As of now, the Minnesota Timberwolves appear to be in the driver's seat of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade sweepstakes. I promise you that I'm as surprised as anyone. Before Tuesday, I simply thought there would be too many hurdles for the Timberwolves to pull off a move.
Opening up cap space by trading Mike Conley makes the Wolves' pursuit of Giannis all the more realistic. Beyond that, though, when Jake Fischer says the Wolves are leading the Giannis sweepstakes, that has to be taken seriously.
Undoubtedly, Wolves fans should be thrilled at the possibility of an Anthony Edwards-Giannis duo. However, a trade of this magnitude would, of course, come at a steep cost. For Minnesota, this unfortunately means trading Jaden McDaniels -- something that would be painful for anyone connected to the Timberwolves organization.
McDaniels has been a vital part of the Wolves this decade
McDaniels is arguably the best development story in franchise history (with Naz Reid also having a strong case). The Washington product was drafted with the 28th overall pick in 2020 (the same class as Edwards). Ant and McDaniels have formed an unbreakable bond and are best friends. Not to mention McDaniels is a beloved figure among Wolves fans.
During his first few seasons with the Wolves, McDaniels was a defensive specialist. Each year, he has leveled up offensively and has become a legitimate two-way monster this season. Notably, McDaniels is averaging 15.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on stellar 51.9/45.6/85.1 shooting splits. At 25, McDaniels is only poised to get better and has clear All-Star potential.
The unfortunate reality is that both financially and value-wise, the Wolves must trade McDaniels to pull off a Giannis trade -- especially given their lack of draft capital. This would certainly sting even if you're getting a top-five player in the league back. If Tim Connelly (somehow) pulls off a trade for Giannis without trading McDaniels, then the Wolves should start building a statue for him immediately.
What would a Wolves-Giannis trade look like?
Now, despite the Wolves reportedly leading the Giannis sweepstakes, their path to pulling off a move is a bit unclear. The most discussed route is a three-team trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, who own the majority of the Bucks' picks. In this move, the Bucks would get back Randle and some of their picks while the Blazers would get McDaniels.
Nevertheless, per SI's Chris Mannix, the Bucks covet McDaniels. This isn't a total shocker, but it certainly changes the calculus of a possible trade. Of course, the Bucks still want picks as well, so the inclusion of a third team or even a fourth team is necessary.
How many picks could be sent out if the Wolves trade Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, or Naz Reid to Portland (or another team) is unclear. Given Portland's timeline and roster construction, I'm not sure if they'd want anyone but McDaniels -- he'd certainly be their preferred trade piece at the very least.
With just over 24 hours, there are still a lot of moving parts to the Wolves pulling off a Giannis trade. Whatever happens between now and Thursday, McDaniels will always be one of the most beloved Timberwolves players of all-time.