The combination of the NBA Draft Lottery setting the order for the NBA Draft (and the value of the picks), along with executives from every team gathering in Chicago for the NBA Draft Combine, is always the spark that lights the NBA offseason trade and free agency markets on fire.
That is happening this week in Chicago, and the biggest rumor out of the Windy City is the least surprising.
Bucks listening to Antetokounmpo offers
This was expected, but ESPN’s Shams Charania made it official. Milwaukee listened to trade offers back at the February trade deadline, but sources from other teams told NBC Sports then that it felt more like Bucks GM Jon Horst was gauging the trade market, not seriously looking for a deal. He and ownership wanted to wait until the offseason, when more teams and better offers would (theoretically) be on the table.
While the Bucks are still open to the idea of trading for another star, which inspires Antetokounmpo to sign an extension and stay in Milwaukee, most teams around the league expect the two-time MVP and NBA champion to be traded — and a deal to be done before the NBA Draft, which is what co-owner Jimmy Haslam expects. From Charania:
There is expected to be a robust market for Antetokounmpo's services, and ownership and front office officials expect to maintain their trade deadline asking price of a young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks, sources said.
One of the reasons to hold out until the summer to trade Antetokounmpo was to get teams that had a disappointing playoff run — Houston, Orlando, Boston — to seriously consider jumping the mix, as well as a couple of teams still playing but with questions, including the Lakers and Cavaliers.
Waiting into the summer also gave Antetokounmpo more leverage in where he might be traded — he has just one guaranteed season left on his contract (followed by a player option), and he can tell a team he does not want to play for that he will not re-sign with them. While Antetokounmpo's camp is tight-lipped, the feeling in league circles is that he wants to stay in the East and play for a team he can elevate to contender status.
"The conversation will be simple: Where does [Giannis] want to be moved, and where will he sign long term?" one source with direct involvement in the situation told ESPN.
Expect a flood of Antetokounmpo rumors over the next month, but the Bucks will be wise to be patient and wait until closer to the draft — when that deadline forces teams to put their best offers on the table — before making a call.
Grizzlies still looking for Morant trade
The Memphis Grizzlies jumping up to third in the NBA Draft via the lottery doesn't change the fact that they are rebuilding — if anything, it helps that process — and that they are looking to trade Ja Morant. The Grizzlies looked for a Morant trade at the deadline (when they sent Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah), but couldn't find a deal. They also are open for business now, something ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the Hoop Collective podcast.
"I can just say the lottery results will have no impact on the approach moving forward with Ja Morant. They're going to try to find a home for Ja Morant regardless of where they ended up in the lottery."
The challenge in finding a trade for Morant is the combination of his salary — two years and $87 million guaranteed — and limited availability due to injuries and suspensions. Morant is coming off a season in which he played in just 20 games, largely due to an elbow injury, and hasn't played in 65 games since his rookie season. That said, he is a dynamic talent who is just 26 years old. One rumor laid out by Jake Fischer at The Stein Line is that the Grizzlies package Morant with the No. 3 pick in this draft to bring back a superstar.
There are teams interested in Morant, but the Grizzlies are not going to get the draft-pick hauls they received when trading Desmond Bane or Jaren Jackson Jr.
Will Kawhi Leonard hit market?
The basketball gods smiled on the Clippers and gave them the No. 5 pick in the draft (via the Indiana Pacers, part of the Ivica Zubac trade. That high pick, plus the trade that brought them Darius Garland at the trade deadline (for James Harden), gives the Clippers a foothold in a retooling.
However, the potential fallout from the Aspiration scandal — a league investigation into whether the Clippers used former team sponsor Aspiration to circumvent the salary cap and get more money to Kawhi Leonard — has everything feeling on hold for LA. That includes Leonard's future with the Clippers, another point ESPN’s MacMahon explained well on the Hoop Collective podcast.
"We'll see what happens with Aspiration. Assuming they are allowed to attempt to negotiate an extension, I believe the intention is to try to negotiate an extension with Kawhi Leonard. But 'negotiate' is a key word there. It's not just like, 'Hey, can you take just a little slight haircut from maxes?' And so, depending on how that goes, there's a world where Kawhi could be on the block this summer, too."
League sources that have spoken to NBC Sports expect the league to bring a hammer down on the Clippers — the loss of draft picks, an eight-figure fine, and very possibly a suspension for owner Steve Ballmer. However, a voiding of Leonard's contract is not on that list because it's not really a punishment — the Clippers would be happy to have his $50.3 million off their books as they retool, and it would make Leonard a free agent who would then sign a massive contract with another team, so he doesn't lose that much either.
Leonard is coming off a season where he almost certainly makes an All-NBA team after playing in 65 games, averaging 27.9 points and 6.4 assists per game, plus playing elite defense. Leonard is also entering the final year of his contract and the Clippers would love to re-sign him, but at a lower price than he's making right now (and on a far more tradable contract). The Warriors are reportedly among the teams interested if Leonard hits the market. But that remains an "if."
Wizards open to trading No. 1 pick
Maybe the fastest track to a GM getting fired is blowing the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Enter the Washington Wizards, who were the lottery's big winner and have that No. 1 pick. They will at least listen to offers for the top pick and the rights to e AJ Dybantsa, something both Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line report (with Fischer talking to Wizards president Michael Winger.
This is considered an exceptionally deep draft, so if there is a player the Wizards might like a few slots down the draft board, and the package to give up No. 1 was big enough, they would consider it, according to reports. Mannix suggests Utah, which has the No. 2 pick and would love to keep BYU's AJ Dybantsa in state, might be open to a deal swapping picks. Winger told Fischer the Wizards are not entering this draft looking for their "savior" but rather a player to add to Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr and the rest of what should already be an improved roster.
Washington may listen to offers, but if they make a deal they are not dropping out of the top three or four slots in this draft, they are not about to just trade the No. 1 pick and get out entirely. That's how a GM gets fired.
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