At this point, the NBA really needs to have Giannis stay in Milwaukee. After AD forcing his way out of New Orleans, Paul George forcing his way out of Indy, and Kawhi forcing his way out of what has been the best organization in the NBA during the last 25 years (Spurs), they are a long way towards essentially having 6-8 teams that have a chance and 20-22 others that are just farm clubs for the big 6-8. The NFL controls this by restricting the superstars from being able to move. That's unfair to the Rodgers-level players, but it keeps people invested in their teams.
I mentioned at the time how joyless the Raptors finals win seemed last year. Kawhi may do more damage to the league long-term than anyone else (including AD and LeBron). Kawhi forced his way out of a situation where he had a top 5 coach in history so that he could eventually tell teams what they'd need to do to get him (including some illegal stuff they wanted his uncle to get). He also sits out 25% of the games. If that works again with the Clippers, what's to stop a team from resting their entire teams once they qualify for the playoffs? Just play some G league guys. The Bucks could sit out Giannis, Middleton, and a few others until April and probably lose their remaining 39 games and still qualify as the 8th seed. Would that be better than playing guys in 75 games and increasing injury risk? Would you rather have everyone healthy and be an 8 seed or go all out to get the one seed at a higher injury risk?
The other issue that may underlie some of this and is even uglier for the NBA is whether Nike, etc. are signing contracts with players that incentivize them to go to bigger markets.