AS the NBA trade deadline loomed last year, a star player reacted to the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks by saying the following:
“It’s a business. You have to understand this. Nobody’s safe. Nobody’s safe.”
The player who said those words: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This season’s deadline is fast approaching, now less than a week away, and it’s Antetokounmpo who is the epicenter of the NBA trade universe this time. Speculation about his future — will the Bucks trade him or not? — will continue until he either gets moved or until the deadline hits Thursday afternoon. And if he doesn’t get moved now, the rumors will almost certainly resume in June around the draft and the start of free agency.
Going into Friday, there was just one trade of note this season: Atlanta moving Trae Young to Washington earlier this month. There has been an average of 13 deals around the trade deadline every year for the last decade, so it certainly seems like teams are waiting to see how the Antetokounmpo domino falls — if it happens at all — before figuring out what they want to do.
Everything starts with Antetokounmpo, and it doesn’t take much to set the rumor mill into overdrive. A photo — probably a decade or so old — was posted on Facebook this week, purportedly on Antetokounmpo’s mother’s page. It’s of three people, including the Bucks star, standing on the side of the court that the Miami Heat call home.
Maybe it meant nothing. Maybe it meant everything. It did get a whole lot of people talking. Such is NBA life at trade deadline time, and nobody is sure how to deal with the craze this time of year. AP
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts — If it seems like Christian Gonzalez is lingering on the field during pregame warmups on Super Bowl Sunday (Monday in Manila), that’s because he probably will be.
After a series of setbacks over his first three NFL seasons, the 23-year-old is well aware of how fast things can change in this league. So, getting to play on its biggest stage for the first time isn’t something he is taking lightly.
“Treat it like another game, but you know it’s not another game,” the Patriots cornerback said. “It’s the last one, so you just go out there and you just give it all you’ve got. Even while you’re playing, you still get to enjoy it. You get to run out there and see the field that says, ‘Super Bowl.’ Little things like that.”
Enjoyment has come in starts and stops for Gonzalez following a rookie season in 2023 in which he played in just four games before going on injured reserve with a torn labrum in his shoulder and then having season-ending surgery.
He returned in full force in 2024, appearing in 16 games while establishing himself as the team’s top cover cornerback, allowing receivers only 6 yards per target, and yielding completions 55.7% of the time the ball was thrown in his direction.
It seemed as if there was nowhere to go but up.
But all his progress looked to be in jeopardy after a hamstring injury in the first week of training camp eventually sidelined him for the first three games.
It’s proven just to be a hiccup for Gonzalez, who returned to play in the final 14 regular-season games. He was again trusted to cover opponents’ best receivers this season, finishing tied for second on the team with 10 pass breakups while being selected for his first Pro Bowl.
He’s done his best work in the fourth quarter during the playoffs, allowing just two receptions, 12 receiving yards and no touchdowns with an interception the eight times he’s been targeted. It sets up what could be a pivotal matchup in the Super Bowl with Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith Njigba.