Why Hawks are correct to stay patient and pass on Giannis

NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo could be playing here a week from now if that’s what the Hawks want. They’d need to make more moves to build a championship team around him, but they’d have the most important piece — an MVP-level player.

But the Hawks have decided that the price (and risks) of acquiring Antetokounmpo before the Feb. 5 trade deadline aren’t worth the potential rewards. They are staying patient with a young, promising group. They believe they shouldn’t push their chips in for Antetokounmpo when they aren’t close to being a contender.

My initial thought was that Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh should do that.

Antetokounmpo is a top-5 player. He’s one of the most complete and unique talents in the NBA. Antetokounmpo, 31, still is in his prime, and his peak is so high that his decline will be gentle.

But it seems that going “all in” for Antetokounmpo would require giving up a lot more than I expected.

It appears that the Hawks would need to include more than budding star Jalen Johnson and a (very valuable) 2026 lottery pick in a deal for Antetokounmpo. That would leave them with a team not good enough to be a contender with him, and lacking the assets necessary to quickly reshape the roster.

And the Hawks would need to work fast because Antetokounmpo could walk after next season. His contract includes a player option for 2027-28. He’s eligible to sign an extension in October with his next team if he’s traded before next week’s deadline.

Antetokounmpo stayed loyal to the Bucks even as the team’s fortunes steadily declined since winning it all in 2021. He’s finally told the Bucks he’s ready to move on. I figured that once the Hawks got Antetokounmpo here, they could convince him to stay loyal to them, too.

But the Hawks have determined that the risk of Antetokounmpo leaving in that scenario would be too high. Then they would be in bad shape, with few options to quickly recover from the failed gamble.

The Hawks are in a pretty good place now. They aren’t close to being a contender, but you can see Saleh’s vision of how they can get there.

Johnson should be an All-Star this year. Dyson Daniels is a top-tier defender and could be a star if he can gain confidence in his jump shot. Nickell Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu are solid players.

All those guys are having breakout seasons. They are signed to long-term deals that are good value for the Hawks. The Hawks plan to see if they can make another leap next season and, if they do, keep adding to the group.

This summer, the Hawks will draft a player with what likely will be no worse than the fourth pick in what could be a historically good draft. The Hawks also will have the flexibility to swing trades to shore up their weaknesses and add depth.

A lot will have to go right for Saleh to assemble a championship team out of those pieces. Patience isn’t usually popular in the NBA. It’s certainly not popular here.

Hawks fans have seen the team botch many chances to draft a franchise player over the years. They just saw Trae Young get traded to the Wizards in a salary dump. If Antetokounmpo came here, it would help the fans overcome years of disappointment and frustration.

He’s a two-time league MVP and has finished among the top 10 in voting for nine consecutive seasons. During that time, Antetokounmpo averaged 28.4 points per game with very high efficiency. He gobbles up rebounds, sets up teammates for good shots and defends all positions at a high level.

But Antetokounmpo isn’t a clean fit for the current Hawks roster. He needs multiple shooters around him to be most effective, and they don’t have enough of them.

Still, I think that if the price were right and a long-term deal were plausible, then it would be worth it for the Hawks to acquire Antetokounmpo now and figure out the rest later. But it appears that the price is too high and the Hawks have determined that it’s unlikely that Antetokounmpo would stick around (Miami is rumored to be his preferred destination).

Instead of making a risky deal to go all in for a short-term superstar, the Hawks are playing the long game of culture-building and player development.

That’s how the defending NBA champion Thunder became contenders. It’s how Saleh’s former employer, the Spurs, are rebuilding after their championship runs.

Oklahoma City’s patience paid off when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander eventually became league MVP after they traded for him when he was unproven. The Spurs drafted Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in 2023 and are patiently letting him develop while collecting draft picks.

The Spurs got two first-round picks and a first-round swap from the Hawks as part of the Dejounte Murray trade in summer 2022. That deal ended up being a big mistake for the Hawks. They’ve managed to move beyond it by trading for Daniels and Alexander-Walker and restocking draft picks.