The Milwaukee Bucks are not going to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo until he forces them to. While it’s been reported that his agent and the Bucks are discussing his future, Milwaukee will try to keep him and make him happy until Antetokounmpo is willing to be the bad guy and demand a trade(and he’s not doing that, he’s saying he would run through a wall for this team).
Which brings us to the latest reports that the Bucks are telling teams they want to be buyers, not sellers, at the trade deadline. The first report came from the well-connected Eric Nehm, who covers the Bucks for The Athletic.
League sources told The Athletic the Bucks have told teams they are looking to add to their roster in hopes of fortifying their struggling team in the week leading up to Dec. 15. That messaging could certainly change as the Feb. 5 trade deadline nears.
Then there is this via Jake Fischer at The Stein Line.
“After repeatedly telling teams that Antetokounmpo is not available and that it is not interested in fielding trade offers for him, now Milwaukee is messaging that it wants to be buyers at this deadline to try to get Giannis more help. Even with no clear return-from-injury timetable yet in place for Antetokounmpo, Jon Horst’s front office continues to hold onto hope that assembling a puncher’s chance contender remains viable in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
“One rival general manager I spoke to went so far as to say that the Bucks have convinced him that ‘they’re going big-game hunting.’”
The Bucks previously have been linked to Miami’s Andrew Wiggins and the Kings’ Zach LaVine.
Milwaukee has to give up something to get something, and that’s where the problems begin. The biggest issue is draft picks: The Bucks have just one first-round pick they can trade at the deadline (at the NBA Draft, that number jumps to three, including drafting a player for another team and sending him there in a deal). As for players, the big names the Bucks can dangle are Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma, but there are also Ryan Rollins (who they really want to keep), Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green and Gary Trent Jr.
Is there any trade that can turn around a team that has gone 3-11 in its last 14 and remains without Antetokounmpo due to a calf strain? Maybe not, but the Bucks are all-in on Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP who led this team to a championship and is the greatest player in franchise history (we can argue about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar if you want, but at worst they are 1 and 1A). The Bucks are going to try to make Antetokounmpo happy, not trade him.
If there is a parting of the ways, it may be more likely this offseason if Antetokounmpo tells the Bucks he will not sign a contract extension, as he is heading into the final year of his current deal (then Milwaukee would have to trade him or risk losing him for nothing).