Windhorst: Six storylines already shaping the NBA ...

With the New York Knicks claiming their first championship in 53 years, the party continues in the city and the NBA offseason has officially arrived. Unofficially, business has been open for months, and with the NBA draft just days away, talks are intensifying across the league. Here are the biggest storylines already shaping the summer transaction window: Jump to a section: Latest intel on a Giannis trade Lakers "phantom" cap room No. 1 pick buzz for the Wizards OKC second-apron concerns? Expansion updates Aspiration and Kawhi What in the world is taking so long? The Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat have been in talks for months. Giannis Antetokounmpo has for some time been open to signing a contract extension in Miami, which has furthered the Heat's desire to find a pathway to a trade. Here's the issue: The Bucks seem to not be in love with the Heat's offer(s) and continue to discuss trade packages with other teams, team sources say. That said, Miami has been able to improve what it can offer since the trade deadline and can send a package headlined by the No. 13 pick in next week's draft plus various rotation players, namely Wisconsin native Tyler Herro, and prospects. In the end, the Bucks might have to take it if they are resigned to trading their franchise icon. But they also know there's no bonus for speed; they're well aware this move could define the next decade in Milwaukee. The Boston Celtics are also on Antetokounmpo's list. He'd be willing to extend his contract if he were traded there too, league sources say. The Celtics typically don't get involved in situations in which they have to be involved with player agents alongside the teams. Antetokounmpo and his representation have definitely tried to have a seat at the table during this process -- a fact that makes the Celtics uncomfortable. The Celtics keep things quiet. Their big moves, from the then-stunning hiring of Brad Stevens 13 years ago to the Jrue Holiday trade last summer, typically don't leak. They did have some player/team involvement when they made the deal to get Kristaps Porzingis in 2023, so it's not impossible, but that was an outlier. There are two other stumbling blocks for a Celtics deal: 1. It would potentially require the team to break up the successful duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Regardless of how quiet a team keeps its talks, there's always fallout with the players involved in them. 2. It would require the Celtics to completely overhaul how they play. One other issue to keep in mind. The Bucks, if they ultimately make an Antetokounmpo move, might need to involve a third or fourth team to either flip players or asset(s) they acquire or to offload another of their player(s) who could be in the deal. All of this is painstaking and prone to falling apart. That's unsatisfying for those anxious for action, and likely to Antetokounmpo himself, but it's reality. The Los Angeles Lakers have the possibility of having $50ish million in salary cap space. Exciting, right? But the "possibility" part is important. To get that amount of space, they'll likely have to lose 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists a night. Those are the combined per-game averages for LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, who would have to be off the roster in order to create the room. This cap figure doesn't even include unrestricted free agent Austin Reaves. The Lakers are going to have to fend off other suitors for Reaves, but this $50 million cap projection already prices in his $21 million cap hold, which will sit on their books even though he can and will sign for significantly more. Keeping Reaves is a high priority for the Lakers, but his re-signing doesn't hit the mandate of improving the squad. Which means to materially improve, the Lakers will have to replace the James/Hachimura production AND then add to it with that same block of cap space. That is a real challenge for the Lakers' front office, especially because they have no player in their rotation from their past four drafts who is ready for a larger role. This is why rival teams look at the Lakers as having "phantom" cap space. There's an argument to make that their best course of action might be to just re-sign their players, hopefully to deals that are short and manageable, and hope for better health for Luka Doncic down the stretch of the season. The Lakers do badly need a high-level starting center. The two best ones on the free agent market this summer, Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons) and Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz), are restricted free agents, and their teams have indicated they want to keep them. Yes, the Lakers could work out a sign-and-trade or look to acquire a different starting center via trade -- for example, there's a world in which the Oklahoma City Thunder might have to consider moving Isaiah Hartenstein, which is discussed below -- but this would cost them cap space AND assets to pay. The Lakers could try to work with Kessler -- a defensive speciali

Windhorst: Six storylines already shaping the NBA ...

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