Grade the trade: Hawks’ best potential offer for Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokoumpo ‘visualized’ himself with Hawks

The Hawks went to extreme measures to keep their interest in Antetokoumpo quiet during the pre-draft process, including “back-door entrances” to meetings, keeping it off of social media, and bypassing airport concourses, per JR Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“They cared about me,” Antetokounmpo said, per Radcliffe in 2021. “I’m a person that visualized stuff, so I already visualized myself being around Atlanta.”

The Hawks had the Nos. 17 and 18 picks but saw Antetokoumpo fall just outside of their grasp and, a few years later, would watch as former general manager and head coach Mike Budenholzer joined him in Milwaukee. The two would win the NBA Finals in 2020-21, beating the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals to get there.

It would be quite a feat to go from that to leading the same organization to a title, its first in its current city and just the second in franchise history. That could be a big selling point for a legacy-driven player such as Antetokounmpo.

Every trade scenario is a long shot, none more so than thinking the Bucks might part with Antetkounmpo, at least willingly.

Teams have to prepare, however, especially when the player is sending out signals like that.