Yearly Giannis trade sweepstakes leaves Spurs with painfully obvious choice

ESPN's Shams Charania just reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo may want out of Milwaukee a little faster than anticipated. Everyone was under the assumption that the Greek Freak was ready to ride out this season, and Brian Windhorst confirmed as much just earlier today when he also revealed that Giannis did, indeed, ask to be traded to New York in the offseason.

It didn't take long after that report for this latest breaking news to drop. The truth of the matter is that the two-time MVP is a vicious competitor. As loyal as he is, he understands that his time to dominate and etch his name alongside the all-time greats is limited. The Bucks have struggled to put a contending team around him since they traded away Jrue Holiday.

While his current situation is unfortunate for someone so driven, the Spurs should steer clear of him. San Antonio came up as a potential destination for Milwaukee's franchise star more than a few times during the summer, and I was on Team Giannis then. Things have changed, though.

The Spurs' trajectory is already skyrocketing

Most observers didn't think the Silver and Black would be this good this fast. Going after Giannis right now would be tantamount to the greed warned against in the Bible. That kind of selfishness has consequences that you generally can't see in the moment, but you can in this case.

A deal for one of the Bucks' best players in their franchise's history is going to require trading away too much. Now, to be fair to them, Brian Windhorst just appeared on ESPN's basketball talk show, NBA Today, discussing this new development, and said that wouldn't be the case here.

"It won't be that way. It'll be Giannis instructing the Bucks where he wants to be traded, and then the Bucks trying to make the best possible deal with that team." - Windy

But I'll believe that when I see it. Everyone thought that Portland was in a similar boat with Damian Lillard when the Portland great demanded a trade, but they refused to make a deal that didn't greatly benefit their organization. No offense to Lillard, but he's not Giannis. I can't imagine their front office doing a lesser deal for a top 50 player of all time.

My hard stance is basically about two players: Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. Castle just won Rookie of the Year and, in his second season, is averaging 17 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. He was comped to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander coming out of college, and he certainly has the chops to get there. I'm just not trading him.

Have you seen D. Harp play basketball? Do I really need to go into detail about why trading away someone who was immediately impactful in the best league in the world is a bad idea? Harper, ironically enough, was also comped to SGA. San Antonio landed them both.

If both players reach their peak next to Wemby, they have something seriously cooking that will last a decade or more. I'd take that over potentially gutting the roster and trading away obviously talented young players who stand a chance to be the next Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili on steroids. No, thank you.