At this point, the question isn’t whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will be a Milwaukee Buck this time next year.
It’s whether he will be traded before this season’s deadline or if the Bucks will move him this summer in the offseason.
The Antetokounmpo trade saga has been one of the focal points of the NBA campaign this season, and it’s only worsened over the past few weeks as we get closer to the trade transfer window closing.
Although Antetokounmpo hasn’t openly asked for a trade, it’s becoming likelier by the day that he will, as the Bucks continue to slide down the standings with their multi-time MVP openly unhappy in interviews.
It has reached a point where the “Greek Freak” has openly booed his own home fans following a game in which the Bucks were being blown out. Teams that might have already made impact trades to improve their teams are reportedly holding onto assets just so that when Antetokounmpo officially becomes available, they have a whole arsenal of capital to offer the Bucks for their crown jewel.
On Friday, things got even worse for Bucks fans, as leading NBA insider Shams Charania joined “The Pat McAfee Show” to deliver an important update on what’s going on in Wisconsin.
“[Giannis] is exploring his best fits outside of Milwaukee,” Charania said, citing that this all began last year in the spring. “… Those conversations have only grown with every passing week and month since May. Recently, the Bucks and Giannis’ conversations have intensified in nature.”
Following one of the team’s most recent losses, Antetokounmpo called himself and his teammates out, saying that people were playing “selfish” and that the group was disappointing overall.
If he does demand a trade before the February 5th deadline, look for over a dozen teams to make calls to see what they could send to the Bucks for a chance at one of the best players in the sport.
Look for the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers as teams expected to be linked in the coming days to a possible transaction.
After last year’s Luka Doncic move to the Lakers, anything seems possible in the NBA.
And with Antetokounmpo, it doesn’t just seem probable — right now, it looks likely.
Newsweek