The Warriors are not considered title contenders entering the 2024-25 NBA season, with oddsmakers giving them 11th-shortest odds to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Similarly, out East, Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Bucks are not viewed as championship threats, either, with the defending champions Celtics, Knicks and 76ers all above them in the betting odds pecking order.
Celtics legend Paul Pierce feels the time could be right for the two parties to join forces. Speaking on “KG Certified’s Ticket & the Truth” alongside ex-Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett, Pierce urged the Warriors to trade for Antetokounmpo.
“The only way I see Golden State getting back to where they need to get back to is if they can find a way to get Giannis over there,” Pierce said on August 23.
When asked if he had some inside intel on Antetokounmpo angling a move to Golden State, Pierce said, “Nah, I’m just putting on my GM hat and trying to say that’s the best-case scenario.”
Warriors in a Flux
With Stephen Curry entering his late 30s, Klay Thompson departing for Dallas, and Jonathan Kuminga a few years from his prime, the Warriors are in a flux entering the 2024-25 season.
Even as most analysts expect the Steve Kerr-led team to struggle to make the playoffs, Pierce urged Curry to stay put in the Bay Area and pressurize the franchise to acquire a big name such as Antetokounmpo.
“This is where I planted my trees, this is where I grew my flowers,” Pierce said of Curry’s dynamic with the Warriors. “This is where my roots are. I’m probably going to live here after I’m done playing [basketball]. So, I just don’t see it [Curry leaving].”
Curry has always maintained the same tone. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Curry, 37, told Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill that he wanted to finish his career in the Bay.
“I can clearly say I want to be a Warrior for life,” Curry said. “That’s always been my goal. And I’m saying that sitting in this chair right now, but like you said, life, and especially life in the NBA, it is a wild environment, and things change quickly, and the league has changed quickly, so we’re trying to adapt and evolve.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo a Buck for Life?
Entering the 2024-25 NBA season, there was no indication of Antetokounmpo wanting a trade out of Milwaukee. Soon after the Bucks traded for Damian Lillard in the 2023 offseason, Antetokounmpo made a long-term commitment to the Bucks by inking a three-year max extension worth $186 million.
The extension meant Antetokounmpo was signed with the Bucks through the 2027-28 season. The former two-time MVP previously spoke about following in the footsteps of Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki as players who spent their entire NBA careers with one franchise. However, stranger things have happened in the NBA, and there’s no guarantee that Antetokounmpo is a lock to remain in Milwaukee for the rest of his career.
The Bucks entered the 2023-24 season to a lot of hype after acquiring Lillard from the Blazers. In fact, Antetokounmpo’s squad entered the season as joint title favorites with the Celtics and were many analysts’ choice to win it all.
However, their season went south very quickly by January when they axed first-year coach Adrian Griffin despite maintaining a 30-13 record at the time. The drastic in-season coaching change didn’t help the Bucks as they ended the season on a disappointing note, suffering a first-round playoff loss to the Pacers.
In his season-ending press conference, Antetokounmpo spoke about using the adversity as fuel in the 2024-25 season.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided's Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
