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The Hawks have all the assets necessary to put up a strong — and I’d argue a winning — fight in the great Giannis Antetokounmpo bidding war if they so choose to.
They have soon-to-be one-time All-Star Jalen Johnson locked up on a long, below maximum value contract, some young desirable talent, and of course a large piece of Milwaukee’s own draft picks in both the upcoming draft and the 2027 draft.
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I outlined earlier that the Hawks also had control of every one of their first-round picks — excluding this year’s swap and next season’s pick outright — out to 2032. So, if Atlanta really desired to bring in the former two-time MVP, former two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and former Finals MVP, they could give the Bucks an offer they couldn’t refuse.
But they shouldn’t (and probably won’t) — and here’s why.
Let’s start with the latest from the rumor mill. Per NBA insider Marc Stein of the Stein Line substack blog from Thursday:
The early indications are that Atlanta has not joined the Giannis chase and does not intend to.
The Hawks do have control of Milwaukee’s picks in the next two drafts but have shown no interest to date in surrendering control of them. The Hawks are likewise said to be unwilling to surrender Jalen Johnson in a theoretical Antetokounmpo deal … even though Johnson’s agent Rich Paul said in one of his recent podcasts that the Milwaukee native is precisely whom the Bucks should target.
League sources say Atlanta continues to explore what moves can be made at this deadline with its $40-plus million in expiring contracts when combining Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kennard. And you can never forget that A) the Hawks hosted Antetokounmpo for the only pre-draft workout he conducted on American soil before the Bucks swooped in to select him with the 15th overall pick in 2013 and B) had conversations with Antetokounmpo’s agent Alex Saratsis last spring about joining Atlanta’s front office.
However …
Sources say that Atlanta has some level of reservation regarding the skillsets of Antetokounmpo and Johnson and how they would match after trading away Young…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/three-reasons-why-hawks-not-120000885.html
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Publish date : 2026-01-31 12:00:00
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