The NBA trade deadline is nearing, and the Milwaukee Bucks have already completed a huge deal that sent Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma.
It is a clear sign that the Bucks are serious about contending for a championship. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard needed some additional help with scoring and Milwaukee got them what they needed in Kuzma.
After the trade, Antetokounmpo tweeted the colors red and white along with the thinking emoji. The internet is fast when it comes to these things, so screenshots were taken prior to Antetokounmpo deleting his tweet.
This creates all sorts of speculation on whether he will be traded and if so, where to. Since the colors were red and white, that leaves three possibilities: the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, and Houston Rockets.
All three teams have been linked to Antetokounmpo for some time now in terms of a trade and/or free agency destination. The Heat have the large contract of Jimmy Butler that they’re hoping to get rid of prior to Thursday’s deadline. In terms of yearly salary, both Butler and Antetokounmpo are $48 million contracts. That makes the Heat a strong possibility.
When it comes to the Rockets, they would have to unload Fred Van Fleet and a couple of other players to not only match Antetokounmpo’s contract, but also to make the deal more enticing for Milwaukee. It isn’t impossible, but some future draft capital would be ideal for the Bucks as well.
Chicago is probably the least likely team in this speculation. They’re a rebuilding team and would be trading away all their good players to just have Antetokounmpo. It would be built from scratch for both himself and the Bulls.
It’ll be interesting to see if this tweet was an early leak of anything as we approach the trade deadline on Thursday, but unlikely at that. Perhaps the Bucks will follow in the footsteps of the Dallas Mavericks and aren’t done making moves and would like to add one more unprecedented blockbuster trade.
MORE BUCKS NEWS: Bucks flip Khris Middleton for $90 million NBA champion, bowing out of Jimmy Butler race
