Giannis Reportedly Telling His Teammates To Ignore The Outside Noise And That He Doesn't Control His Own Future Is Very Funny

Patrick McDermott. Getty Images.

It had been pretty quiet on the Giannis Trade front over the last few days, which can be viewed a few different ways.

1. This is all a gigantic nothingburger and there's no trade demand, no reaching out to other teams etc

2. Things are in motion, we just haven't heard about them yet

Which one of those you think we're experiencing probably has something to do with who your favorite team may be, but that's basically where we are at the moment.

What we did get, was an update from Chris Haynes about a quasi-players only meeting between Giannis and his teammates while all these rumors and flying around, and I have to admit if the reporting on this is true, it is very, very funny

Do not allow the outside noise to distract the team? Gee, I wonder where all this noise could be coming from?

I'm not sure you can blame "outside noise" when that noise consists of reports that YOUR OWN AGENT and team are putting feelers out there about potential trades and how we're learning there are conversations between THE PLAYER and his current team about their future together. That's not "outside noise", that's noise coming from inside the building! 

This is something everyone knew was on the table the second this stuff started up again this season. Either come out and flat-out say you aren't exploring trades, or don't. Stop saying you're "evaluating" things, and just come out and say you will not demand a trade and are not interested in ever demanding a trade. You can't flirt with the idea of leaving, and then tell all your teammates to ignore that and not let the outside noise impact things. That doesn't make any goddamn sense.

Of everything Haynes said in that clip, by far the funniest line was that Giannis "can't control" what happens to him whether or not ge gets traded. I'm sorry, what?

I mean, technically, sure. He doesn't own a no-trade clause so in theory, the Bucks don't need his permission to move him. But given that he's their entire franchise, do we think they are proactively looking to get out of the Giannis business? Do we think it's the BUCKS that are the cause of all these rumors and drama? Giannis gets to decide what happens with Giannis. If he doesn't want to be traded, the Bucks won't trade him (he has 1+1 after this season). If he decides he does want to be traded, they will trade him, most likely to the place he wants to go.

I would argue, Giannis is the only person who controls what happens in this entire situation. So to reportedly be telling his teammates that things are basically out of his hands is pretty lame. If you want to leave and quit on your team because you think they stink and have no future, then own it! This feels more like Giannis wants to have his cake and eat it too. 

In reality, it sounds like Shams' reporting was actually right this whole time, and Giannis is just trying to do some damage control when deep down he knows it's true and the trade is probably in the works as we speak. Trying to flip things to seem like he's actually the victim in all this? Yikes.