Warriors Are Likely Out of Giannis Trade Sweepstakes

The Golden State Warriors have made a trade for a former All-Star at the trade deadline. The Warriors agreed on a deal Wednesday night that is sending Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Kristaps Porzingis. 

While nabbing Porzingis at a fairly insignificant cost is a decent move, it signals that the Warriors' goal for this trade deadline, prying Giannis Antetokounmpo away from the Milwaukee Bucks, is likely a failure. The Warriors were supposedly one of the final teams being considered as a potential trade partner for Giannis, but this trade makes that deal incredibly unlikely. Additionally, the Warriors likely wouldn't have made any other moves if they knew that Giannis was still a possibility. 

NBA insiders from The Athletic reported, however, that there is still a slim chance of hope that even without Kuminga in the deal, the Warriors could land Giannis. 

“While the Kuminga departure would certainly appear to take them out of the mix for Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo heading into the Thursday trade deadline, team sources would not close the door completely on the pursuit. The team sources also indicated that they had not been told by the Bucks that their offer wouldn’t be accepted prior to the trade for Porziņģis.”

However, at the same time, Shams Charania of ESPN reported, "The Warriors' pursuit of Giannis after a week is over. They have moved on. The Warriors made a pick-heavy offer last week continued to have conversations going into this week with the Bucks...If there was a trade, (Draymond) was gonna be a part of it; it was gonna be the Giannis trade."

Who knows which report is true, but one thing is for sure: the Warriors are much less likely to get Giannis now that they've made this trade. The dream is over, and maybe now ownership can stop obsessing over the chance to grab Giannis and can pivot to a new strategy.