The Sixers Shouldn't Try to Trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo

ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news Wednesday that he's been hinting at for months: Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo "is ready for a new home."

According to Charania, "several teams have made aggressive offers" for Antetokounmpo ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline, and the Bucks "are starting to listen." He added that "multiple teams have received a sense that the Bucks are more open than ever to Antetokounmpo offers."

However, that doesn't mean an Antetokounmpo trade is guaranteed to happen within the next week. Charania reported that the Bucks have "indicated to interested teams that the organization is not in a rush to complete a move and is willing to navigate Antetokounmpo's future in the offseason if its believed price point of a blue-chip young talent and/or a surplus of draft picks isn't met."

Could the Sixers join the bidding? Given team president Daryl Morey's history of pursuing star players, we can't rule anything out.

In fact, Bill Simmons of The Ringer recently proposed a deal in which the Sixers would land Antetokounmpo and Gary Harris for Paul George, VJ Edgecombe and the 2029 top-three-protected swap rights that the Sixers have with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Giannis for V.J. Edgecombe? 🤔@BillSimmons is back with fake Giannis trades, and asks @ChrisRyan77 if he'd trade V.J. Edgecombe for the disgruntled star. pic.twitter.com/Yng6aJ0IO5
— The Ringer (@ringer) January 23, 2026

Edgecombe theoretically would satisfy the Bucks' desire to land a blue-chip prospect. Would the Sixers propose such a deal, though? And even if they would, should they?

Unless Antetokounmpo goes for far less as expected, the answer to the latter question should be an emphatic no.

What a Giannis deal might look like

We originally delved into the limitations that the Sixers face in a potential Giannis bidding war back in December. They're now even closer to the $195.9 million first apron after signing Charles Bassey to a 10-day contract, so they'd have to send out nearly as much salary as they take back in an Antetokounmpo deal.

They have only three players earning anywhere near that amount: Joel Embiid ($55.2 million), George ($51.7 million) and Tyrese Maxey ($38.0 million). That's the first problem.

The Bucks would likely start by asking for both Maxey and Edgecombe, which the Sixers should immediately shoot down. Given Maxey's All-NBA-caliber leap this season, the Sixers should only trade him for a star player on a similar developmental timeline, not a 31-year-old with an increasingly concerning recent history of calf injuries.

Embiid might be living on borrowed time due to his oft-injured knees, although he's looking more and more like his MVP self in recent weeks. Besides, the Bucks likely wouldn't have interest in taking on the three-year, $188.2 million extension that Embiid hasn't even begun yet.

So, should the Sixers be willing to give up Edgecombe if it means getting off George's contract and landing Antetokounmpo? It's not as clear-cut as it might seem.

Antetokounmpo is one of the most dominant players of this generation and is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. No one is questioning his credentials as an all-time great. However, acquisition cost and team fit have to factor into the equation, too.

Although Antetokounmpo is shooting a career-high 39.5 percent from three-point range this year, he's a career 28.6 percent shooter from deep on low volume. He does a majority of his offensive damage from within 10 feet of the basket.

Embiid is far more prolific from the mid-range, so Sixers head coach Nick Nurse could find ways to avoid having them overlap too much. However, defenders largely ignore Antetokounmpo if he's floating out around the three-point line. That could cramp spacing for Embiid whenever he's trying to pound the ball down low.

It's also fair to question whether the Sixers need another high-volume scorer at all. George has embraced his role as more of a floor-spacer and a tertiary option, and Edgecombe is ahead of expectations offensively. He also still has plenty of room to grow in that regard.

With Embiid a virtual lock to miss at least 15-20 games every season (if not more), does it makes sense to turn two of the top non-Embiid offensive options into one? Antetokounmpo and Maxey might be able to keep the Sixers afloat in the Embiid-less games, but what happens if one of them misses time as well?

In the second-apron era, more teams are leaning into depth rather than consolidating star power. As tempting as it might be to form a Big Three with Maxey, Giannis and Embiid, the upside of Edgecombe and floor-spacing that George provides outweighs the benefit, particularly if it would cost the Sixers multiple draft picks on top of that.

Other teams have the means in terms of contracts and draft picks to put together blockbuster offers for Antetokounmpo. The Sixers shouldn't feel compelled to join the bidding war.

With Maxey and Edgecombe, the Sixers now have a clear path forward after the Embiid era ends. Giving that up for a short-term, win-now move—when such a deal wouldn't even guarantee a title—would be an unnecessary risk.

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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