Spurs pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo could come at a cost fans grow to hate

There's a cost to trading players, and it's different in every situation. The obvious requirements are assets. Draft picks and/or players will be part of any deal, but time could be a factor depending on what the outlook for your team is. Pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo could speed up San Antonio's timeline, but it could cost them valuable time later, and that should give everyone real pause.

How Giannis ages should matter to Spurs

Right now, Giannis is one of the best players we've ever seen, but if the Spurs trade for him, how long will they get that player? He's already 30 years old, which is entering the downside of a player's prime. He hasn't shown any signs of slippage on the court yet. As a matter of fact, he's been better than he's ever been, but when he finally takes a step back, it could be an issue for the Silver and Black.

The two-time MVP uses his long strides and strength to get to his spots on the floor. He's not known for his quickness. He has some, but that's not where he poses a problem for defenses. However, losing a step for someone like that may send him plummeting toward his floor faster than players who have developed a potent shot.

His jumper has improved over the years, but it's far from a strength. As the star of the team, it hasn't hurt him because the plan has been to surround him with snipers to let him destroy defenses on the inside. But what happens when he can't do that with regularity any longer? He turns into Isaiah Stewart and spends most of his time in the dunker spot?

It's hard to know exactly how his game will age, but in a time where space is more important than ever to the game of basketball, an older, slower Giannis who can't knock down shots wouldn't be the most optimal piece to put next to Victor Wembanyama.

Right now, they'd be a force. The defense would be insane, fast breaks would be destructive, and they would most definitely have a shot to win a championship together. The question is about the future, though. Brian Wright would have to give up a ton to get him, and if he falls off a cliff in three or four years, it will be harder to offload him and the contract he'll have.

Meanwhile, SA would have given up a bulk of the assets they could have used to simply retool around their young core. Honestly, I could be completely off base with Giannis' trajectory. If he's elite for another five-plus years, you probably sign up for that. But there's undoubtedly some risk in the unknown here, and it's worthy of consideration.