re: Trade Zion

I'll be the first to say it. I don't want Giannis.

He's on the back side of his career and is absurdly expensive. His game is dependent on athleticism and he's declining. He'll be productive for years to come, but he's not going to be dominant. I think he'd be a great number 2 beside a young Superstar. But I don't think you can build around him now and if you did, it would be a short run..

quote:

---

BI is liked and respected amongst his teammates. he puts in the effort and wants to play.

Your other star is not respected .

---

It's why BI has been the leader of the team the last 5 years, while we've been waiting for Zion to take that from him, but he's yet to do that.
And i don't say that like i want BI to be the leader, b/c I don't think we can be successful with BI as our #1 option, but I do think we can if he's the #2.

And BI is not the only guy that works hard. The rest of those guys on the team do as well, and when you got 1 guy who obviously isn't putting in the same work, and doesn't even bother to put in that work with his brothers in the offseason when the rest of them choose to get together from time to time to workout together, he has just never really earned the respect from the rest of his teammates like BI has.
When they watch film together and see Zion being lazy and not giving a frick at times, that pisses guys off.
I remember last year BI diving on the floor for a ball in the first week of the season. When star players do that, it's something that ignites the rest of the guys b/c they know that guy is in it with them. When they see Zion give zero effort to get a defensive rebound, that makes the rest of the team want to not give 100% either if he's not going to. What was it the second game i had mentioned Missi fell down after getting fouled and no one helped him up while he sat there with his arms out. That's a sign of a team that's not happy playing together. Compare that to two nights ago when he posterized Turner and the first person to get excited and in his face was BI.




I wasn't on board with paying BI a max, but since hes gotten here all hes done is work hard and want to be here, and thats enough for me to want to keep him and not care about $5-7M more in annual salary. I know BI wants to win. I know Zion isn't serious about winning.
I still don't think he's worth a max contract when it's his 3rd contract, as that should be for all-nba type players and guys who can single handedly lead a team to a championship, but he keeps playing like this and he's going to get a max offer from someone without a doubt. I'd prefer it be more like 4/$190ish instead of 4/$208, but i really don't care about that $3-4M/yr difference.


as i said when i started this thread, I"m done with Zion and ready to move on.

100 percent trade him

quote:

---

Let's say the Bucks don't pull it together and they wind up with pick 3 or 4. Zion + their pick back seems like a deal both sides would jump on, no?

---

I don't think this is a wait until the end of the season type thing for a trade to happen, but if it is, then the Bucks aren't finishing in the lottery. Yeah they are off to a shitty start, but unless Giannis gets hurt, they'll still make the playoffs. They've lost to the undefeated Cavs twice by a combined 3 points, and to the Celtics and Grizzlies. It's not like they lost to Portland twice or to the Warriors twice without Curry and Wiggins.
ANd the east is terrible. They have 2 teams over .500 right now.


We obviously don't know what's going on right now with Zion, but if there's trouble brewing, i don't think they are waiting until the end of the season to trade him. They may simply be at the point of they've just had enough and want to get rid of him asap.

Giannis is a natural fit here:

Injury

They lost to the Bulls and Nets by double digits, and their only win came against a Sixers team without Embiid and George. I don’t disagree with your premise, but it is like they lost to Portland twice, they are playing terrible basketball.

quote:

---

Why would the Bucks sign off on a trade that isn't anywhere close to the maximum return they can get? it's a business.

---

Because there is some sense of loyalty to him. He brought them a championship and is beloved by the city. I don’t think they just dump him to the highest bidder. Getting to him a team he wants and getting decent value is what Bucks would prefer to do.

100% agree with everything you said there. Just as an example, if they fall into the play in but have Giannis playing, my money is on them. So even a bad start doesn’t get me excited about the possibilities.

But if Giannis goes down. For any substantial part of time. This team is terrible. And I would be shocked if Lillard doesn’t get hurt at some point. Lopez getting hurt would do a number on their defense. You know they will start winning a fair amount of games. But what a house of cards overall

quote:

---

Because there is some sense of loyalty to him. He brought them a championship and is beloved by the city. I don’t think they just dump him to the highest bidder. Getting to him a team he wants and getting decent value is what Bucks would prefer to do.

---

I 100% agree, and yes they without a doubt should try their best to appease him.

But why would you take a deal from Miami for Herro/Jaquez/Jovic/crap and a '29 and '31 1st when you can get Jalen Williams/Topic and probably 6 or 7 firsts, or Zion and your 26 and 27 1sts back and maybe more 1sts, or Jalen Green, Reed Sheppard, Sengun and a 4 firsts?

quote:

---

But why would you take a deal from Miami for Herro/Jaquez/Jovic/crap and a '29 and '31 1st when you can get Jalen Williams/Topic and probably 6 or 7 firsts, or Zion and your 26 and 27 1sts back and maybe more 1sts, or Jalen Green, Reed Sheppard, Sengun and a 4 firsts?

---

I like a Spurs deal too, built around Vassell, Castle, and a ton of picks. Pair Wemby and Giannis together as a new twin towers. Plus Wemby is cheap for the next couple of seasons..