CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cavs president Koby Altman can etch his name in history this summer, but only if he’s willing to risk the future.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is reportedly open to being traded this summer. Antetokounmpo’s track record, which includes loyalty to Milwaukee and win-first wiring, suggests a star Cleveland could convince to stay long term. And Altman‘s Cavs could use a jolt following a 64-win regular season rendered meaningless by the ensuing second-round playoff exit.
His first choice is clear: Make the call.
But the next few are clouded by competing interests.
The Cavs are starved for their second championship but savoring their “long runway” to capture it. The Bucks would want to repave their future and remain competitive after any Giannis trade. And the one player who fills both requirements is the last one Cleveland would trade.
Save the suspense: Altman won’t offer Evan Mobley for Antetokounmpo this summer, not after the 23-year-old won Defensive Player of the Year and made Second Team All-NBA in the same season, not with so many prime years remaining, not even if doing so dramatically increases their title odds
Despite the early playoff exit, Altman believes this season crystallized Cleveland’s championship vision. Internal development spurred a 16-win jump in just one offseason. Imagine what another year can do.
For fans of big gambles, Altman can point to Donovan Mitchell, for whom the Cavs traded three players and three first-round picks three years ago. No need to risk everything twice.
So why raise the topic?
Because this fake trade offers the Cavs a real chance to reflect. Keeping Mobley keeps the Cavs good for a decade. Adding Antetokounmpo makes them (in my opinion) a title favorite over the next couple seasons. The debate therein digs deeper than “who says no” in hypothetical trade talks.
The real question: Who does Cleveland really want to be? A champion of longevity or a world champ?
Disclaimer: This column acknowledges the difficulty of a Mobley-Antetokounmpo trade — or any major Cavs move, for that matter — under new CBA rules. Completing such transactions would likely require a third team’s involvement. But I consider these small headaches to be well worth the pursuit of a championship.
Fear of Missing Mobley
Evan Mobley
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) scores against the Miami Heat during the second half in Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Miami.AP Photo/Michael Laughlin
I posed this trade to cleveland.com’s Subtext subscribers 10 days ago (add to the fun), and 51 of the 84 replies read something like these:
“No. That is Ridiculous.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Haha, No way! Maybe a DG and JA trade, but Evan is the future. I’d consider moving Mitchell before Mobley.”
Cavs fans, like their front office, value the long game. Acquiring a top five player, while fun and potentially franchise changing, is only half the equation. The shrewdest executives weigh both sides of a big risk.
Buying Giannis? Easy. Shorting Mobley? Haunting, and his ghost would linger longer than Antetokounmpo’s prime.
Scary thought: Only 19 players in NBA history have won Defensive Player of the Year (which originated in 1982-83) and been voted All-NBA in the same season.
Eleven of those 19 finished top five in MVP voting at least once during their career (average age of first finish: 24.9).
Six of those 11 won championships in a starring role.
And three of those six appear on an exclusive list with Mobley.
The Mobley Club: All-NBA, DPOY in same year, age 25 or younger
Player Year (age) Career Top 5 MVP finishes (age of first) Titles won in starring role
Evan Mobley 2025 (23) TBD TBD
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2020 (25) 7 and counting (24) Two-time winner 1 and counting
Kawhi Leonard 2016 (24) 3 and counting (24) 2 and counting
Dwight Howard 2009 (23) and 2010 (24) 4 (22) 0 (1 as role player)
Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) 2004 (24) 0 0 (1 as role player)
Michael Jordan 1988 (24) 10 (23) five-time winner 6
Sidney Moncrief 1983 (25) 1 (25) 0
The Mobley Club (trademark) includes seven players, two multi-time MVPs (Antetokounmpo and Michael Jordan), three Finals MVPs (Antetokounmpo, Jordan, and Kawhi Leonard) and four Hall of Fame inductees (five by the time Leonard is done playing).
Mobley is the second-youngest member ever (behind Howard by mere months), and he’d be the first to get traded at this juncture.
Leonard, Artest and Howard all changed teams mid-prime, but never before age 26. And all three applied public pressure on their incumbent teams to make the move.
Essentially, players like Mobley just. Don’t. Get. Traded (of their franchise’s own volition), particularly not from small markets, where young stars under long contracts are the rarest commodity. Like card tables in Vegas, NBA gambles come with a book to consult. And under the section labeled “23-year-old rising stars,” it reads: When a player shows this much promise this early, you don’t punt.
“If you don’t believe a 23-year-old Evan Mobley is going to continue to make these jumps and leaps, then you’re not studying it,” Altman said last week. “You’re not studying the evolution of great players. So that is where we put our trust in Kenny and the staff to continue that growth.”
Giannis trades win championships
Giannis Antetokounmpo Bucks championship
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) holds the finals MVP trophy after the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of basketball's NBA Finals in Milwaukee, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The Bucks won 105-98. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP
No champion has ever lost a trade, no matter how sound the argument against them. Whether a winner sacrificed too much or could’ve asked for more or chose the wrong time to cash in their assets, the Larry O’Brien Trophy offers a trump card.
Sorry, can‘t read your trade grades. Too busy dancing into history.
Mobley may boast a long development arc, but banners hang forever; contention windows close quicker than you think; and given the Cavs’ current construction, 20 pro-Giannis Subtext members could argue a perennial MVP candidate fits Cleveland better than a hypothetical one.
Here they go:
“YES!!!”
“Yes of course. GA is elite and your window with Donovan is now!”
“One could be MVP, one already is.”
Try two-time MVP, plus seven straight seasons on the ballot, and don’t forget to carry the nine straight All-NBA appearances. We’ll total those accolades later. But consider the following factoid in the meantime:
Only 19 players in league history have been voted All-NBA in nine straight seasons. Only four have been traded. And when they move, they tend to win.
The Giannis Club: Nine straight All-NBA Teams, available for trade
Player name Year of Trade (age in that year) Accolades after trade Age of last All-NBA season
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2025 (30) TBD TBD
Shaquille O’Neal 2004 (31) Four-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA (three first team), one MVP runner-up finish, one title 36
Charles Barkley 1992 (29) Four-time All-NBA, five-time All-Star, one MVP, one NBA Finals berth 32
Oscar Robertson 1970 (32) Two-time All-NBA, three-time All-Star, one top five MVP finish, one title 33
Wilt Chamberlain 1968 (32) Two-time All-NBA, four-time All-Star, two top five MVP finishes, one title 35
The Giannis Club (trademark) suggests that Antetokounmpo has at least one more NBA Finals berth, if not one more championship, in his future. And the payoff usually follows quickly.
Of the Greek Freak’s four fellow trade targets, three (Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Charles Barkley) made The Finals in their first season with a new team.
The fourth (Shaquille O’Neal) won the title in Year 2.
Chamberlain waited four years to win a championship in Los Angeles, but his Finals MVP at 35 offers hope for fans who worry about Antetokounmpo’s longevity.
See, Wilt and Giannis are part of another exclusive list. It includes the nine players who have made nine-straight All-NBA teams and appeared on seven straight MVP Ballots. It counts names like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell and Bob Pettit.
All nine boast at least one championship. Seven have at least two. Only Pettit (who retired at 32) and Antetokounmpo (who’s still in his prime) lag behind. And against these legends, Father Time throws a softer hook.
The average age of the last All-NBA appearance for this list is 33.7 without LeBron, 34.9 with him. Antetokounmpo turns 31 in December, giving him roughly four more seasons of top 15 player production (at least).
By the end of that window, Mobley will turn 27. A 32-year-old Mitchell will soon exit his prime (that is, assuming he signed another extension here). And the Cavs’ contention window won’t feel as open, regardless of where Mobley is playing.
To be clear: The answer is Cleveland. Wherever Altman‘s name lands in history, Mobley’s will be written nearby. And The Mobley Club points to a promising future. If Mobley develops like Antetokounmpo, who made his first All-NBA team during his fourth season and won MVP two years later, the Cavs are set.
But history only counts so many s-tier superstars. It counts even fewer teams lucky enough to trade for one. And whether the Cavs bet on Mobley or Giannis, they are still gambling their future.
In theory, you never swap 23-year-old Mobley’s odds for 30-year-old anybody’s. But in the playoffs, Antetokounmpo is one of only two players in playoff history (along with Nikola Jokic) to average to average 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. In his career, Mobley has never matched that stat line (regular season games included). And in this fake trade, you must weigh establishment the same as potential.
The question is less “who says no”, more which historic context you trust more:
A young star’s potential or a legend’s precedent?