10-07-2025, 10:59 AM
(10-07-2025, 10:15 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: ...they might come out of said deal with an Eastern Conference playoff team, and if it's true that he'd want to go only there, I think they'd kind of have to make it work.
I think being an EC playoff team (but clearly nowhere close to a contender) is not something they would see as a desirable path.
" if it's true that he'd want to go only there, I think they'd kind of have to make it work" -- I don't see this at all. If he truly demanded a trade, I think it would be like the KD situations (going to PHX, then to HOU) where there are several suitors that emerge who have the suitable type of package to offer, and GA preference comes into play only after the non-desirables (from MIL's pov) get weeded out.
But overall, I think GA is not that likely to be traded. He wants better players around him - but they all do - but I think the idea of him pushing his way out has always been more fantasy-fueled speculation than substance. He wants to win in MIL, first and foremost.
I do think MIL is being selective with its spending this year (when the FA crop sucked) with a goal of landing someone good as a FA next summer (they should have a good chunk of cap room), and are doing so not merely to satisfy GA but also because that's the next step in them getting much better (assuming GA remains a part of the mix). GA plus a few good players is a formula for a strong EC team who is a serious threat to get to the Finals. They added Turner this year. Next year, they have opportunity for a free agent PLUS a room-MLE free agent plus a FRP. Adding that onto GA + MT should be enough - if they land the right players - to fuel another multi-year window of opportunity for them.