Shocking potential Giannis landing spot would be a nightmare for Spurs

With the likelihood that the San Antonio Spurs will end up with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo decreasing by the day, attention turns to where he may end up instead. Obviously him ending up on a team such as the Houston Rockets or Oklahoma City Thunder would be disastrous for the Spurs.

Instead, San Antonio should hope that he stays in the Eastern Conference on a team that they likely won't face unless they make it to the NBA Finals. However, one Eastern Conference team that they should hope he doesn't end up on is the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks appear to be a fringe Giannis trade candidate, but they do have the assets to try and force their way into the conversation. They can offer the Bucks the New Orleans Pelicans' unprotected 2026 first-round pick, which might be the best trade asset in the NBA considering it could end up being a top-three selection.

Atlanta can also offer Milwaukee two of their own picks back after the Hawks acquired them from the Pelicans, who had them as a result of the Jrue Holiday trade. The Bucks would likely have to take back Kristaps Porzingis in a potential Giannis trade but could also end up with the 2024 number one overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher.

The Hawks are a dark horse contender for Giannis Antetokounmpo

If Giannis is willing to play for the Hawks, then they could actually offer a pretty strong haul for him, possibly even pairing him with a star in Trae Young as well as a rising star in Jalen Johnson.

It's not a crazy sales pitch for the Hawks to make, though the Spurs should be sipping haterade in the hopes that Atlanta can't have nice things. After all, the Spurs own a pick swap courtesy of the Hawks this season and also own their unprotected first-round pick next year.

That pick swap isn't as valuable as it initially seemed to be, with the Spurs currently looking as though they can move up eight spots thanks to the Hawks. That's not nothing, but that could change on a dime if the Hawks were to land Giannis.

The best-case scenario for the Spurs is that the Hawks strike out on Giannis and he ends up on another East team, i.e., the New York Knicks. Better yet, the Hawks could be forced to trade Young at the trade deadline—hopefully for a poor return—to keep from losing him for nothing.

Or even better if he leaves for nothing in free agency. That's the dream since it could help improve the value of the Hawks' picks to the Spurs, while Giannis staying in the East would ensure San Antonio wouldn't have to deal with a super team out West.