© Kim Klement | 2020 Sep 6
The Vegas oddsmakers apparently don’t agree with Marcus Thompson.
The Athletic columnist said on KNBR Tuesday that the one team Giannis Antetokounmpo would not join, should he demand a trade or become a free agent two offseasons from now, is the Miami Heat, considering they are just one game away from knocking the Bucks out of the playoffs, and enter Tuesday’s Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead.
Sure, Kevin Durant joined the Warriors an offseason after they eliminated his Thunder in similar fashion, and yes that decision led to back-to-back titles, but it also led to three straight years of endless hate and criticism from fans and the media who saw the decision as soft. There are many who will never see Durant’s titles as legitimate, something that seems to bother him to no end.
Maybe Giannis doesn’t care about that. According to the most recent odds on his next team, that’s the position Vegas is taking. The Heat are currently the betting favorite to land the soon-to-be two-time MVP at 3-to-1, via SportsBetting.ag:
Per https://t.co/W7sBLHkfLv pic.twitter.com/KFfcNua3Mc
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dieter) September 8, 2020
The teams with cap flexibility tend to be higher up on this list, as well as teams with movable max contracts. Cap issues are the primary reason the Warriors have the 12th best odds here, in addition to the Bucks being unlikely to trade Giannis to the Warriors just four years after they “ruined the league” by acquiring Durant. Here’s what Thompson told Murph & Mac on Tuesday:
“The only way they could get him would be a trade, and it would have to be Giannis saying ‘I want out and I want to go to the Warriors.’ That’s what it has to be. Even if he says they want out they’ve got a shot, but then at that point it’s like who’s got the best offer and Milwaukee can kind’ve hold out.
“They really need him to say ‘I want out, and I only want to go to the Warriors, and if you don’t trade me to the Warriors, wherever you trade me to I’m leaving. I’m not re-signing.’ That’s kind of like the perfect storm that needs to happen, in order for it to work. Then whatever the Warriors offer whether it’s (Andrew) Wiggins and the two first-round picks or Draymond (Green) and the two first-round picks, now you’re not comparing that to whatever everybody else might be able to offer.”