Giannis Antetokounmpo’s refusal to definitively say that he won’t seek a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks is giving opposing teams hope they can eventually lure the two-time NBA MVP away.
Appearing on Thursday’s episode of Get Up, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explained at least five or six teams are “banking on” Antetokounmpo’s recent comments saying “we’ll see” about his future as being an opening for them to strike:
“The thing about it is, is he didn’t give a definitive answer. And I’m certainly not going to analyze something he said seaside in Greece but what I will say is the ‘we’ll see,’ that is essentially what there’s about five or six NBA teams banking on, the ‘we’ll see.’ And I know it sounds trivial but for years Giannis was completely locked in. Him saying ‘we’ll see’ backs up what Shams has been saying this entire summer, which is that he might be more open-minded than he was in the past. And I would say the same thing, ‘Probably Milwaukee, but we’ll see.’ And now I can quote Giannis on that, thank you very much.”
Antetokounmpo made the comments on a YouTube livestream with iShowSpeed when asked if he was staying with the Bucks.
“Probably. Probably, we’ll see. Probably, I love Milwaukee,” Antetokounmpo said.
It’s been fairly quiet on the Antetokounmpo trade front since a May 12 report from ESPN’s Shams Charania that the nine-time All-Star was “open-minded” about exploring whether Milwaukee remains his best long-term fit.
If Antetokounmpo was waiting to see what the Bucks were going to do in free agency, they certainly took one of the biggest swings of any team in the league. They used the stretch-and-waive provision to move on from Damian Lillard and agreed to a four-year, $107 million deal with Myles Turner to replace Brook Lopez.
Lillard will count $22.5 million against the cap over the next five seasons for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo was reportedly unhappy with the decision to dump Lillard, though it’s unclear if he knew they were doing it in order to add Turner.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne did note Antetokounmpo is looking forward to teaming up with Turner after they spent years as adversaries when Turner was a member of the Indiana Pacers.
In addition to bringing in Turner, the Bucks have kept most of their key free agents. Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince and Gary Trent Jr. are all returning to the team.
The depth chart is still a work-in progress with Porter penciled in as the starting point guard. He is coming off a good closing stretch last season, averaging 11.7 points on 40.8 percent three-point shooting and 3.7 assists per game in 30 appearances after being acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers.
If the addition of Turner and upside of Porter make Antetokounmpo feel optimistic, he could give the Bucks some benefit of the doubt right now. If things fall apart during the season, it could prompt him to request a trade.
Antetokounmpo has shown tremendous faith and loyalty to the Bucks thus far, so there’s no reason to think that won’t continue for the time being. It also won’t prevent other clubs from at least keeping a close eye on his situation if it changes at any point because he’s a potential franchise-changing acquisition if he leaves Milwaukee.
