Hornets could actually compete with best trade packages for Giannis Antetokounmpo

Despite public pushback from Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, Giannis Antetokounmpo's days as a Buck appear numbered. ESPN's Shams Charania reported this week that Giannis and his agent have begun discussions with Milwaukee's front office about a potential departure.

Piggybacking on Shams' reveal, it didn't take long for NBA media to produce a slew of mock Giannis trades, some of which were laughable.

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey drew up five such imaginary trades, including an insulting Lakers idea that envisioned LA snagging Giannis while retaining Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves.

Bailey's article was mostly good, though, as it presented a viable Knicks idea (KAT, two players, plus picks), a respectable Hawks idea (Trae, Zaccharie Risacher, plus picks), and most interestingly, a Spurs package that included Dylan Harper.

Bailey could have easily featured the Charlotte Hornets, but since he didn't, here and now seem fitting to momentarily dream of Giannis wearing Charlotte's weird A.I. sunset alternate uniform before the February 5 NBA trade deadline.

The Hornets could put together a great package for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but there's a catch or two

“There's going to be a time that we cash in. We take all of our chips, assets, whatever, and we're gonna go get that guy. That's gonna happen at some point.” https://t.co/lUHAQgkMPl pic.twitter.com/7LnLHEPJ2f
— Owen O’Connor (@OwenOConnorNBA) December 3, 2025

LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and two future firsts for Giannis ... who says no?

The trade works financially, and it would provide the Bucks with not one, but two young stars to build their post-Giannis universe around.

Then again, there are reasons for all three parties (Giannis, the Bucks, and the Hornets) to avoid this proposed trade.

Milwaukee, like the rest of us, realizes that Melo and Miller haven't shown that they are durable. The jury's still out on Miller in that regard, based on a small sample size, but in Melo's case, poor durability is more or less a concrete narrative about his career until proven otherwise.

While both players are electric, the Bucks would probably rather have Harper and picks from the Spurs than the Melo/Miller combo. (Bailey's Spurs package for Giannis also featured Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, by the way).

Now onto Giannis' perspective. He's obviously thinking about leaving the Bucks to join a contender, which the Hornets currently are not. A core of Giannis, Kon Knueppel, Collin Sexton, Miles Bridges, Ryan Kalkbrenner and others would actually be closer to the playoffs than most people realize, but it's likely of no matter to Giannis, who is probably looking at the Knicks and Lakers of the world, or bust.

Last of all, this trade might actually not make a ton of sense for the Hornets, particularly when it comes to losing Miller. While Melo's future with the franchise should remain questionable, it's still too early to give up on the potentially stellar future of a Miller-Knueppel duo.

Giannis would make the Hornets more interesting and better immediately, but he'll be 35 when Knueppel is 25. The timeline is off, and adding Giannis now might also make Charlotte less tank-able for the upcoming draft.

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What could a Charlotte Hornets trade package for Giannis Antetokounmpo look like?