FIRST TAKE | Should Giannis Stay? Booker Extended, Beal Bound for LA?

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🔥 On First Take, Stephen A. Smith dives into three major NBA storylines heating up the offseason:

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee remains uncertain—his recent comments about New York and “probably” staying have fueled trade chatter, especially amid the Bucks' underperformance this season
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Devin Booker has officially signed a major contract extension—two seasons, $145 million—solidifying his role as the Suns’ franchise cornerstone
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Rumors swirl that Bradley Beal could head to the Lakers, following the Heat and Clippers in the chase for the sharpshooter .

Join Stephen A. as he debates whether Giannis should stay or demand a trade, what Booker’s new deal means for Phoenix, and how Beal would fit alongside LeBron and Luka.

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#FirstTake #StephenASmith #Giannis #Booker #BradleyBeal #Lakers #Suns #Bucks #NBAOffseason

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Giannis stay or trade, Booker contract extension, Beal Lakers rumors, First Take NBA debate, Phoenix Suns future, Milwaukee Bucks speculation, Lakers offseason moves, NBA free agency 2025

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00:00get into with the offseason underway in the NBA. A lot of deals have become official since we were

00:05last together last week, so why don't we recap. Thunder champion and league MVP Shea Gildress

00:11Alexander has signed his Supermax extension and now the Thunder are giving Chet Holmgren a fully

00:17guaranteed five-year rookie max extension that could reach $250 million. Meanwhile, former number

00:25one pick Paulo Banqueiro agreed to a five-year rookie max extension with the Magic that could

00:30reach $287 million after having a career year last season where he averaged nearly 26 points per game.

00:38And just last night, you might have been sleeping, but Suns superstar Devin Booker agreed to a two-year

00:44$145 million max extension goes all the way through to the 2029-2030 season. Booker's average annual

00:52value of $72.5 million is now the richest in NBA history, surpassing SGA's latest deal.

01:00Wendy, I'm starting here with you on Devin Booker, a big one for the Phoenix Star. What was your initial

01:06reaction to that deal? Well, let me just say a couple of things on this one, Courtney. I know

01:12people are going to react to that enormous number and that fact that you just said that is the largest

01:17per-season contract in NBA history. I just want to point out that this contract is for three years

01:25from now, for years four and five of the deal. And by 29 and 2030, $70 million is going to be the

01:34going rate for a max-level player in the NBA. And by actual percentage of the salary cap, he actually

01:40will be making less potentially by percentage in five years than he's making this year with the

01:46Suns. That's trying to give you some context. But the Suns decided to do this deal months ago.

01:53When they entered the off-season, they knew they wanted to make sure their franchise player was

01:57locked up, especially as they were preparing to trade Kevin Durant. Booker decided he was going to

02:02take it at that time. And I know this because he's been involved with the major decision-making in the

02:08franchise in the off-season. He was part of the interview process with Jordan Ott, who won a long

02:14multi-candidate search to get that head coaching job. When they traded Kevin Durant, they consulted

02:22with Booker before taking the deal that they did with the Rockets. Booker has been in lockstep with

02:27the franchise. Now, if you want to say to me, should Devin Booker, in his prime, be locking himself up for

02:35the next five years with a franchise that is hamstrung by some flawed trades that's made over

02:41the last couple of years, particularly Durant and Bradley Beal? That's a different concept. But I

02:46would say to you, as I would say to anybody, if somebody offers you $145 million, the answer is

02:52probably yes. And that is the big reason why Booker took it, in addition to him being a huge Kobe Bryant

02:58fan and wanting to do what Kobe did, which is to play his whole career with one team.

03:05David, what's your reaction? Yeah, let's start with the positive here. Yeah, let's start with

03:10the positive here with Devin Booker. Devin Booker absolutely deserves this kind of money. He's one

03:14of the best shooting guards in the league. He was the best player on a team that went to an NBA finals

03:18a few years ago. This makes all the sense in the world for him from a financial standpoint.

03:24$145 million, a lot of money. Now, let's talk about the problem here. The Phoenix Suns are doomed to

03:32purgatory and one of the more rudderless franchises that we have in all of the NBA. And I don't think

03:37there's a franchise I would want to be less for the next few years than this Phoenix Suns team.

03:42A few years ago, they had what was the blueprint for the type of team that gets to championships and

03:47gets deep into playoff runs. They had a player in Devin Booker. They had a young core around them.

03:52They had a team that everybody is trying to emulate right now. They blew that up to bring in

03:58older players, to bring in the Kevin Durant to the world, to bring in Beal and those type of guys.

04:03And now they have a franchise where they do not really have picks for a long time, for many years,

04:10control their own picks. And they have, you know, middling players around Devin Booker. Let's be

04:16honest, no disrespect to those players. Their hope is that one of these draft picks they have this year

04:20can turn into somebody. But Devin Booker is really looking at a situation that is pretty

04:25closely to one of his teammates, which is Bradley Beal when he was in the Washington Wizards, where

04:29you are a shining star around a franchise that really has no way to put any big talent around

04:36you or make any sort of run deep into the playoffs. And you cannot build through the draft.

04:41This is something that I would not want to be in all things considered taking away the money.

04:46But when the money's concerned, yes, you have to take it. But he has to understand that he is going

04:51to be part of a franchise that's going nowhere for most of the time he's on that contract.

04:55That's a hard pill to swallow if you think of the fact that he's 28 years old right now. I'm not even

05:00thinking about five years down the line when he's 34. And Wendy, obviously, he had three years

05:04remaining on his current contract before they did this extension. But he's the face of Phoenix

05:09sports, guys. Like, this is something that was in the works for a while and they had to do it.

05:14But I'm thinking of what David just said, Wendy, like the most directionless franchise in the West,

05:20in the NBA. How do you react to that?

05:24Well, it's possible, Courtney, that the Suns are about to make another five-year deal.

05:29They have had discussions with Bradley Beal about buying him out of his contract. And

05:34I mean, we just saw this with Dame Lillard in Milwaukee. If this happens, and it's still an if,

05:41and they wave and stretch him, which is something I think they're seriously considering,

05:46Bradley Beal would be on the books for five more years. That means that while Devin Booker is making

05:51$70 million in 2028-29 and 29-30, Bradley Beal would be making 22 or so million dollars in that

06:01same year. And the idea of having Bradley Beal having to be an anchor on your cap for that long

06:08is hard to swallow. And the reason that they're going to do it, or the reason they're seriously

06:13thinking about doing it, is because it's going to potentially save them over $150 million

06:19this year in luxury tax, this year alone. It is not a move that like Milwaukee did,

06:27where they're trying to bring in a player to help him immediately, help Giannis Atenecumpo

06:32immediately. At least that you can go to your franchise star and say, we're doing this,

06:36it's going to hurt us in the future, but we want to get you a center. If this happens,

06:41and I want to underscore if, if they buy out Bradley Beal, it would be to save luxury tax money.

06:47And by the way, $150 million, that's a reason to do it. But that's the situation that Devin

06:52Booker is re-signing with. And I think everybody's eyes are wide open.

06:55Wave and stretch. I guess that's kind of like the new bend and snap. Maybe anybody get the

07:00Legally Blonde reference there? Am I the only one? Okay. All right. So you mentioned Giannis

07:05Atenecumpo. Let's pick up there from stars with some long-term staying power to one that we are

07:10closely watching to see what his future holds in Milwaukee. When Giannis' season ended in the first

07:15round of the playoffs, Arshams Tarania reported that for the first time ever, the Greek freak was

07:20open to playing for another team. So far, cricket's on that front, but Giannis was on a stream with

07:26Ice Show of Speed this morning and was asked whether he's staying put.

07:31LA to Texas bat. New York, Texas bat. Yeah. Hell no. A lot of people have tried to convince me.

07:38Tried to convince me to go and play there and stuff. Oh, no. No. So you're staying in Milwaukee?

07:46Probably. Probably. We'll see.

07:50That's the hard-hitting journalism we want there. A direct question towards Giannis.

07:54Wendy, obviously some hemming and hawing. He probably doesn't want to lay it all out there

07:58when his mind isn't made up. But are these comments something or nothing?

08:03Real talk. That was a great question. And thank you for asking it. Also, Courtney,

08:08Giannis is having a better day than me and you. He is seaside, I think, in Greece. So let's keep that

08:15in mind. I'm going to sit here and overreact to this, but the fact that he just said,

08:21we'll see. We'll see is the basis of why a bunch of teams are considering holding their assets to try

08:29to make a trade for Giannis sometime in the foreseeable future. We'll see is enough in the

08:35NBA. The value of a superstar player is so high and the impact that one franchise-changing player can

08:43make is so great that a player simply saying, we'll see, whether it's on a stream or it's behind

08:50the scenes at a party or to another player on a court, we'll see has gotten teams to tear up future

08:58plans and to plan years in advance and to hoard cap space and picks. I've seen it happen. So while on one

09:05hand, it's not Giannis saying he wants to do anything but be in Milwaukee, it does explain

09:11why teams are keeping a very close eye on this situation. And I would say that Giannis provided

09:16no clarity on his future with those remarks. And no clarity is what's been driving the speculation

09:23around Giannis. I don't know about you guys. I'm having a great day here in New York City. I don't

09:27really have the season.

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