The OKC Thunder are widely regarded as a team that shies away from making in-season trades. Throughout his tenure with the club, general manager Sam Presti has even gone on record denigrating such happenings.
However, given what's currently going on between the Bucks and their franchise cornerstone, Giannis Antetokounmpo, they may want to strongly reconsider their belief system.
Since the start of the season, rumors have been swirling that the two-time MVP has grown increasingly frustrated with Milwaukee and that his time with the organization could soon be coming to an end.
Though Giannis has publicly downplayed this kind of rhetoric on several occasions throughout the campaign, over the past few weeks, as a result of their slide in the Eastern Conference standings and his public displays of frustration, the volume of these rumblings has only increased.
Monday, they seemingly reached their loudest levels yet, as ESPN's Marc Spears boldly predicted on an episode of NBA Today that the superstar has "played his last game in a Bucks uniform."
Should this actually be the case, with just under 10 days to go until the February 5 trade deadline, the Thunder might want to strongly consider dialing up the Bucks about a possible blockbuster.
Thunder must see what a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade would cost them
Yes, as currently constructed, the Thunder are already the reigning NBA Champions, boast the league's top record (37-10), and hold the best odds (plus-100) to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy yet again come the conclusion of 2025-26.
However, Giannis being traded to the wrong team could risk OKC not only falling short of a title this year but also threatening their push to become the game's next great dynasty over the next several years to come.
Thrusting themselves into a potential sweepstakes for the Greek Freak would be as much of a defensive move from a strategic standpoint as it would be a push to strike on making an elite star-power upgrade.
The beauty of this hypothetical -- they almost certainly wouldn't even break a sweat in their efforts of offering Milwaukee the best possible return package for the former Finals MVP's services.
On top of possessing one of the most extensive collections of draft assets ever seen, the Thunder roster quite a number of top-notch young talents still attached to rookie-scale pacts (Cason Wallace, Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber, etc.).
Essentially, they have everything a crumbling team needs to expedite their rebuild back to relevancy in a timely manner.
Now, granted, with this idea for a Giannis push comes the built-in fear of how adding his three-year, $186 million deal would fare for the Thunder.
With three max extensions currently set to kick in come next season, they're already bee-lining their way toward the dreaded second apron threshold as is. Adding Antetokounmpo's salary would make ducking under it all the more complex.
However, the idea of creating an NBA-breaking core-four of reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren might be enough on its own to have Presti and company adopt a temporary "act first, think later" approach to constructing this roster.
Frankly, even if it cost them, say, Wallace, Topic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, and upwards of four future firsts, the fact that they'd still have a supporting cast headlined by Lu Dort, Ajay Mitchell, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe, while still possessing a considerable amount of draft capital over the coming years, the state of their depth chart would be in excellent shape both in the short and long-term.
At the very least, with Giannis' relationship with Milwaukee seemingly the worst its ever been, Oklahoma City must look into what it would take to have the 31-year-old, future Hall of Famer be shipped out to the Sooner State ahead of next month's deadline.