New Blockbuster Three-Team Trade Proposal Sends Giannis to Sacramento, DeRozan to Milwaukee, Monk to ATL

While many teams across the NBA are preparing to shake up their rosters through the trade market, perhaps no one has generated more interested in their offseason than the Milwaukee Bucks. After getting soundly bounced out of the first round by the Indiana Pacers, the Bucks appear to be stuck in NBA purgatory. They won the championship in 2021, but they haven't made it past the second round since then as their championship core has gotten older and dissolved over time. To make matters worse, they invested practically every significant draft asset into building that core or propping their championship window open, so they don't have control over their draft picks until 2031. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard will also miss a significant portion of next season due to rehabbing an Achilles injury.

Fortunately, franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is still on the roster and remains one of the NBA's brightest stars. The 30-year old forward is fresh off another dominant season where he averaged 30.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game to go with a career-best 6.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. Although he has not asked out yet, Giannis is not set up for a deep playoff run in Milwaukee. If he asks out, where would he go?

One of the teams that could theoretically pull off a Giannis deal are the Sacramento Kings. They have control over all of their first-round draft picks from 2026 onwards and they also have two additional firsts - a 2027 unprotected first-rounder from the San Antonio Spurs and a 2031 unprotected first-round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves. While the obvious centerpiece of a Giannis deal would be All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, it doesn't make sense for the Kings to use a ton of their draft picks and Sabonis in a package and then acquire Giannis with very little on the roster to help him. Instead, they could make a pick-heavy offer with one intriguing young player and an experienced veteran who can serve as the primary or secondary scoring option in the immediate future. The pairing of a playmaking big man like Sabonis and a two-way force in Giannis could be a formidable threat in an already-loaded Western Conference.

The Hawks have a ton of financial flexibility this summer, which they can use to address their needs at interior defense, front court depth, shooting, and maybe a backup lead guard/ball handler. NBA insider Marc Stein has already reported that Atlanta could also look to be facilitators this summer in the trade market due to their financial flexibility, depending on if the team brings back any of Caris LeVert, Clint Capela, or Larry Nance.

Given the needs of all three teams, what would a trade between them look like? Here is one possible framework for a deal.

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks or any other teams should do or will do. That is all.

Atlanta Hawks Receive: Malik Monk

Sacramento Kings Receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Georges Niang, Vit Krejci, 2025 1st round pick (via LAL, from ATL, #22)

Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Keegan Murray, DeMar DeRozan, 2025 2nd round pick (via SAC, #42), 2026 1st round pick (via SAC, unprotected), 2027 1st round pick swap, 2028 1st round pick (via SAC, unprotected), 2030 1st round pick (via SAC, unprotected), 2031 1st round pick (via SAC, from MIN, unprotected)

Why the Hawks would do this deal: The need for a player like Monk may not be as easy to see as Atlanta's need to add more capable defenders, but he can still help the Hawks due to his shooting and experience as a ball-handler. He had a down shooting season last year (32.5% from deep on 6.6 attempts a night), but he posted career highs in PPG (17.2) and assists per game (5.6). Monk struggled to fit with DeRozan and LaVine, never really recovering from the departure of De'Aaron Fox midseason. In a better offense helmed by Trae Young, expect Monk to feast on the open shots that he gets and return to the highly effective sixth man he was with Sacramento during the previous season. The best thing about Monk's game is how well he functions in an off-ball role, which is important for anyone playing with Young. He's not a great defender, but he can be a capable help defender.

Why the Hawks would not do this deal: Playing Young and Monk together, which would have to happen in order to make this deal truly worth it, is a situation that could ultimately make the Hawks more exploitable on defense while reducing the amount of minutes Dyson Daniels is on the court. Daniels has turned himself into a vital part of Atlanta's starting lineup and anything that reduces his impact should be very carefully considered. Furthermore, the Hawks would be giving up a pick to make this happen and even a late first round pick holds considerable value.

Why the Kings would do this deal: Sabonis has his defensive issues, but practically all of those go away when playing with a imposing help defender in Giannis. The Kings' need for a point guard immediately decreases because of how effective Giannis has been as a facilitator in recent seasons. It would be very interesting to see how Sabonis and Giannis operate in the pick and roll where either can alternate roles. Sabonis took strides as a shooter from deep this season (career-best 40% on 2.2 attempts per game) and had the best rebounding season of his career. It's easy to see how Sacramento would instantly have a size advantage over almost any team that they play and they still have a crew of young players around their two stars with Devin Carter and Keon Ellis in starting roles. Zach LaVine has his shortcomings as a player, but he is capable of being a third scoring option around a Giannis-Sabonis duo. At minimum, this deal would give the Kings their best chance of winning a championship in recent memory and doesn't completely crater their depth. Importantly, Sacramento would still be $9.9 million below the luxury tax. They'd have some flexibility to bring in free agents and build up their team for a serious playoff run next year.

Why the Kings would not do this deal: The obvious hesitation of doing this deal is whether the Kings' ancillary players, as well as Sabonis himself, is good enough to justify forking over their entire future for the next five years. The Western Conference is incredibly competitive and the Kings missed the playoffs entirely last season due to having a flawed roster. They are essentially making the bet that Giannis fixes those flaws by himself.

Why the Bucks would do this deal: The underrated part of any Giannis deal is that the Bucks will need to remain competitive because they do not have access to their own picks. Therefore, adding a highly durable scorer who thrives in the clutch like DeRozan could keep them afloat in a very weak Eastern Conference, DeRozan suited up for 77 games last season and averaged 22.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He thrives in the midrange and doesn't shoot a lot of threes, but he has plenty of experience being a #1 option and gives the Bucks a good chance of remaining at a competitive floor. Furthermore, this deal opens up an astounding $41.3 million dollars in space below the luxury tax line. That's more than teams like the Hornets and allows the Bucks to sign any free agent they want with the pitch of being able to chase a playoff berth in 2025-26. Keeping players like Gary Trent Jr also becomes much more realistic, which helps Milwaukee's situation because those players might be able to return draft capital at the trade deadline. Furthermore, it shouldn't be discounted how good of a player Keegan Murray could be for the Bucks. He's already an incredibly versatile defender who can actually guard 1-4 while showing signs of growth on offense. If he gets back to shooting 41.1% from deep on high volume like he did during his rookie season, there's a possibility that he could turn into an All-Star level talent with Milwaukee. The Bucks also get an excellent haul of draft picks, with four unprotected first-round draft picks and a pick swap included in the deal. Given how competitive the West is and the state of Sacramento's roster, there's no guarentee that those picks fall outside the lottery in any given year.

Why the Bucks would not do this deal: Keegan Murray is a great player, but it's admittedly hard to envision him headlining a package for Giannis. DeRozan is also 35 years old and under contract for the next two seasons - it's not clear how many more years he can continue being the durable midrange scorer he is known as. Milwaukee also isn't getting an unbeatable offer - the pick equity is significant, but there are other teams that can beat this offer.

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