Coud the Cavs actually trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

Things aren’t going well for the Milwaukee Bucks. They’ve lost eight of their last nine games, and their superstar might be looking for a way out. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Giannis Antetokounmpo and his agent are having discussions with the team about where his best future fit might be.

The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t high on the list of teams that Antetokounmpo could go to if he’s traded. They’ve been building to this core for several seasons and have yet to see what a somewhat healthy version of this group even looks like. It’s difficult to make core-altering moves based on incomplete evidence. And then there’s also the fact that the Cavs are limited because of the second apron.

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The Cavs are currently exceeding the second apron by just over $22 million. Any team within the second apron is restricted from aggregating salaries in a trade. As such, the Cavs can’t send out two players for one like they did when they exchanged Caris LeVert and Georges Niang for De’Andre Hunter last trade deadline.

This restriction makes it difficult to trade for a player like Giannis, who’s making $54.1 million this season. That’s more than anyone on the Cavs. And since the Cavs can’t aggregate contracts in a trade, they wouldn’t be able to trade for Antetokounmpo while they’re in the second apron.

That said, they could trade for him — or a player of that salary — if they were able to duck under the second apron in that move or a preceding trade. The Cavs would need to send out $22 million more than what they’re taking back in a move for a player with Giannis’s contract number. That means, they would need to send out at least $76.1 million in any hypothetical trade. For example, the Cavs could reach that number by trading away Evan Mobley ($46.3 million), Hunter ($23.3 million), and Max Strus ($15.9 million).

There also aren’t many teams that can accept $22 million more in a trade than what they’re sending out. The Bucks would fall into that category. A deal like this would require a third or fourth team to be involved in the trade, which complicates matters.

So technically, yes, the Cavs could trade for someone like Antetokounmpo. It would just be incredibly difficult to do so, would require multiple teams to facilitate, and would need to be signed off on by the Haslams — who are the majority owners of the Bucks and Cleveland Browns — which would seem unlikely.

In short, it’s not worth spending time on the trade machine trying to construct a hypothetical deal, even though it’s possible.