The Milwaukee Bucks have indicated to teams that they are keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo through the trade deadline and will start making other trades, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
This comes as all eyes are focused on Antetokounmpo ahead of Thursday’s 2 p.m. CT trade deadline, with ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting last week that the Bucks forward had been ready for a new home for months.
The Milwaukee Bucks have indicated to teams that they are keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo through the trade deadline and will start making other trades, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026
According to Charania, the team has been focused on incoming calls for the two-time MVP and canvassing the NBA for small-salary trades, with Milwaukee remaining in talks to complete “potentially more of the latter here on deadline day.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst also joined the conversation Thursday morning, saying in part that if Antetokounmpo is not traded, he suspects “the Bucks are going to deactivate Giannis and have him not play the rest of the season,” and that the team’s “future now is highly dependent on their draft pick and Giannis avoiding injury. And they got to protect those legs.”
Brian Windhorst on Giannis Antetokounmpo:
“If he’s not [traded], What I suspect is going to happen, is the Bucks are going to deactivate Giannis and have him not play the rest of the season. Their future now is highly dependent on their draft pick and Giannis avoiding injury.… pic.twitter.com/S51TqMemT8
— Heat Diehards (@HeatDiehards) February 5, 2026
Meanwhile, according to Charania, sources told ESPN that the Bucks have agreed to trade Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey to the Phoenix Suns for Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis.
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