In a week filled with hot trades and even hotter rumors, no player stands in the midst of a blazing volcano inferno like Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Reports say he is interested in a trade away from Milwaukee. Several opposing teams would love to oblige him. It’s possible that the Portland Trail Blazers could be one of those teams.
Except Marc Stein and Jake Fischer are reporting in their latest substack update [subscription required] that any interest involving Portland is one-sided.
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We’ve written often in recent days about the perceived boost it would provide for any team interested in acquiring Antetokounmpo to have his former Bucks teammate Jrue Holiday on the roster.
At the moment, though, that’s not currently helping Portland.
Holiday remains a Trail Blazer as we speak and, as The Stein Line first reported over the weekend, Portland has conveyed to Milwaukee that it would love to trade for Antetokounmpo directly if it could. Sources say, however, that Antetokounmpo’s camp has continued to signal no interest in a contract extension with the Blazers, which would dissuade them from surrendering good assets to trade for him and likely limits Portland’s realistic involvement in an eventual Antetokounmpo deal to third-team facilitator status.
Antetokounmpo, a nine-time NBA All-Star and two-time MVP, is currently averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists in 30 minutes per game over 30 appearances for the Bucks.
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