giannis Talks Future and Signing Possibility of Signing with Chicago Bulls

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Speaker 1: [00:00:12] All right. So I know how much of a fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo you are. I know that this is a guy that has inspired your podcast. I know this is a guy that you have on the cover art and you probably have tons of memorabilia lined up somewhere, someplace. But he made some news today on a Chicago radio station. Giannis Antetokounmpo said that he would always be open to the idea of maybe one day playing in Chicago. And it does make the mind ponder a little bit. Would Giannis Antetokounmpo fill right in any other jersey besides the Milwaukee Bucks? [00:00:45][32.3]
Speaker 2: [00:00:45] I would say yes, because I said as early as December of 2020, which was when he signed his five year supermax, that there was a 0% chance Giannis would return to the Bucks after his contract expired. So easily for me, I could see him playing somewhere else. In terms of that Giannis memorabilia that I have, my walls are not lined with his memorabilia, but I do own his basketball shoes, so I get really surprised. [00:01:08][23.2]
Speaker 1: [00:01:09] You don't get bedsheets now. [00:01:10][1.5]
Speaker 2: [00:01:11] No bed sheets I only own about forgers. So he's not a not a huge memorabilia guy but to the point about Giannis this is an August 15th type of basketball story. Giannis went on a Chicago TV show. They asked him whether he would ever be interested in going to the Bulls, which puts him in an awkward position. And so he had just the polite answer, which is I love Chicago, but right now I'm committed to the Milwaukee Bucks. He had just the most polite answer you can give, which. [00:01:40][29.2]
Speaker 1: [00:01:41] I'm. [00:01:41][0.0]
Speaker 2: [00:01:41] Not going to. Yeah, he just. He didn't want to make a story out of it. He gave the best answer he could to not add into a story so bad. [00:01:48][7.4]
Speaker 1: [00:01:49] It's always a story. Any time a superstar of Giannis caliber speaks, it's a story. [00:01:53][4.1]
Speaker 2: [00:01:54] So to that, I will say whoever was at the Chicago TV station credit to you for asking the question, because no matter what his answer he gave, it was going to be a news story. Yeah. Giannis is going to be a bucket next year. He might be a buck the year after. What's interesting is after that, just because Milwaukee can't really do much else anymore, they gave up all their draft picks to get Jrue Holiday. Him and Khris Middleton are combined. Andrew Holiday now just got a $40 million extension, so those three players make up like 106% of their cap space. There's not much else they can do other than flipping Jrue Holiday or flipping Khris Middleton for another player in a trade. [00:02:29][35.5]
Speaker 1: [00:02:30] But hey man, I think that Pat Connaughton, Grayson Allen, Giannis Big Three has a lot of potential for the NBA. Yeah. [00:02:36][6.1]
Speaker 2: [00:02:37] Yeah. But but this team has already gone on like a year or two years longer than most core stay together in the NBA. Like if you count Jrue Holiday as being similar to Eric Bledsoe and that flip that they made like the core of Giannis Khris Middleton and then Bledsoe holiday has been together for four years now going on five. The same group of players rarely ever stay together that long. Even the Warriors have alternated pieces within the cast around them. And so I think it's interesting that the Bucks have stayed together as long as they have. That's just because the Honest wants to play with them this long. But I could absolutely see him leaving. I could have seen him leaving two years ago. So two years from now he could totally join another team. I just don't think it'll be Chicago. [00:03:20][43.0]
Speaker 1: [00:03:21] Here's what I kind of think about Giannis. I feel as though he's in that Albert Polo's territory, where since he won his championship, there is nothing that a milwaukee fan can say against him and they'll embrace him regardless. So I think that he is in a lucky spot that a lot of superstars don't get to be in the good graces of fans to be able to just leave whenever you choose to leave. Hell, obviously LeBron didn't get that the first time he left Cleveland. Kevin Durant leaving OKC didn't get that. But Giannis is a made man there so he can move around as he wishes, do his bidding as he wishes. If he decides he wants to go play with Luka one day, he probably could. Maybe people might question if it was like a superstar team up and then we get into the whole super team. [00:04:02][41.1]
Speaker 2: [00:04:02] That's my that's my pipe. [00:04:03][1.0]
Speaker 1: [00:04:03] That's your that's your pipe dream. [00:04:04][1.1]
Speaker 2: [00:04:05] Luka and Giannis, the two generational stars, the baby superstar and the current superstar playing together on the same team. That would be so great. [00:04:13][8.1]
Speaker 1: [00:04:13] So he can leave Milwaukee whenever he wants. Obviously, he can't leave Milwaukee until 2025. The question is, will Milwaukee make it uncomfortable or a bad situation to the point where he'd want to leave because he me, at least here in my kind of like innocent mind, I look at Giannis and think of a genuine guy that loves the city of Milwaukee is really embrace that culture and made it his own. But maybe like he has his eyes set on selling his soul to Los Angeles. Maybe he does want to play in Chicago. Maybe he doesn't want to mix it up with Kanye down there. Or hell, head on to Miami, get with Pat Riley in the Heat and make that a combination. So I don't know what his kind of like intentions are, what motivates Giannis or what that next chapter of Giannis career could be. But whenever a superstar like this talks, it just makes you want to think about possibilities. So I would honestly be happy. He ended up in Chicago because I kind of want to see that brand, the Chicago Bulls brand succeed again. I think it's just one of those mascots, one of those iconic jerseys that when they're good, it feels like the NBA's good. That brief time in which Derrick Rose was winning a MVP over there, or when Jimmy Butler was there, something felt right about Chicago being in the playoffs, competing, the grittiness. Obviously, I go back to Michael Jordan in the nineties, which is great, but. [00:05:34][80.9]
Speaker 2: [00:05:34] I thought you were going to say Michael Jordan during the segment because you and I both weren't born when Michael Jordan was playing. [00:05:40][5.3]
Speaker 1: [00:05:40] Hey, but I watch Space Jam, man, and Space Jam was enough. I got the last dance. I don't care if it's propaganda for Jordan. Whatever. It's all the same to me. It was a fantastic documentary, and either way, it made me feel nostalgic about the city of Chicago, the brand of Chicago Bulls basketball, even though he mentioned in the documentary that prior to his arrival, Chicago Bulls basketball was horrid. But nonetheless, I think it's a superstar brand that lacks a superstar. And I actually have a lot more nostalgia for them than obviously the New York Knicks. So, hey, I would love to see Giannis in Chicago personally, if not, of course, my Boston Celtics. But that's that's again, the personal bias kind of like seeping in there. You talk about superstar combinations, players. It would be fun to see him with another popular one is obviously maybe latter career. Steph Curry Right part of the problem too with Milwaukee and fortunately with you to throw it out there and start to dig on in Milwaukee. But the only way Milwaukee's been able to acquire players is via the draft or through trades. Free agency has been kind of a problem. And in the same way that LeBron had to get out of Cleveland because Cleveland failed to be able to attract superstar talent via free agency, that may become the case for Milwaukee. It may become harder for them unless they can find willing trade partners to get pieces that could continue to build around whatever Giannis turns into. And based off the early practices I've seen, he's turning into a three point shooter. So maybe the league just needs help wanting for that. [00:07:08][87.5]
Speaker 2: [00:07:09] Yeah, yeah. Milwaukee is in this interesting place where Giannis has already given them five years of his prime. Like, that's kind of remarkable that. [00:07:18][8.8]
Speaker 1: [00:07:18] I want one more much. I do want them to have one more title. I don't hate Milwaukee even as a even as a Celtics fan. If I could see one more Giannis title in Milwaukee then okay, I'm content. Go do what you want to do, big man. Enjoy it. Live it up in the U.S., get your corn dogs or whatever other snacks that you love. Get your 50 PS, go to Chick-Fil-A and get your 50 piece. All right, guys. Well, hey, if Giannis was to leave the Milwaukee Bucks, where would you like to see him go? Would you like to see him play with Garoppolo in the games? Well, I want to know. We were like on this video from Juju Talks Sports in college. Better stay safe, happy and healthy. We'll see you next time. [00:07:18][0.0]
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