"Until Giannis Moves, Nobody Else Is Gonna Move": Lou Williams And Chandler Parsons Discuss Greek Freak's Significance To Trade Season

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been called a lot of things in his NBA career. For Lou Williams and Chandler Parsons, he might as well be a domino piece.

For the two “Run It Back” analysts, Antetokounmpo is the catalyst that will set things in motion toward the end of the trade season. “It starts and finishes with Giannis. Until Giannis moves, nobody else is gonna move anything,” Williams said on Monday. “You don’t want to move your assets, then look back and say, ‘Damn, I had the opportunity to get Giannis, and I moved too swiftly.’”

Indeed, there’s no shortage of teams that would jump at the opportunity to acquire the Greek Freak. It’s been nearly five years since Antetokounmpo won the first NBA title of his career, but for the most part, he’s lived up to his moniker with his freakish stats. Since reaching the league’s summit in 2021, Antetokounmpo has averaged 30.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game.

At 31 years of age, Antetokounmpo is still operating within his prime. This season, he earned a 10th All-Star selection; each of his All-Star nods over the past decade has been as a starter. In other words, the two-time MVP is as close to a guaranteed game-changer as any NBA team is going to get in this day and age.

However, the delay in pulling the trigger on an Antetokounmpo deal might not just be about teams second-guessing the assets they want to hold on to. Last week, Antetokounmpo suffered a calf strain that he self-diagnosed as a setback lasting four to six weeks. As impressive as his résumé has been, teams have reason to doubt his durability for what feels like the first time ever in his NBA career.

What if Antetokounmpo doesn’t get traded by February 5? In all likelihood, pundits will echo the same term that Parsons used to describe the trade season thus far: “Anticlimactic.” Outside of Trae Young going to the Washington Wizards, all other major moves over the next two weeks will likely hinge on the 6-foot-11 domino in Milwaukee.