What a Giannis-to-Warriors Trade Could Look Like with 11th Pick Included

The Golden State Warriors are still chasing the Giannis Antetokounmpo dream.

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel wrote the following Monday:

"Pursuing a trade for a big-name star remains extremely relevant for owner Joe Lacob and the Warriors, and there have been no shortage of talks regarding Giannis and the Warriors among rival teams. Many fully expect Lacob and his front office to package this No. 11 pick with other future assets to try and convince the Bucks to trade them Antetokounmpo."

The Bucks chose to keep Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline despite the fact that the Warriors were willing to offer four unprotected first-round picks as part of their trade package.

Now, more teams will have better Antetokounmpo packages, which suggests the Warriors will have to offer even more to land him.

What the Warriors' Best Offer Would Be

Until the new league year begins on July 1, no team will have access to trade its 2033 first-round pick. But there is a loophole that allows teams to trade a 2033 first-rounder during the draft on June 23.

The league allows one team to make a selection for another team that is not official until July 1.

That means the Warriors can include the 11th pick of the 2026 draft and a 2033 first-rounder in their trade package to the Bucks.

Here is the best offer the Warriors can make:

Warriors get: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bucks get: Jimmy Butler, 2026 No. 11 pick, 2028 first-round pick, 2030 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick swap, 2032 first-round pick, 2033 first-round pick swap

Essentially, we're adding two first-round pick swaps to the Golden State's reported trade deadline package of four unprotected first-round picks.

It's an enormous cost. Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. will have to decide where to draw the line.

Having Antetokounmpo with Stephen Curry would be amazing, but having full control of only two first-round picks through 2033 (2027 and 2029) would be risky considering Curry's age (38).

Would Butler Have to Be Included?

It's theoretically possible to trade for Antetokounmpo and keep Butler and Curry on the roster. Doing so would require the Warriors to sign-and-trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Bucks and stay under the second apron.

The second apron is $222 million for the 2026-27 season. Curry, Antetokounmpo and Butler will make $177.9 million next season. That means the Warriors would have to fill the other 11 roster spots with $44.1 million.

For example, this framework could work for the Bucks:

Warriors get: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bucks get: Draymond Green (opt in and trade), Kristaps Porzingis (sign-and-trade), four unprotected firsts, two unprotected first-round picks swaps

But there are several reasons why such a deal would be almost impossible to pull off.

First, Porzingis would have to agree to join the Bucks. He can simply not the sign the contract if he doesn't want to go to a bad team.

Second, Porzingis' contract must be a minimum of three years (that's the rule for any sign-and-trade contract). The Bucks would prefer to have Butler's expiring deal and might tell the Warriors any inclusion of Porzingis is a deal-breaker. For salary-matching purposes, Porzingis' deal would be in the neighborhood of $90 million over three years.

Third, Green would have to opt in. Once he does, he'll have no control over where the Warriors trade him. But if he were to decline the option to sign a multiyear deal with the Warriors, he wouldn't be eligible to be traded for months.

What I'd Expect the Warriors to Offer

To win the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, the Warriors don't have much choice but to offer just about every first-round pick they can. They don't have the type of intriguing young players the Bucks might want over more first-round draft capital. To make up for the fact that other teams will offer intriguing young players, the Dubs have to offer the most draft capital.

The other issue is if the Bucks want Brandin Podziemski or Gui Santos instead of one of the first-round picks, the Warriors might say no because they need some roster depth to have a shot next season.

So it comes down to how many firsts the Warriors are willing to include. I think they will draw the line at four unprotected firsts and one first-round pick swap, which means the final offer would be something like this:

Warriors get: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bucks get: Jimmy Butler, 2026 No. 11 pick, 2028 first-round pick, 2030 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick swap, 2032 first-round pick

If Butler were healthy, the Warriors might not have to give up quite so much. But with his ACL injury, it's unlikely the Bucks would be able to reroute him for more draft capital.

Whether Antetokounmpo is worth this is up for debate. He's still clearly a top-five player, but he's coming off an injury-plagued season and is old enough at 31 years old for one to wonder how many years he has left before he starts to break down.

Despite those concerns, expect Lacob and Co. to make an offer like the one above. The potential of Antetokounmpo and Curry might be too tantalizing to pass up.

Add us as a preferred source on Google