At less than a championship led by the Milwaukee Bucks this season – or at least something by resembling a – Giannis Antetokounmpo was always intended to be at the center of the NBA conversation this summer.
But when his bucks came out so devastating at the end of last month – below the first round for the third consecutive season, in five games to the same team of Indiana Pacers who sent them the previous year And Emergency plans – He was sure to assume that the situation could degenerate faster than expected.
So here we are.
It is not even June, and there are very real signs that Entertetokounmpo – the double MVP which led the Bucks in their first title in 50 years in 2021 – seriously reflects on the prospect of making a way to Milwaukee.
While the sources of the League say that the 30 -year -old had not asked for a trade, ESPN reported on Monday that Entertetokounmpo was “open -minded” at the idea of playing elsewhere and prepared to consider other options outside the Bucks.
The moment was barely surprising, because the update came a few hours before the NBA drafts that could play a role in this calculation if Antetokounmpo finally asks. It was an informal statement to all (29) of the interested teams who are now the time to get all your ducks in a row regarding the potential offers from Antetokounmpo, which is signed during the summer of 2027 and has a player option worth $ 62.7 million for the 2027-28 campaign. The question is now whether it is the start of the end for the Bucks or if there is still a chance that Milwaukee convinces of Antetokounmpo that remains.
So what’s going on? The writer Bucks Eric Nehm and the initiates of the NBA David Aldridge and Sam Amick met to discuss.
Nehm: It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Bucks have heard their time with Antetokounmpo exhausting.
While Entertetokounmpo planned to sign his first Supermax extension in 2020, he made the bucks work for that. Even after the team exchanged for Jrue Holiday to point out that it was serious to set up a list talented enough to compete for the first franchise of the franchise since 1971, Antetokounmpo began the training camp without putting pen on paper and crossed several meetings on the front office.
During the summer of 2023, Antetokounmpo told Tania Ganguli of the New York Times that he would be forced to consider a future outside of Milwaukee if the Bucks could not prove that they were still pushing as much as possible for the championships. Indeed, the director general of Bucks, Jon Horst, swung an astonishing agreement for Damian Lillard less than a month later, and Antetokounmpo quickly signed another Supermax extension to keep him in Milwaukee at least the 2026-27 season.
In these two situations, Horst exploited future assets and found enough reduced capital to acquire high -end talents. It is not likely that this time, however, because the bucks have used almost all these assets in the two previous situations and can now add that additional exchanges of choice in their first round choices in 2026, 28 and 30. Contemplate other conflict plans in the future.
With a successful success difficult to imagine, where do you think it leaves dollars, DA?
Aldridge: Let me be as clear as possible on this subject. I want Giannis Antetokounmpo to end his career in Milwaukee. There are few stories as significant for the notion of the NBA which, I believe, is the best version of the NBA that a young player coming to a small team of intermediate market, discovering his greatest potential and winning in front of a base of fans who understands, better than anyone in New York or at, what is Really likes to fight, what it is Really Likes not to be considered as a marquee franchise. I believe that Giannis wants to stay in Milwaukee – but, of course, does not want to waste the rest of its peak in service to a team that is not good enough to face.
The problem that Entertetokounmpo has is that the Bucks have done almost everything he asked over the years by surrounding him with players or coaches he wanted to hunt for a first, then, a second title. The fact that most movements have not yet worked, or even get closer, is not the fault of the Greek Freak, of course. His game remains above the reproach. But they did not work. And they don’t leave Milwaukee with a lot of track to take another big swing.
No one will face the rest of the last lady’s extension – $ 54.1 million next season, followed by a player option of $ 58.4 million for 2026-27. Perhaps if Lillard was in good health, the Bucks could hire the Phoenix Suns on Bradley Beal. But Beal, I am quite confident, would not give up his clause without exchange to go to Milwaukee. And with almost no interest in the league in Kyle Kuzma, at $ 22 million next season, it is $ 130 million next season for three guys in a team that has just bounced by Indiana in the first round.
Yes, the bucks went under the second apron by moving Khris Middleton and the recruit Aj Johnson to the Washington Wizards for Kuzma, but that does not make them more capable than before to make a difference in difference. And, yes, if Brook Lopez goes to a free agency, it relieves a little more financially pressure – but then, Milwaukee should find a departure center.
And, you cannot continue to shoot coaches.
Thus, the idea of Eric’s sabbatical year “makes sense. Bucks could also operate along the margins to see if they can withdraw one of the four first round choices of the Brooklyn Nets in this year’s draft, or one of the two of Utah Jazz (the other, not the good).
As Eric wrote on Monday, the Golden State Warriors of Steph Curry took a rear seat, waiting for Klay Thompson (and Curry) to recover from injury during the 2020-21 season. But Golden State also discovered a jewel of Jordan Poole in the back (28th) of the first round in 2019. The “Two Tracks” plan by James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody did not work, but Poole contributed to this championship team in 2022.
Bucks must be intentional, in my opinion, to resume the draft this year to add someone at the end of the first round who could potentially become a contributor when Lillard returns. Maybe it means sacrificing someone like green, which would be difficult to do, I grant you. He was certainly part of the future of the team. But it will be expensive to keep after next year. And the need to obtain more profitable rotation players to surround Giannis in the future is essential.
Amick: For the sake of equity towards Giannis, repeat a key detail here: he has not yet asked. Sources of the League say that he has been in fact of facts, discussing his situation with confidents of trust while clearly indicating that he read the room here. It is not a situation of one foot at the door. Not yet, anyway.
But from my point of view, it seems that bread crumbs have been arranged in a fairly undoubted way in recent years. Whenever there was a choice to make on his future and a contractual negotiation which was linked to him, Horst was able to make the kind of decision which, in substance, made his decision for him. This is just not an option this time.
In addition, Lillard injury has further aggravated a difficult situation. As we reported earlier this month, the prospect of negotiating Lillard this summer as a way to reshape the list should still be discussed if it had been healthy. We will never know where these talks could have led, but they are out of the question now.
Eric, you make good and relevant points on the field of “the sabbatical year” in Giannis. And from what I hear, it seems that there are real changes that could be made in terms of style of play that would resonate with him. More specifically, there were lessons learned from the last pacers series that he would like to see applied (if he remains, of course). The frantic rhythm of Indiana, the devastating ball movement and the clear delimitation of the roles in the list caused major problems in the defense of the Bucks. There is a belief that it could be, in one form or another, reproduced in Milwaukee.
Conversely, the time has come for Giannis to clarify what all the interested teams could be able to bring together if they came to them, as well as what could remain if they did a job. It is well known that the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs have the goods, and the Gall, to do something that could allow the Bucks to rebuild themselves in a significant and competitive way. New York Knicks and Nets should be in the running if these draws become a real thing.
The Dallas Mavericks – In one way or another – won the choice No. 1 on Monday evening and could now entertain the prospect of putting it on the table for someone from Antetokounmpo. We previously pointed out that the managing director of Mavericks Nico Harrison, Luka Dončić trade architect, should be again in Win-Now / Defense-Wins-Championhips / Nike-Superstar mode this summer. Giannis checks all these boxes.
Antetokounmpo, who is known to be a dream target of the Warriors for a long time, made an appearance at the end of the evening at the Curry party in San Francisco during the star weekend. Warriors officials have taken an opinion (happy) – including a participating colleague, the owner of Golden State, Joe Lacob. Draymond Green and Kevon Looney were also part of the meeting.
Giannis and Steph, it is necessary to note, are both represented by the same octagon agency. However, it was an event focused on warriors with a notable and very large exception. And although Golden State is deeply invested in his time Jimmy Butler at the moment, the reality of a player like Antetokounmpo is that his grandeur could force almost all the owners and GM of the League to adjust their plan.
But I get ahead of myself. Despite the spotlights who become the path of Antetokounmpo on Monday, we are not there yet.
The following movement, or not, is on him.
(Photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)
