Hawks’ perfect Giannis Antetokounmpo trade offer to Bucks

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Hawks’ perfect Giannis Antetokounmpo trade offer to Bucks

Jedd Pagaduan, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sat, Dec 6, 2025 ·

7 min read

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The post Hawks' perfect Giannis Antetokounmpo trade offer to Bucks appeared first on ClutchPoints .

The Atlanta Hawks have at least made clear over the start of the 2025-26 season that they are not hapless anymore whenever Trae Young is not on the floor. In fact, Young's absence seems to have empowered the rest of the team. Jalen Johnson, in particular, looks like an All-NBA player in the making, and he's almost guaranteed to make it to the 2026 All-Star Game roster in Los Angeles , provided of course that the calf tightness he's going through at the moment is not too serious.

Without Young, the likes of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels have played so much better as well, with the former flourishing despite taking on a larger scoring load, and the latter being a more active playmaker and a more meaningful contributor on offense. This has led some NBA analysts to think that there could very well be a path for the Hawks moving forward without Young.

Of course, that seems to be a bit premature. The Hawks' have only put up 113.7 points per 100 possessions on the season (this is before their Friday night clash against the Denver Nuggets ), which ranks 20th in the league. Their defense is the saving grace, as they have a top-10 defense on the season without Young for most of it. But is the trade-off that comes with Young's absence worth the defensive boost? Some think so.

This debate is what has opened up a framework for which the Hawks can build the roster around defense without sacrificing offensive production. Young's return would give the Atlanta defense a weak spot for other teams to exploit; perhaps adding a superstar who cannot be targeted on that end of the floor would allow them to take the leap from good to great.

Enter Giannis Antetokounmpo .

Hawks go all-in with Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

Hawks trade: Trae Young, Zaccharie Risacher , Asa Newell , 2026 first-round pick (better of NOP and MIL first-round picks), 2027 first-round pick (worse of NOP and MIL), 2029 first-round pick (top-three protected), 2028 first-round pick swap

Bucks trade: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gary Trent Jr .

Antetokounmpo is a top-five player in this league, and players of that caliber rarely, if ever, switch teams via trade. The Luka Doncic trade is always going to be the exception to the rule. The Dallas Mavericks didn't get nearly enough for their perennial All-NBA First Team star, as all they got for him were Anthony Davis , Max Christie , and an unprotected 2029 first-round pick.

Of course, it helps that the Los Angeles Lakers had Davis, who is a perennial DPOY candidate and is a legitimate star unto himself as well. Davis has plenty of trade value himself, so that gave the Lakers a leg up. Perhaps the Hawks would think that they have a similar situation to the Lakers as they do with Young, as Young is a nightly 25-10 threat and is one of the best point guards in the league, at least on the offensive end — helping entice the Bucks in any potential trade.

But if there's a position that the Bucks don't need filling, it's at point guard. Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. are performing admirably , and adding Young to the mix is a needless complication.

Having Young as the main return for any Antetokounmpo trade is reasonable, but the Hawks would have to trade so much more considering that their star point guard is on the mend and his size limitations will always limit his impact on the defensive end, regardless of how much effort he exerts.

Adding four first-round picks, including the New Orleans Pelicans ' juicy 2026 first-round pick, should help grease the wheels for the Hawks. That selection from the Pelicans could end up being the number one overall pick or, at worst, a top-five selection in a deep draft class, helping jumpstart the Bucks' rebuild.

Milwaukee will also be able to recover their first-round pick in 2027 in this trade, which should give them more leeway to pivot to a youth movement in 2026.

The trade framework Bill Simmons came up with had the Hawks trading Young , Kristaps Porzingis , and four first-round picks to the Bucks for Antetokounmpo and Kyle Kuzma . In a world where they manage to get Antetokounmpo, having Porzingis around may be overkill, especially when Onyeka Okongwu has blossomed into a good three-point shooter as well.

Getting Porzingis would also bring the Bucks some cap relief for next season, and trading Young would be even more helpful to that end. But the Bucks have to prioritize getting young players and as much draft capital as they can in any Antetokounmpo trade, which makes it likely for them to just swallow the Kuzma pill for now if it meant acquiring Zaccharie Risacher and Asa Newell, two former first-round picks with plenty of room to grow moving forward.

It's becoming evident that Risacher is not going to be a star , but he's at worst a 3-and-D starting-caliber player in the association. He's only 20 years of age, so the sky is the limit — perhaps a bigger role in Milwaukee would help bring out the best in the former first overall selection.

Newell has barely gotten any minutes, but that's a testament to the players above him in the rotation (Johnson and Mohamed Gueye) being much better. He's only 20 years of age, so the Bucks will have two young prospects to develop in addition to Young and all the first-round picks the Hawks will be offering.

There's now the matter of whether or not the Hawks may find this price to be too prohibitive for their taste. Acquiring Antetokounmpo isn't without risk. He'll be a free agent in 2027; will he be willing to commit his future to Atlanta, which isn't the biggest market or franchise?

There's also the matter of his fit on this Hawks roster. Johnson is a much-improved three-point shooter, but like Antetokounmpo, he loves to handle the ball, work handoffs with his guards, and then rampage his way to the rim. Having Antetokounmpo around may lead to some playstyle overlap.

Antetokounmpo is also going through some calf injury concerns, which is nothing to shrug off. Teams are being extra careful with calf injuries, so it would be best for the Hawks to wait out the severity of the Bucks star's injury before they make any drastic moves.

The Hawks would then be starting a supersized frontcourt of Johnson, Antetokounmpo, and Porzingis, with Daniels and Alexander-Walker partnered with one another in the backcourt. Acquiring Gary Trent Jr. will also be adding to their bench which would then consist of him, Okongwu, Vit Krejci , Luke Kennard , and Gueye.

Is that going to be enough for the Hawks to compete for a title? It should be. Antetokounmpo is a transformative presence who averages 30-11-6 every single night, and he's a monster defensively, allowing Atlanta to be even better on that end of the floor. There are going to be no weak spots for them on the defensive end, and they might end up being the second-best defensive team in the league when all is said and done, just behind the Oklahoma City Thunder .

Johnson will have to take a backseat, and that shot diet of his will have to lean further towards the perimeter. Clipping Johnson's wings may not be ideal for the Hawks.

But rolling the dice on someone as talented as Antetokounmpo is a risk any aspiring contending team has to make. The most likely scenario for the Hawks would be to stand pat and look how the team will perform once Young is back from injury. However, if the team struggles and perhaps flames out in the first round of the playoffs, that's when Atlanta may deem it fit to risk it all.

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