The trade rumors surrounding Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo have only intensified.
Despite Antetokounmpo not playing for the next handful of weeks due to a calf injury, that isn’t stopping many from predicting where he will suit up next. His time in Milwaukee appears to be winding down, and there will be a handful of suitors for ht time being MVP.
That could happen as early as December 15. The likelihood of that happening that day or around there is low, but the chance of it happening closer to the February 6 NBA Thursday deadline is a bit higher.
Nothing is set in stone, but we cannot rule out a potential trade soon. Many pundits and experts are doing their best to predict where Antetokounmpo could land, and these rival executives are pointing him toward his preferred destination, according to many, the New York Knicks.
“Another common belief circulating among league executives:
“Wherever Antetokounmpo begins the 2026-27 season, it must be with a team that he believes is capable of competing for a championship,” NBA insider Jake Fischer wrote.
“That’s why many of the same execs believe that Antetokounmpo - if a trade process actually commences for real - will have a strong say in dictating where he ends up. Irresistible as it is to dream up trades that land No. 34 with your favorite team, interested suitors are more likely than not to abandon their pursuits without an assurance that Antetokounmpo will extend his contract beyond the 2026-27 season.
“The absence of such an assurance, of course, didn’t prevent Toronto from going after Kawhi Leonard or Cleveland from acquiring Donovan Mitchell. Those recent examples came at vastly different price points, too. It was far more daunting for the Cavaliers to mortgage an absolute haul for Mitchell, compared to what the Raptors surrendered for Leonard, given his well-known interest in landing in New York. I wonder how much Antetokounmpo’s widely presumed affinity for the Knicks would dissuade some general managers from ultimately putting their best offer down.”
It doesn’t appear to be a matter of if, but when Antetokounmpo will find a new team. According to DraftKings, the Knicks have the best odds (outside of the Bucks) to land Antetokounmpo with +300 odds.
Unless Antetokounmpo says he wants to go to a certain team, trading for him will be a massive gamble. Although his contract runs through the 2027-28 season, he has a player option ahead of that season.
Antetokounmpo has played the first 13 seasons of his career in Milwaukee, leading them to a title in 2021, their first since 1971.
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