Asked during an interview on the Greek channel COSMOTE TV about the perception that he wants to win a title without teaming up with any other superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo clarified that he’d be happy to be part of a roster stacked with star players — if those star players want to come to the Bucks.
“If LeBron (James) and Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis came to Milwaukee, I would have been good with that,” Antetokounmpo said, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net. “I am not (concerned about whether) I am the top, second or third name, OK? Because I want to win.
“… For sure when I was 18 or 19 years old, maybe I didn’t understand what you need to do to win. But right now, I am 25 and I want to win because when I retire, that’s what people will remember. And if I got LeBron, KD, Davis, if all those came, I wouldn’t mind at all. I don’t care if I am the top (player) on the team.”
While Giannis’ comments may fuel speculation about the possibility of him joining the Lakers or another club, it’s worth reiterating that he spoke only about star players coming to Milwaukee to join him. Bucks fans should take some solace in that as Antetokounmpo continues to weigh whether or not to sign a five-year, super-max extension with the franchise.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- In an episode of The Athletic NBA Show, Sam Amick of The Athletic suggested that the Bucks‘ trade for Jrue Holiday had an impact on the team’s pursuit of Bogdan Bogdanovic, since it reduced the swingman’s projected role and may have affected how much the team could comfortably offer Bogdanovic in free agency. Dan Feldman of NBC Sports has the details.
- Speaking on Wednesday to reporters, including Brendan Rourke of Pacers.com, newly re-signed Pacers guard Justin Holiday explained why he “hates” free agency. “I feel like I’m one of the guys, for whatever reason, I’m not ever really respected as far as how much you get paid,” Holiday said. However, he added that he likes the Pacers organization and the city of Indianapolis and he’s happy to have signed a multiyear deal to remain in Indiana for the foreseeable future.
- Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis believes that the left foot injury that sidelined him during the NBA’s restart is behind him, as J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star details.
- In his first media session of the season this week, Cavaliers center Andre Drummond said his plan “was always to come back to Cleveland,” writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. There was never any real doubt that Drummond would turn down his $28.75MM option for 2020/21, but he said he’s also looking forward to providing guidance to a young roster. “Being here in Cleveland, the opportunities are endless here and I can do great things,” Drummond said.
Giannis to the Hawks.
Drummond “The opportunities are endless here in Cleveland” Oh yeah, for sure. Definitely. Riiight.
As far as Giannis goes, he is still young, he can cash out with the Supermax, stay with the Bucks and go ring chase when he is 30 if need be. For now, he seems like loyalty trumps a ship.
Drummond is one of the biggest underachievers. Dude would rather become a tall a** lil uzi vert than work on his game, sad!
Drummond lying through his teeth making it sound like CLE was his first choice lol
Giannis to DAL still makes the most sense to me if they can make the numbers work
Ultimately I think MIL messed up by locking into a Giannis-Middleton core rather than stepping back for a year and trying to pursue a second true star (no disrespect to Middleton)
Either way if he’s most concerned with winning it would be hard to argue MIL is the best place to accomplish that over the next 3-5 yrs, even w/ Jrue
I would have traded Middlechild for Lavine & Satoransky or Middlechild for Levert & Dinwiddie… I’m not sold on Middlechild period!
Just say you’re a casual and save yourself time
Who’s a casual? Man up and be specific who your talking to chump. Casual because you say so? Your not a big of a deal as you think.
Starboy, why do you think trading Middleton, who was worthy of All-NBA honors last season, for either pair of lesser players you suggested would make the Bucks a better team moving forward?
I think fans do t give Khris enough credit for the player he’s developed into over the past three plus years. The guy literally put the Bucks on his shoulders when Giannis went down in the Heat series. I for one believe Middleton isn’t that far off from being a similar player to Beal. The only difference is Beal is more athletic.
If Knicks don’t sign Giannis Davis and Kawhi
Knicks can overpay to sign Jrue Holiday and Oladipo
Then miss 5 more playoffs
Knicks are gonna overpay for Blake Griffin!
Guys like Drummond, Oladipo just talk to hear themselves. Nobody wants to “Make their goal to remain in Cleveland”! And nobody in Indy “Wants to stay there realistically since Reggie Miller!. This is why I respect Jimmy Butler. The chumps may dislike him cause he speaks his mind doesn’t take junk from anyone. But the real reason people don’t like Jimmy Buckets is cause he doesn’t backdown, and the haters take crap from people and never man up…
Starboy’s logic is crap. Butler was given the short stick by the Minnesota FO. But Drummond so far in a short time has gotten what he wants in Cleveland. The difference is huge. Athletes want respected, which starboy might claim to understand, but the jump to connect the situations shows he does not.
Maybe you don’t like Cleveland, but getting traded there is no disrespect from Cleveland. Maybe from the Detroit FO if you want to be nasty about it.
Detroit wasn’t trying to disrespect him by sending him to Cleveland. Nobody else was going to return better than expiring salary and a 2nd round pick for the privilege of paying Drummond all that dough into 2021. Why Cleveland agreed to do it I don’t understand yet, but it’s not like Detroit had better options and wanted to show Andre what they thought of him by sending him to Cleveland.
Probably true. There were no reports of any other interest…. which is mostly a comment on Drummond’s contract.
Yes, and Cleveland only comes out ahead if they can trade him at this year’s deadline for some tangible asset for their rebuild that was worth their money and bother.
I expect to see Bucks in East Finals. They also could do something at TD.
@bdpecore I agree with you but Middleton is not meant to be the 2nd guy maybe he is but not on the bucks so that is why if they move him they need to get back a really good player and a 2nd rdr. Don’t get me wrong I am a fan of the bucks and love the Holiday Trade but am mad about the Bogdanovic trade fall through.
Actually Khris is the perfect compliment to Giannis since his strengths are the opposite of Giannis’. I think the addition of Holiday adds the element they were missing which was a PG who can create for himself and others off the dribble and isn’t afraid to let it fly at the end of games.
Now that details of why the sign and trade fell through, I’m not sure the Bucks could’ve done anything differently to convince Bogdanovic to take less money AND be the 4th option on offense. The Holiday deal is what made him second guess his decision to go to Milwaukee. Now if I was forced to choose between the two I’ll take Holiday in a heartbeat.
Bledsoe wasn’t the worst PG but the thing that was bad is he wasn’t a two-way player he was a defensive PG and Middleton is not meant to be the 2nd star on the bucks he is meant for the #3 person on our team.
Also, Middleton isn’t the best at creating shots and Holiday would be a better two.
I wonder what the story is with Bogdan. Was he insulted by sharing the backcourt?— he never seemed to be bothered by Sacto’s committment to D.Fox, and agreed to a certain #2 status with Trae Young. Did he feel blindsided, left out?— it was a different team, they aren’t going to tell him their plans. Is it the $2mil dif over 4 years?— the decision does not put Bogdan in a good light. He chose to be trade fodder over starting for a contender. He may not even play as much with a noncontender.
And starboy it’s not always about how good the team is it’s about how the front office treats you and what role you wanna have maybe Drummond stayed there cause he won’t be the 5th or 6th guy he will be the 3rd guy and can easily improve his stats because he’s the 3rd best player on the team if he went elsewhere it wouldn’t make that much sense.
I mean Detroit/Cleveland??? Meh. What I do know is Ohio’s favorite son left the cavs twice within a 7 year span. Sure he won them a title, but he didn’t stay. Pistons haven’t done right by their fans since 2007, cavs are still rebuilding…look at the plan Miami had after Wade retired, some of these folks in management are grade A horrible at making decisions. Look at what Pelinka has done in a 3 year span???
It’s perfectly normal for Ohio young men to travel for a while then return. The second time, the boss was against him, weirdly enough. Gilbert was so invested in winning a title without Lebron that he couldn’t wait for him to leave. Sad. He also made the team wear Pistons blue. A more sincere effort may have seen another title in ’18. But future picks were retained & JR was still the bottleneck.
Except that, and tanking, nobody is trying to lose. Don’t get your point, look at this, look at that, why?— for what?
Middleton is our #3 now Holiday is more consistent scorer. Middleton will have a huge year cause he won’t have to force shots
Yes, I do believe Middleton is our 3 but sometimes he may be our 2 or our 3 depending on how good Middleton and/or Holiday do.
The only people that are a threat in the East I will name like a list
Serious Threat: Nets, Heat
Little threat: Hornets, 76ers, Hawks, Wizards
Watch alert but nothing serious: Raptors, Celtics, Pacers, Magic
Don’t even pay attention too: Pistons, Bulls, Cavs, Knicks
I am a bucks fan and this is my list, if anybody has anything different please write one also.