

Antetokounmpo is heading into the final guaranteed year of his contract and will be earning nearly $58.5 million in 2026-27. That means the Sixers would have to trade either Paul George ($54.1 million) or Joel Embiid ($58.1 million) for salary-matching reasons along with Edgecombe ($11.7 million) in a deal for the Greek Freak.

George only has two years left on his contract, while Embiid is just heading into the three-year, $188.2 million max extension that he signed in September 2024. Embiid has the higher ceiling than George, but both players likely have negative-value contracts given their respective injury histories.

In other words: Edgecombe and either George or Embiid might not be enough to land Giannis. The Bucks would likely try to exact a pound of flesh from them in the form of future draft picks, too.

Even if George and Edgecombe were enough for Antetokounmpo straight up, think of where that would leave the Sixers. Embiid, Maxey and Giannis alone would be earning $157.3 million next season. The salary cap is currently projected to be $166 million.

Beyond those three, the Sixers would go into the offseason with Justin Edwards ($2.4 million) and Johni Broome ($2.1 million) on guaranteed contracts and Adem Bona ($2.3 million) and Jabari Walker ($2.6 million) on non-guaranteed deals. They also have relatively inexpensive team options on Dominick Barlow ($3.4 million) and Trendon Watford ($2.8 million).

Add all of those together and you're already at nearly $173 million committed to only nine players. They'd still have two starting spots to fill unless they planned on going with a supersized starting lineup featuring Antetokounmpo, Barlow and Embiid.

Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes are both set to become unrestricted free agents this summer. Neither figures to break the bank, although they each could earn at least eight figures annually. Re-signing both of them could put the Sixers in danger of crossing over the $201.7 million luxury-tax line, and that's before they fill out the rest of their roster.

The Sixers have entered each of the past few seasons over the tax line before shamelessly ducking it at the trade deadline, so they might be willing to take the same approach if they trade for Antetokounmpo. Flipping two starters for one would leave them even more perilously top-heavy than they are right now, though.

Depth matters in today's NBA

It can't be stressed enough how much of a godsend Edgecombe was for the Sixers.

When you're building around three max players, particularly in the second-apron era, depth tends to wither quickly. That might not matter as much in the playoffs once teams tighten their rotations, but it's the key to surviving the grind of the 82-game regular season.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Embiid has played in only 91 of a possible 234 regular-season games. He has yet to play in more than 68 games in a season. The Sixers should pencil him in for at least 15-20 missed games every year at a bare minimum.

Antetokounmpo was far more reliable than Embiid in terms of availability for most of his career, although that's beginning to fade as well. He's played a career-low 36 games this year due to knee and calf injuries, and he's acknowledged that age may be a factor.

"I'm 31 years old," Antetokounmpo told reporters at the beginning of March. "Just got to be smarter moving forward because things that I was able to do in the past, maybe I'm not able to do now."

George has a lengthy history of absences as well, and Giannis has both a far higher ceiling and floor than him. But availability is half the battle in the NBA, and the Sixers couldn't count on either George or Antetokounmpo to make it through the full 82-game season unscathed.

If both Antetokounmpo and Embiid missed time simultaneously, the Sixers would be dead in the water. Even if one was sidelined, they wouldn't be a realistic championship contender. They'd need all three healthy in mid-April to stand even a puncher's chance.

The Sixers need to be realistic about the probability of that. It's not zero, but it's low.

That's among the reasons why Edgecombe has been so valuable to them this year. Having a fourth budding star in the mix who can slide in and scale up when any of their max players sit out gives them a much-needed insurance policy. Sacrificing that for Antetokounmpo would significantly lower the Sixers' floor.

The Sixers presumably wouldn't trade Edgecombe for Giannis unless he agreed to an extension as part of the trade. Flipping Edgecombe for a possible one-year rental would be franchise suicide.

But even if Giannis was amenable to a long-term stay in Philly, the Sixers shouldn't be particularly interested. A Giannis-Maxey-Embiid core would be promising when healthy, but they'd have too many holes to fill to be on the same level as the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and other title hopefuls.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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