It speaks volumes when the rumors start piling up long before the season’s conclusion. With Luka Doncic and LeBron James’ extensions up in the air and Kevin Durant likely on the move, all eyes are on who will make the next move. Because the NBA may see a remarkable domino effect when one of these superstars is traded. And according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, that first move will be that of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Greek’s move will form a sort of ripple effect across the NBA. Everyone will be eyeing his signature. The same goes for KD. But neither will come cheap, and teams know that. And there is precedence for the kind of ripple effect such a move can have. For example, Jrue Holiday’s blockbuster move to the Celtics was only made possible due to multiple things – one of them being Damian Lillard’s move to the Bucks.
“First up will be Giannis. Whether or not he leaves Milwaukee, that will be a big thing. Then after, and I really do think Kevin Durant’s going have to wait for Giannis because there’s going to be some teams that are interested in both… Two years ago, I would argue the biggest and most impactful trade that happened was Jrue Holiday going to Boston. We didn’t know that that was possibly gonna happen until Dame Lillard got traded to Milwaukee. So what I think you’re gonna see is a number of teams looking to aggressively either upgrade their rosters or offload money and the series of ripple effects from what could be a Giannis trade and then a KD trade could be wide ranging,” Windy said on ESPN.
Feb 25, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
It’s basically all about Giannis being a hotter commodity than Durant. Durant’s advanced age and near-matching salary (Giannis on $45 million for the year, Durant on $48 million) might be a big problem for some teams looking to build world-class rosters for the foreseeable future. And the Greek has one thing KD doesn’t – the ability to be an exceptional two-way player. He can reshape a franchise’s ceiling overnight. Any team with the requisite young talent, draft capital, and willingness to part with both will at least enter exclusive discussions with Giannis first.
So it looks like Kevin Durant’s going to have to wait for Giannis Antetokounmpo to make a decision before he knows his own fate. But can you see how ridiculous this is? Back then, it was just Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard. They’re future Hall of Famers in their own regards, but not at the same level as Giannis and KD. All of this may just lead up to what might be the most exciting off-season in a long time. And just to double down on it, this is exactly what Windy and Shams Charania think as well.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant set to make it one of the biggest off-seasons
Are you ready for the off-season? It’s about to be wild. No one can predict the nature of either of the 30 teams at the start of the 2025-26 season. The rumor mill is churning out ideas by the minute, despite neither of the conference finals being done yet. But what really makes the off-season crazy is Windy and Shams thinking the same- it’s gonna be one for the history books.
“You could have a number of teams reacting to that with star players becoming available. Shams and I have talked about this. We potentially are going to see the most impactful week of the NBA off-season in the draft week. Not necessarily free agent week because the action is going to happen via trade around the draft in the picks,” said Windy to ESPN.
“I think this off-season might be the craziest ever,” said Shams on The Pat McAfee Show.“Because I think what you have right now is — the parity of the league, it’s so thin right now. As far as the line of, you could win a championship, or you might be falling into the lottery.” If two reputed journalists say the same, we might as well get the popcorn ready.
The most craziest ever @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/YDw7kfo4dz
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 27, 2025
Giannis Antetokounmpo said that his sit-down chit-chat with the Bucks after the season’s conclusion will be the tell-all. So, Kevin Durant might have to sit tight for a bit. But regardless of how long he has to wait, the rest of the off-season will keep him on the edge of his seat.
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