We’re always quick to judge and grade every big and even medium NBA trade. It’s the natural reaction, especially around the trade deadline, when we often see deals that change a landscape we thought we had a pretty good handle on.
What about the non-trades? This season, those made as much noise as the big trades. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) and Ja Morant (Memphis) have been part of trade rumors for pretty much all season, but for now, they aren’t going anywhere. This doesn’t mean they’ll be there long term; it just means we’ll revisit their trade markets when both teams get to the offseason. Considering where the Bucks and Grizzlies are in the standings, those summers will start earlier than they’re used to.
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Let’s bust out the red pen and throw some grades on the players and teams most involved in all of this speculation that led to nothing (for now).
Bucks
This is exactly what the Bucks were supposed to do. While it’s far more exciting and fun for everybody outside of Milwaukee to see a trade get done midseason, that was never going to be the best procedure for the Bucks. As they come to grips with the idea of trading Giannis sans trade request, their mission was to see which teams had the best offers on the table now and what those offers might bloom into this offseason. That’s what they did, and that patience could be huge for them.
The offers this summer won’t come just from the likely big four teams (New York, Golden State, Minnesota and Miami) that seemed to make a push over the last two months. Every team will probably call the Bucks to at least have obligatory conversations, no matter how impossible it is for them to make a deal. But what happens if San Antonio falls short and flames out with its young core? What if the Thunder get bounced early, either due to injuries or parity, and they decide to get into the mix? There will be teams with less-than-acceptable playoff runs that try to get aggressive. The Bucks have at least gathered proper intel and will open up the market again in June for bigger and better offers.
Grade: A
Knicks
The Knicks are in a nearly perfect position to finish out this season and revisit this in the summer, depending on how their postseason goes. That doesn’t mean they’re in a perfect position to make a Giannis trade. They will need a lot of help from Giannis trying to force his way there, unless they can pull off some magic in moves during the summer. A Giannis trade not happening before the deadline gives them the chance to figure out how to sweeten a potential deal in a way they would not have been able to do this past week.
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The Knicks will have picks open up on draft night and a better understanding of where they are in the development of this group. If the Knicks don’t make the NBA Finals, you’d expect them to look into shaking things up. If they do make the finals, they could still look to take a big swing by going after Giannis. There is no situation in which it would be a bad idea to explore this trade. The Bucks’ inactivity was huge for their chances this week.
Grade: A-
Timberwolves
It’s not quite as extreme, but Minnesota also has to love that no deal happened this week.
The Timberwolves get a brief boost in the draft-pick department when it comes to waiting until draft night or better for a potential deal. They can also dangle Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle, which helps the Bucks be a little more competitive. However, this becomes very contingent on whether Giannis decides Anthony Edwards is the teammate for him. That’s a real possibility because he’s outwardly been a fan of Edwards’ game. This deal has nearly as many complications as a potential trade with New York but without the glitzy city to draw in Giannis. Minneapolis is a great city, but New York is New York.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly is as good as it gets in the front-office game, so you should expect him to get creative in making any possible offer as good as possible. But it might be time for Edwards to start recruiting Giannis on the side.
Grade: B+
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Warriors
The Warriors trading Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porziņģis didn’t kill the possibility of a Giannis deal this summer, but it definitely poked a hole in the different ways the Warriors can get there.
They’d almost have to move Jimmy Butler’s deal, which was something they didn’t appear to want to do before the deadline. The Warriors still have a couple of intriguing young role players, and they have full draft picks to dangle in front of Milwaukee. Those picks in 2030 and beyond could become very enticing to the Bucks, as that should be the end of the Steph Curry era. And Giannis may not even be there by then.
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While the Warriors didn’t tap out of their pursuit of Giannis, it definitely looks like they lowered their odds.
Grade: C-
Heat
The Heat still will have Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware to offer up in a possible deal, and they could offer up even more young players to get Milwaukee to consider them.
This might actually be the best trade scenario for the Bucks in terms of having a good player now, a blue-chip prospect and picks to help restock some of that draft cupboard. Maybe the biggest question is whether the Bucks would actually trade Giannis to a rival like Miami. Is that an easy sell to the fan base? Even if it’s the best trade? The PR of this entire thing has been pretty important to the Bucks and Giannis. Not as important as the basketball side of it, but important nonetheless.
Grade: C+
Giannis
I’m not sure this could have gone better for Giannis. He’s made it very clear he doesn’t want it to appear he’s quitting on the Bucks, nor that he’s requesting a trade. His comments on that have been consistent. At the same time, he’s also hinted heavily at a future trade because the Bucks are nowhere close to competing. They can’t even guarantee a Play-In spot over Chicago and Charlotte.
Giannis gets to keep the PR side of this going, and he got to post this on social media to show the fans he’s definitely not leaving … yet. He’ll come back from the calf injury at some point, put on a good show for the fans and then likely get his wish of competing elsewhere without ever having to request a trade. It’s just kind of a knowing nod between him and the Bucks this summer.
Grade: A+
Grizzlies
After the Grizzlies received seven first-round picks in their trades of Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., it became less pertinent for them to move Morant before the deadline. The Grizzlies are hitting the reset button and banking on their role players and draft picks to provide hope for the future. But those other trades meant the Grizzlies don’t have to save face by getting good draft compensation for their star point guard. Instead, the Grizzlies can take their time and see if the postseason opens up a higher demand.
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If they end up getting somewhere in the neighborhood of what Atlanta got for Trae Young, then that’s just what the market is for a mid-20s point guard in today’s world. If they get more than that, then it was genius to be patient and wait until the summer to find Morant a new home.
Grade: B
Kings
The Kings were one of the teams consistently linked to Morant. I understand they want to build a tough, defensive-minded team in their next roster iteration. They acquired De’Andre Hunter to help with some of that moving forward, but they still have one of the worst defensive teams in basketball. And that has nothing to do with the injuries. This roster isn’t built for that, but you can have a great defensive team with Morant as your star point guard. We’ve seen Memphis pull it off. And ultimately, the Kings need someone to galvanize this organization, even if Morant doesn’t love the idea of playing in Sacramento.
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The franchise went through something sort of similar in 1998. The Kings were awful and ended up trading for Chris Webber, who did not want to play for them. But the Kings changed the culture by bringing in Vlade Divac to be in the middle with Webber and Rick Adelman to coach them. There were other changes, too, but the franchise as Webber knew it was drastically changing. Maybe it’s not reasonable to think that will happen with Morant to the same degree. And he’s certainly not the player Webber was in 1998. You still need someone to give a jolt to the organization. I thought the Kings could start that process by getting Morant.
Grade: C
Morant
Morant is still playing for a coach he doesn’t seem to love and in an offensive system he openly hates. And he’s still on a franchise he loves, in a city he calls home, but that franchise made it clear it doesn’t want him anymore. He has to wait until the summer, and even then, it’s not guaranteed that the market for him will change. He’s kind of left wondering why there wasn’t more clamoring for his services. He didn’t stay in Memphis because the Grizzlies were asking too much for him; he stayed in Memphis because not enough teams were asking for him.
Grade: B-