Kevin Durant Gives Opinion on Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Value

Gutting the future of a team for a star under the NBA's new CBA has not worked out for several teams, including the Suns, who traded away four of the top-6 players on their 2021 NBA Finals team and a lot of draft capital in separate trades for Durant and Bradley Beal in 2023, and the Bucks, who gave up plenty of draft picks and notably Jrue Holiday for Lillard that same year.

Instead, recent trades involving multiple stars, such as the Minnesota Timberwolves trading away Karl Anthony-Towns to the New York Knicks in a package highlighted by Julius Randle last summer, have proved to be more beneficial for the star players and the teams in the short run.

For Durant, given his age at 36 and the desperation by the Suns to make changes, teams might not give up as much as Phoenix hopes for Durant, but the Suns could choose to move him anyways.

Antetokounmpo, 30, has much more leverage after another terrific season and would probably not want to join a team that would give up several key players for him and not be competitive. However, there are teams, like the San Antonio Spurs, who could make a push for him and still be in win-now mode.

Charania added in his story on Antetokounmpo:

"Teams have approached the Bucks frequently over the years about the availability of Antetokounmpo as a normal exercise, and they are expected to ramp up due diligence during combine week, according to league sources.

"But any conversations surrounding the perennial All-NBA superstar and 2021 NBA champion start primarily with where he believes his long-term future lies and whether there is a franchise outside of Milwaukee that is sensible for him."

Teams could decide to be really cautious approaching trades this summer given recent history and likely wouldn't trade away four starters and six draft picks for Antetokounmpo, as Durant said, given his wishes.

The trade markets for both Durant and Antetokounmpo will still be very interesting, especially after San Antonio was awarded the No. 2 overall pick in this summer's draft in Monday's NBA Draft Lottery.