Cavaliers explored trade for Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo before deadline, per report
The Cleveland Cavaliers had their sights set on the Milwaukee Bucks' star forward earlier this season.
Cavaliers explored trade for Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo before deadline, per report originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Cleveland Cavaliers were among the active franchises during the 2025-26 trade season.
On Feb. 4, the 2016 NBA champions elected to trade Darius Garland and a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden. However, Cleveland was reportedly in the market for a different superstar before acquiring Harden, as the Stein Line’s Jake Fischer noted that the Cavaliers explored a trade for Milwaukee Bucks phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“There's another Eastern Conference contender, however, that folks around the league are looking at as a potential Antetokounmpo landing spot,” Fischer wrote Thursday. “Cleveland. “The Cavaliers, league sources say, contacted the Bucks about Giannis before the deadline as well … and were told it would take Evan Mobley and all of Cleveland's available draft capital to get it done.
” “That's a trade construction that presumably would have Mobley stans scoffing, but it's a move that no shortage of rival executives I've discussed it with say they would make. ” A trade for Antetokounmpo that sounds pretty good for the Cavaliers right about now (obviously, they’d have to wait until the offseason to complete one). Cleveland is in a 2-0 Eastern Conference Semifinals hole after failing to steal a game on the road vs.