Report: Warriors' Trade Deadline Offer for Giannis Revealed

The Golden State Warriors have been hoping to land Giannis Antetokounmpo since Kevin Durant left in 2019, and at this year's trade deadline their dream started to look like it could become a reality.

Despite a reported trade demand, Antetokounmpo stayed with the Bucks past the deadline, prolonging this saga to next offseason when numerous teams are expected to try to trade for him again.

We know the Warriors' best offer would have included first-round picks in 2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032, and ESPN's Ramona Shelburne confirmed Friday they offered all of that.

"The Golden State Warriors offer included four unprotected first-round picks in pursuit of Antetokounmpo, sources said, but never seemed to gain much momentum on a deal," Shelburne wrote.

As for which players the Warriors offered, we know that Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green would have had to be on the table for money-matching purposes.

On Feb. 7, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. denied putting Green in an offer, and when asked if that meant Butler was in the offer, he said:

"You're putting words in my mouth," Dunleavy said. "No, no, no. We're not doing that. I'm not going down the roster talking about who is in trades and who is not. We don't do that."

My best guess is the Warriors told the Bucks they would be willing to trade four first-round picks, and that alone didn't enthuse Milwaukee much. So there were never advanced talks on which Warriors would be in the deal.

Can the Warriors Trade for Giannis in the Summer?

The answer is "yes," but the Warriors' offer won't get much better than it was at the trade deadline. For one, they no longer have Jonathan Kuminga as an intriguing, young trade piece to include. They will have access to their 2033 first-round pick, so their best offer would be whoever they draft in the 2026 first round, first-round picks in 2028, 2030 and 2032 and first-round pick swaps in 2031 and 2033.

If the Bucks had no interest in their trade deadline offer, it seems unlikely they'd have interest in their offseason offer.

But the one advantage the Warriors have is their draft capital from 2030 to 2033 could be more valuable than other teams' would be. Once Stephen Curry retires, the Warriors will have big roster issues even if they have Antetokounmpo.

I'm sure the Bucks would prefer to get a young talent like Dylan Harper as part of their return for Antetokounmpo, but there's an argument that taking the Warriors' draft-pick-heavy package is a better move than a package with one great prospect but much less draft capital.

Giannis Could Become a Free Agent in 2027

The most likely scenario continues to be that a) Antetokounmpo is traded this offseason and b) he signs an extension with the team that trades for him.

But there's a chance that Antetokounmpo either a) plays out his contract with the Bucks before becoming a free agent in 2027 or b) gets traded and doesn't sign an extension with his new team and becomes a free agent in 2027.

If either of those happen, the Warriors will have the cap space to give him a supermax contract.

"It's not an accident that teams like the Lakers, Clippers, Heat and Warriors all have lined up to have cap space in 2027 when Giannis can be a free agent," one NBA executive told Shelburne.

This feels like a pipe dream. Though it's true that the Warriors have just two players under contract for the 2027-28 season for a combined $18.4 million, just having cap space doesn't guarantee that Antetokounmpo or any great player will want to join your franchise.

I'd argue the Warriors' recent history actually hurts their chances of landing Antetokounmpo. Some superstars want to play with a franchise that hasn't won a championship recently because if they win a title there, it arguably boosts their legacy even more than, say, helping Curry win his fifth title.

Perhaps more importantly, Antetokounmpo might prefer to play with a younger star than Curry, who will be 39 during the 2027 offseason.

in summary, the likely result of this saga remains that Antetokounmpo never plays for the Warriors.