If there’s one franchise that currently has no chance of landing the next disgruntled superstar to change teams in the NBA in Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s without a doubt the Phoenix Suns. Assuming they want to keep Devin Booker in town — and all indications are that they do — they don’t have the draft picks or trade assets to make a move happen.
Giannis has never shown any desire to trade Milwaukee for The Valley — if rumors are to be believed, it’s the New York Knicks that appeal to him most — while from a historical perspective, trading the Bucks for the team he defeated in the 2021 NBA Finals also doesn’t seem to make any sense. And yet…
Suns will be in a better position to try Giannis in 2026.
If you let us dream for a moment – which direction the 2025-2026 season is about all Phoenix has to offer – this may look like a different conversation 12 months from now. If Marc Stein As outlined in his most recent substack below, the expectation around the league is that Antetokounmpo will not be traded midseason.
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— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 13, 2025
This suits the Suns well, as they currently have nothing to offer outside of Booker. But next year — and if the new players they got in their various deals this offseason — Milwaukee could at least pick up the phone and have a conversation. Also worth mentioning is the well-established fact that Suns owner Mat Ishbia has absolutely no patience when it comes to team building.
He may have been burned by Kevin Durant in the past, but if he could trade everything but Booker to land Giannis, you know he would. He’s not alone in that either, but Ishbia and his front office are said to be coming to trade talks armed with an additional first-round pick: way further on, which is at least a starting point.
Given Ishbia’s way of doing business, Suns first rounders have been among the most sought-after picks in recent years, and for good reason. Then there’s rookie center Khaman Maluach, who at 19 years old could still develop into a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year. Obviously a lot has to go right for that to be the case, but let’s look at this from the most optimistic point of view here.
You’d think Phoenix could get a first-round pick — or maybe even two — in the middle of the season from players like Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Nick Richards or even Oso Ighodaro. As much as Suns fans love both Ighodaro and Ryan Dunn, both would either have to be in a Giannis deal or move on to recoup some draft picks to complete that huge trade. There is no point in getting too attached.
Jalen Green would also need to have an All-Star level season to make this conversation really interesting considering he is only 23 years old. As for Dillon Brooks? It’s hard to see a rebuilding Bucks having any interest, although it didn’t look like the Suns would land him this summer and he’s already in town and changing the culture, so never say never.
Of course this is crazy to think about, but so often we are blindsided by monster deals being made. If we’re told Antetokounmpo won’t be traded until next summer, the Suns have a full year to look as attractive as a trade partner as possible. After all, the Bucks are already panicking if their own latest acquisition is anything to go by. Crazier things have happened.
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