Giannis Antetokounmpo Makes Bold Bucks Trade Prediction

The NBA season is nearly back. All 30 teams have been on the hardwood taking on other teams throughout the preseason. The beginning of the new season has been marked, though, as the teams are mounting for another 82-game schedule with title hopes brewing.

While, ideally, every team would be in the running to make the NBA Finals, that's not the reality of the NBA. Only a handful of teams in each conference pose a real threat to make a deep run in the playoffs.

In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks are one of those teams. They've got a top-five player in the NBA -- that being Giannis Antetokounmpo. They paired Damian Lillard with Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

Now, the Bucks have already captured an NBA title with Antetokounmpo leading the club. The former No. 15 overall pick has risen from an unknown lanky forward to a top player in the league. An MVP, champion and Finals MVP -- Antetokounmpo understands the pressure the Bucks have to win a title again.

The Milwaukee star forward even thinks he could be on the trade block should the Bucks not capture another title with their current core.

“Yeah, if we don’t win a championship, I might get traded," Antetokounmpo told The Athletic . "This is the job we live. This is the world we’re living in. It’s everybody. At any given moment, if you don’t succeed, that might be it for us. ...If you don’t do a good enough job, you’re out.”

While this might be true for Lillard or Middleton, this isn't particularly the case for Antetokounmpo. Look at Stephen Curry with the Golden State Warriors -- a franchise player who has given so much to the franchise won't be traded because of a lack of recent success, especially having helped the club to titles.

Antetokounmpo is a top-five talent in the NBA. He won't be traded unless he requests a trade, which seems unlikely at this point.