Rumors

Heat Central: The Heat are out looking for other teams to get involved to complete a Giannis trade, per “I want to point out, Giannis still could remain with the Bucks… but there is a belief he’s going to get moved by next weeks draft. The Miami Heat have been trying to get Giannis for months. They have been making offer to the Bucks for months. We have no deal. What we can take is the Bucks do not love what the Heat are offering and they are out looking for other options. They have been looking for other options. The Celtics ‘could’ get in there. We’ll see how that plays out.” -- Brian Windhorst

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Brian Windhorst: There'd be quite a few teams that would be interested in Kel'el Ware if he got shipped to Milwaukee and they were willing to flip him. Tim MacMahon: He's a rim-running floor stretching big. Windhorst: If I were the Lakers and Kel'el Ware got shipped to Milwaukee, I would be on the phone because Kel'el Ware package of talent is not that different from Dereck Lively.

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Arguably, the largest pushback on this possibility came from ESPN's Brian Windhorst, who spoke recently on ESPN's Get Up. Not only did Windhorst argue that the Celtics aren't ready to trade Brown, but he also said he thinks Giannis wants to join the Miami Heat. “The team to watch here is Miami. Miami would say ‘we've got Tyler Herro, who is a young player and been an All-Star," Windhorst said. "We got draft picks, including the 13th pick in this draft… And Giannis I think wants to be in Miami. There are more check marks on Miami. I’m not sure Boston is ready to trade Jaylen Brown."

USA Today

Brian Windhorst: Darryn Peterson will not get past two. He he will either go one or two, and I think it's very open who could go one in in front of him. It could be him or AJ. 

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NBA Courtside: P.J. Tucker and Brian Windhorst reach to the no call on Ausar Thompson last night: “You call that call anytime of the game. That call has to be made. 1000%. There’s no way you don’t make that call — I believe it was a foul. If I were a Pistons fan I wouldn’t listen to anything else”

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NBA Courtside: Brian Windhorst on Joel Embiid questioning his future in Philly: “He has 3 years $192M left on his contract which will begin next season. I can promise him he will definitely be back. He is not going anywhere”

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Brian Windhorst: The second time when I knew my life was going to change was when I watched The Decision. I mean, I already knew he was going to Miami by that point, but when he went when he when he went through with it, I knew my life was going to change one way or another. Either I was going to cover the Cavs without him or I was going to go to another job. And it just so happened ESPN hired me to go to Miami to cover him. So I knew so those two moments I knew my life was going to change. I never ever saw myself I never aspired to be on television. Wasn't like I grew up saying man I really wish I could be the next whomever. I didn't even have any like heroes there. In all honesty I just tried to tell good stories. I tried to learn and tell good stories and um it just evolved to where like if you told good stories, all media sort of became the same. It used to be if a newspaper person told the story it stayed in the newspaper maybe a television person or someone on the radio saw that story and did their own but it didn't cross over. Well, now, I mean, not just now, but in my career, the people who told the stories could tell them on all the platforms, audio, digital, print, television, and it just so happened I was at this company that did all the platforms. So, I was able to cross over.

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Brian Windhorst: Players who are involved in their own media companies, they're eventually going to know what the business model is, too. If they see that talking trash about the Lakers gets you or commenting on the Lakers gets you more of engagement, they're going to be pulled to that. And so really the challenge is what's the medium between establishing an audience and creating a business and also not necessarily leaning totally into the incentives, right? Like that's the thing. And so what I focus on is the best that I can do and some days are better than others.

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On Wednesday, during an appearance on ESPN Cleveland, Brian Windhorst revealed that if James is willing to accept the major pay cut the Cavaliers could offer, he’s “99%” certain James would return to Cleveland. “Number one, you look at how productive he is. Assuming he’s roughly the same player next year as he is now — when his legs feel good, he’s still highly impactful," Windhorst said. "He’s not great defensively, especially on nights when he doesn’t have it, but on nights when he does, he can still be a playmaker on both ends. “The second thing is he would only come at a discount. The only way the Cavs could add him is to get him to play at either the minimum or maybe do some moves to create flexibility with the tax mid-level exception… From the Cavs’ perspective, it’s simple. Basically, they say to LeBron: if you want to play with us, this is what we can offer. "If he’s able and willing to accept that, I think it’s 99%.”

Sporting News

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst says the Minnesota Timberwolves have “moved on” from their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo. This comes after the Timberwolves dealt Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to the Chicago Bulls to acquire Ayo Dosunmu on Thursday morning. But Windhorst believes the Heat are still in the mix for Antetokounmpo. “The Miami Heat are still out there,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s First Take. “And the Heat, the last I heard, were still trying to make moves to improve their offer that they can make to Milwaukee. ... That said, the Heat can make a better offer, a more aggressive pick-rich offer later this summer. So teams in the league right now that it is most likely that Giannis stays put. But Miami is still there. And I want to point out that I will never put anything past Andy Elisburg, their GM, and the aggression of Pat Riley. So, keep an eye with Miami.”

Miami Herald

Brian Windhorst: There's a couple of other teams out there that have shown interest. Cleveland has shown some interest in Giannis, but they are in a position with James Harden now where they've sort of picked the lane. Portland has sniffed around Giannis. They have the Bucks draft picks and draft assets from the Damian Lillard trade, but these are not compelling things. So, unless there's a secret thing going on, I'm not feeling Giannis Antetokounmpo moving right now. And Giannis has not forced the issue and that is probably going to be a factor. 

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Brian Windhorst: One of the names that has silently been on the trade market a little bit is Klay Thompson, because, obviously, the team is very different than when the Mavericks signed him

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Brian Windhorst: Bobby, if you were going to offer an enormous amount of draft capital or young players or whatever you would do, that you would want and have a pretty good idea that Giannis Antetokounmpo was going to take your extension. And that extension I believe it can be four years and what, 270 something like that? Bobby Marks: 275. Actually, if he opted in and then extended for three years, he probably can make another million dollars. So, I mean, it's kind of like pick whatever one you want to do. Windhorst: Well, one thing I know about Giannis is that he does consider the money. The money is not just insignificant to him. He talks about it. That's one of the things like if you're in one of the Texas teams you can say ‘hey, State income tax.’ But it's also a consideration for the team. The team giving him 275 million for a guy who's 31 years old who is having calf problems. I think most teams would say yes, but I'm not sure everybody would. In fact, I know that there's one team I talked to who would be able to put a package together, a pretty compelling package, and they said, "We're just not crazy about that contract with our other options that we can do. Just don't know if we want to commit to 275 to him.”

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The Golden State Warriors have the most attractive package to offer the Milwaukee Bucks for two-time MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "The Golden State Warriors are a team that immediately rises to the top of the list," Windhorst said on NBA Today. " As far as the teams that can make a straight up trade with the Bucks. ... The Warriors hold all their future draft assets, they can trade all of them.

ESPN