Credit To Shaq For Being One Of The Few People In Basketball Media Who Isn't Trying To Push Giannis Towards A "Big Market"

John Fisher. Getty Images.

Perhaps the biggest domino of the entire NBA offseason is whatever Giannis decides to do. If he has zero faith in the Bucks ability to rebuild their roster to get them back into legit contention, it seems as though people expect him to ask out. If he decides he's going down with the ship regardless and only wants to be a 1 team superstar, that obviously changes the landscape of the trade market/free agent signings this summer.

I know KD's the next big domino, but everything this summer starts and stops with the Giannis decision. 

Given the uncertain waters the Bucks now have to navigate, it's not all that surprising what has happened since Dame went down and the Bucks season ended. As is always the case when this stuff happens in MIL, it didn't take long before we got the "reports" around Giannis' future, where he could be traded etc, and it almost always included a big market team. Tell me if you've heard that before! Giannis to the Knicks, Giannis to the Nets, Giannis to the Warriors, Giannis to the Celtics, Giannis to the Raptors Giannis to the Rockets, we've heard it all already.

This is obviously nothing new for Bucks fans as they've dealt with the national media pushing the narrative that Giannis had to leave MIL for a "big market" plenty of times prior to this season, and to be doing that in 2025 is pretty dumb. That's why I was actually surprised to see Shaq have the complete opposite (and correct) take on this whole idea

I'd say if there's someone who does not need a "big market" to thrive both as a player or a "brand", it's Giannis. He hasn't had it up to this point in his career, and something tells me things have worked out just fine both on and off the court. In today's world and media landscape, you could argue that market size means a fraction of what it did back in the day. Will it always be true that players who play for the Knicks or the Lakers will always get more eyeballs? Sure! But honestly who gives a shit about that when you're talking about a player of Giannis' caliber? It's not like he would become even more of a star if he played in a big market, and I would argue things like income tax/weather/team roster situation are all bigger factors for these types of players than "market size". 

Also, just look at what's happening across the NBA right now. Parity is king right? We're seeing small market teams make deep playoff runs and develop teams that are positioned to contend for titles. Shit, a small market is about to win the NBA title no matter who wins this year! The next wave of potential contending teams? Small markets. Given how the new CBA is structured, taking your talents to a small market team no longer means you're punting on contention. If the basketball situation makes sense, and Giannis is interested in contending, gone are the days where that only exists for 2 or 3 big market teams and the rest of the NBA is mostly a feeding ground for those select few.

Perhaps I'm simply drinking the Kool Aid because I miss the days of a 1 team superstar, but I really don't see Giannis leaving. Even if the Bucks are sort of stuck in NBA purgatory for the next few seasons. I think it'd be different if he didn't have a title to his name, but he does. I know you can never say never in the NBA, especially today's NBA with how crazy things have gotten in terms of big name trades, but I just don't see it. The Bucks can always offer him the most money, he's a legitimate God in that city, as long as he's healthy, he usually can drag any Bucks roster to high 40s in terms of wins.

The one thing I do think we need to proactively start training our brains for is what happens with stars who are not quite on Giannis' level when it comes to their next deal/potential trades. For a player like Giannis, you give him the supermax and figuer everything out in terms of the aprons later. But a lesser star? Maybe a team isn't interested in going into the 2nd apron if it requires a max extension, and we see that player traded. Depending on who you believe in the Luka situation, his potential supermax was one of the factors in his being dealt. That is something we could see a lot more of in terms of star trades, but again, Giannis isn't in that group. He's in the "as long as he wants to be here, you pay him every last penny you're allowed to" group.

My gut says that will always be with the Bucks, but only time will tell.