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The Dallas Mavericks have done a decent job in adding star talent in the past few months and significantly improved their roster. At the trade deadline, they acquired disgruntled All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets. Then, this summer, Dallas traded for former Boston Celtics star Grant Williams.
But the Mavericks could be in a position to curate the NBA’s next “Big 3” in the near future. Per Dalton Trigg of Sports Illustrated, trade talks could “heat up” for Milwaukee Bucks star and two-time league Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“All of that speculation has died down over the last few years, as Antetokounmpo has since won a championship in Milwaukee, and the Mavs have finally added a second star next to Luka Doncic in Kyrie Irving, as well as a young, revamped roster with improved defensive potential,” Trigg writes per Sports Illustrated.
“However, those pipe-dream talks could heat up again between now and next summer.”
Giannis Gets Candid About Bucks Future
It should be noted that Giannis has not actually shown any signs of wanting out of Milwaukee immediately or demanding a trade.
Per Tania Ganguli of the New York Times, Ahead of the 2024 season, the Bucks star will be eligible to sign an extension close to $173 million. But Antetokounmpo tells the Times reporter that remaining in Milwaukee is not a sure thing for him.
“The real question’s not going to be this year — numbers-wise, it doesn’t make sense,” Antetokounmpo said of the potential extension. “But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties. Even then, I don’t know.”
The Bucks star also added that all parties would need to be on one accord for him to agree. Or he could elect to test free agency in 2026.
“I would not be the best version of myself if I didn’t know that everybody’s on the same page,” he added.
“Everybody’s going for a championship, everybody’s going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don’t feel that, I’m not signing.”
Giannis Has Enjoyed Success With the Bucks
Antetokounmpo has had a plethora of success in Milwaukee. He has been All-NBA seven times, an All-Star seven times, a league MVP twice, and most importantly, won an NBA title and was named Finals MVP in 2021.
The scariest part? At 28 years old, he is just scratching the surface and showing no sign of slowing down. He has increased his points per game average every season since he entered the league in 2013, notching a career-high 31.1 points per contest in 2023.
After winning the lone title of his career in 2021, the Bucks have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs. And Milwaukee shockingly got eliminated by the eight-seeded Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
But the Bucks front office has done all they can financially to put contributing players around their star big man. It was the addition of star point guard Jrue Holiday in the 2020 offseason that helped the Bucks win the 2021 title.
With Giannis’ future in Milwaukee now uncertain, it would behoove the Bucks’ front office to upgrade their roster to solidify their status as contenders.
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