By Ava Wallace

Welcome to The Sports Moment, your guide to the buzziest stories in sports. This week, an NBA star could be on the move and Journalism runs for the roses.

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The disappointed Freak. (Benny Sieu-Imagn Images)

The calendar has just flipped to May, but I’m already thinking about summertime in the NBA. It’s got all the makings of a fun one, at least when it comes to superstars on the move.

Giannis Antetokounmpo might have joined Kevin Durant this week on the list of generational stars who are maybe, probably going to be traded this offseason. The Greek Freak’s Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday to notch their third straight first-round playoff exit, and the future in Milwaukee looks bleak: Damian Lillard could be sidelined for the entirety of next season with a torn Achilles' tendon, the Bucks are bereft of promising young players and draft assets alike, and what’s left of Antetokounmpo’s dependable supporting cast, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis, are set to become free agents.  

Antetokounmpo is 30. To capitalize on his prime years — and to kick-start a hopeful new era in Milwaukee — a trade looks like the best option for two parties who have tried their darndest to make it work. This isn’t the Phoenix Suns; no one’s the bad guy here (zing!)

My colleague Ben Golliver has a helpful breakdown of the teams that would be a best fit for Antetokounmpo. The Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and Oklahoma City Thunder have either the best tantalizing young players, most draft capital or some combination of the two to offer Milwaukee, and to those teams I say: I’m intrigued (Houston), blech (Brooklyn) and I have doubts it’ll work (Oklahoma City).

Next up is Miami, the ever-present option for superstars in search of a nice beach to cushion the landing after uprooting their lives. The Heat just suffered through the most lopsided playoff series in NBA history, where it lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers by 122 points in a four-game sweep. This was after Miami finished the regular season with a losing record for just the sixth time in team president Pat Riley’s 30 years with the franchise. The Heat is in search of a new franchise superstar to play alongside center Bam Adebayo, but it doesn’t have much in terms of draft picks to offer Milwaukee in return. (I’ve also got some questions about the mood down there in South Beach.)

That leaves us with — ding ding ding! The San Antonio Spurs.

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I can think of no better salve for the dual heartbreaks of Coach Gregg Popovich’s stroke in November (his future role with the team is still unclear) and losing the back half of Victor Wembanyama’s sophomore season to a blood clot than pairing him with Antetokounmpo. Two extraterrestrial big men, one patrolling the paint, the other preferring the perimeter? The thought makes my heart sing.

As for the logistics — Wembanyama is still on a rookie deal that will pay him just $13.3 million next season, enabling the Spurs to pay Antetokounmpo and a solid supporting cast. It certainly helps that the Spurs also have draft assets and tradable contracts to offer Milwaukee.

After Tuesday’s loss to the Pacers (complete with a bizarre confrontation by Tyrese Haliburton’s dad), Antetokounmpo wisely declined to say if he thought he could win another title with the Bucks. If he feels he can’t, he at least has good options. And we might have an exciting summer ahead.  

The three amigos: Commanders owner Josh Harris, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. (John McDonnell/For The Washington Post)

After years of consternation, D.C. and the ascendant Washington Commanders announced this week they reached a $3.7 billion deal to build a stadium that will bring the region’s NFL team back into the city (and maybe put D.C. in the mix for hosting a Super Bowl). The Commanders will put up $2.7 billion, with D.C. taxpayers footing a bill that’s expected to top $1 billion.

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Many, many, many Commanders fans and neutral D.C. residents alike rejoiced at the news, though it reignited a passionate — and quite necessary — debate about using public funding to build sports stadiums.

Now for the question!

The top 10 most expensive NFL stadiums, according to a list compiled by Front Office Sports, all exceed a $700 million price tag for construction. Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium tops the bunch at $6.75 billion — with all of it sweet, sweet privately funded money – but which of the bunch cost the least to build?

A: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
B: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
C: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
D: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

Find the answer at the bottom of the newsletter!

You've gotta see this

Daulton Varsho won a Gold Glove award with Toronto last season, and now I know why! Watch with sound.

While we’re at the ballpark, on Tuesday the Yankees became the first team to hit three consecutive home runs to start a game twice in the same season (the first was on March 29). Full speed ahead!

Don’t make a joke. Don’t make a joke. Don’t make a joke. (Charlie Riedel/AP)

151.

The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is Saturday. I’m excited to see all the tiny, silly hats people wear. If you’re more interested in the actual race, here are some basics to know going in:

A horse named Journalism is the morning-line favorite and got a good draw out of the No. 8 post — only the No. 5 gate has produced more winners than the nine who have won starting at No. 8. Journalism’s on a hot streak (a joke here would simply be beneath me) having won the past four races he entered, but remember, a morning-line favorite hasn’t won the Kentucky Derby since 2018.

My colleague Neil Greenberg likes Rodriguez to win, though, and has a couple other smart picks here. Rodriguez would be a splashy winner because he’s one of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s horses. Baffert is back in the Kentucky Derby for the first time since 2021 after a suspension stemming from a failed drug test by Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first at that year’s Derby but later was disqualified. Baffert could win his seventh Kentucky Derby.

The Kentucky Derby purse is $5 million for the second straight year, with the winner receiving $3.1 million.

In addition to Journalism, there’s a horse named Publisher. Sandman is an elite name, I also like Luxor Café (who’s American Pharoah’s son, remember him?) I really only have one problem with the names of the 20 horses running: don’t name a horse “Render Judgment.” It’s not fun.

All times Eastern.