In the wake of a Shams Charania report stating that star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has reopened conversations with the Bucks about his future, head coach Doc Rivers – who dismissed Antetokounmpo-related trade speculation in October – reacted with exasperation when asked about the latest rumors.
“So, here we go again. There’s been no conversations,” Rivers told reporters, including Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter links). “I want to make it clear for the – I want to say one more time – for the 50th time, and clearly it’s not getting to one network, for sure, Giannis has never asked to be traded. Ever. I can’t make that more clear. … I talk to the source every single day, every single day. And he loves Milwaukee and he loves the Bucks.”
Rivers’ veiled shot at ESPN was likely a reference not only to Charania’s reporting but also to a comment made by another one of the network’s NBA reporters, Brian Windhorst, during an ESPN Cleveland radio appearance (Twitter video link).
Windhorst went viral on Wednesday after saying that Antetokounmpo “asked to be traded already” prior to the season, a reference to the Bucks’ trade talks with the Knicks reportedly instigated by Giannis. During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Thursday morning, Windhorst walked back that remark to some extent.
“Doc can say with a straight face that there was no trade demand, and I think that’s true. He didn’t demand it,” Windhorst said of Antetokounmpo (YouTube link). “However, those (offseason) discussions (with the Knicks) were not the Bucks’ idea, I assure you.”
Team sources who spoke to Nehm and Sam Amick of The Athletic downplayed the “severity” of the situation with Giannis and confirmed that he hasn’t formally requested a trade at this point.
However, with Milwaukee off to a slow start this season and Antetokounmpo raising eyebrows by scrubbing his social media accounts of virtually all their content, leaving little reference to the Bucks, speculation will continue to run rampant as potential suitors keep a close eye on the situation.
“I talked to teams yesterday that immediately scheduled meetings to talk about whether they would make an offer (if Antetokounmpo requests a trade),” Windhorst said on Get Up. “The Knicks would potentially be on Giannis’ list, but the feel would be that Giannis might expand (that list). … Because he’s only got one guaranteed year left (after this season), he would probably have a role in directing where the Bucks might send him.”
Windhorst added that all involved parties – including Giannis and the Bucks – would probably like to have clarity on which way the situation is headed within the next couple weeks or so, and pointed to December 15 as a date to watch, since many offseason signees become trade-eligible at that point.
Here’s more on Giannis and the Bucks:
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post has long reported that the Nets have interest in Antetokounmpo, but he suggests the timing might not be right for Brooklyn if the two-time MVP requests a trade in the coming weeks or months. As Lewis explains, the Nets are now in full-on tank mode and don’t yet have an obvious young franchise player to pair with Giannis.
- The Heat would and should be interested in Antetokounmpo if he were to ask for a change of scenery, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. However, Winderman suggests that including Bam Adebayo in an offer would be a “non-starter” for Miami and it’s unclear if the rest of the team’s assets would be enough to entice Milwaukee — especially if the Heat aren’t offered any compensation from the NBA for the first-round pick they traded for Terry Rozier without knowing he was being looked at for unusual betting activity.
- ESPN’s NBA experts take a look at five hypothetical trades that might work for the Bucks and Antetokounmpo, exploring scenarios that send the star forward to the Hawks, Rockets, Knicks, Spurs, and Warriors.
- Despite the uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo’s future and the fact that he left Wednesday’s game after just three minutes due to a calf injury, the Bucks picked up their best win of the season, beating Detroit by a score of 113-109. Big man Bobby Portis said the Bucks had a team meeting before the game that helped everyone “get settled in,” as Jack Maloney of CBS Sports relays (via Twitter).
- In case you missed it, Antetokounmpo’s calf strain is expected to keep him on the shelf for about two-to-four weeks.
From ESPN – and me, who has been saying this for months:
“Warriors get:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Bucks get:
Draymond Green
Jonathan Kuminga
Buddy Hield
2026 first-round pick
2028 first-round pick
2030 first-round pick (if 1 through 20)
2032 first-round pick
“The Warriors trade, meanwhile, is probably the best value when it comes to first-round picks. Even with Antetokounmpo, the roster will continue to age, leaving the first-rounders in 2028 and 2030 as possible lottery picks in a potential post-Curry era.
Despite the Knicks’ inclusion of Towns, their offer should be a nonstarter due to the lack of first-rounders — aside from the Wizards’ top-eight protected pick in 2026 — headed to Milwaukee.”
Don’t ever say I don’t know ball. I have written pretty much all this verbatim on here. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha….
If Houston offers Segun as the same article claims Bucks would be crazy not to take that offer.
The Bucks owner would rather strip the team for parts and totally rebuild. Watch.
KD and Giannis would be insane though lol except KD sucks as a person and Steph is the greatest teammate of all-time, so G will likely tell them to trade him to GSW…which was always the plan…
That is a high price for a year and a half of Giannis. He will leave as soon as he can from GSW because they will not be good in 2 years.
GSW will extend him and make him the face of the franchise. Lacob will build the team he wants, not what Kerr wants.
If he doesn’t like losing with Bucks he is not going to resign with a bad GSW team. Unless he agrees to an extension before the trade it’s a horrible trade.
As the article states, the Warriors picks would be lottery picks. Why would Giannis want to be on a losing team?
Warriors look horrible without Butler or Curry. Giannis doesn’t want to play for the warriors as much as some disillusioned fans think.
The Bucks don’t control their own first rounder for the next five years. Tough to tank when that’s the case.
That’s why you get as many picks as possible in trades.
Lmao Davey knows ball because he said the same stupid sh*t that ESPN said. Congrats buddy.
The “D” in Davey is for DELUSION.
You can search the web lol. And you will find an article that agrees with you. No matter how delusional.
The article he is quoting has 0 research on who is offering any assets but some fans just dream
Not to be mean but all you and the ESPN guys did was match salaries, put in the obvious choice of Kuminga bc GS wants him gone and then add 4 1st separated by a year bc that is the rule.
its not rocket science.
True it’s just a click bait article. The spurs offer was just a money match. They could send over a lot better offer than was in the article.
You don’t know ball
You can’t say that without explaining “Bobby J”.
Fake account much?
Don’t take credit for Kuminga-Green, Davey J. If memory serves correct, you were targeting Jimmy as the odd man out. iiiiii’ve been constant for months in saying Kuminga-Green should be the two headliners going to Milwaukee, along with either Moody (summer inclusion) or Hield (fall inclusion) as the 3rd main rotation piece before draft picks – which absolutely will NOT have to be 4 or more when you’re cutting into your roster as much as the Dubs conceivably (AND realistically) would be doing for such a deal. In case any of you forgot or didn’t notice, Dunleavy didn’t build this roster 16+ deep to win a title or hope the league would change from 5-on-5 to 10-on-10. C’mon!
First, I am not taking all credit for others posts, I am only talking about my own. No idea why you created this funnel here. I posted both those ways, almost all my posts say something like “GSW has the firepower via any number of routes to make this happen”. Jimmy is one way to match salary, but Dray+Kuminga are too, I have said both. You too have said Dray+Kuminga, no one is denying that. I never said “I am the only one saying Giannis can be traded to GSW” others like you, have too…I just get the most hell for it from acr89 and GaryRedSox and other weirdos who don’t want to see Giannis and Steph together.
You’re right about those two. They’ve probably been the biggest naysayers of the Giannis-Steph prospect (impending reality?) As bad as it may look on his part, let’s hope the calf injury was planned, Dubs fans.
Bucks: NO THANKS!!! LOL
You wish lil bro!!! LOL
Even if Gianni’s asked for a trade, he seems like the type of guy who would keep it between him and the team instead of dragging the media in.
As for where he lands if he does in fact request a trade, he may want to land with the Knicks, but that’s a “wish in one hand, poop in the other and see which one fills up first” scenario. I can’t see the Bucks wanting KAT, and what else can the Knicks offer? The Washington 1st likely won’t convey, so it’s 2nds, pick swaps and a couple of unproven young g players along with a 3rd team being dragged in to salary match by taking KAT.
Yeah, I don’t think it would be blasted but you never know.
I think the Hawk’s trade is the best to win soon (at least in the East) but those draft picks from the Warriors post-Curry might be super appetizing.
The Knicks package is probably the worst imho as well unless they secretly also send over a few Brinks trucks full of cash LOL.
He’s now a high risk Achilles tear too ala Haliburton last season. That injury adds a ton of risk.
You might be onto something here, KD and Klay had that same route too…
My thought exactly. Warriors should balk at this point. An Achilles blowout would cost 2 seasons, which would run through Butler’s deal and likely the remainder of Curry’s late career prime
Not if the Bucks are extremely cautious with it, and they have no reason not to be. Haliburton’s tear was in the Finals. KD’s from years ago was also in the Finals. Calf injuries are not the type of injury you want to try and play through or rush back from.
That being said, given Giannis’s playstyle and the increasing frequency of lower body injuries I would have some pause about giving up the type of haul it would take to get him, especially since a Giannis with diminished athleticism is nowhere near an MVP level player.
G quit on his team—he feels emotionally exhausted and tapped out.. “generational talent” faked an injury and flat-out quit. Get the man a glass of milk and Oreo cookies.
“Quit on his team”
-literally leads the league in field goals lmao
-has 1.6 VORP in 17 games, or 7.7 in 82, more than he had in his MVP years
-has a ring, proven WINNER alongside being an elite talent
-Golden State will take him next to Steph
Not refuting his contributions—last night he quit, layed down and quit
He never has done that.
Hawks have KP for salary and the Pelican’s unprotected. I think he stays A Buck.
Nets have enough chips to pursue GA and Markanen together if they want. That’s a good basis, there will be a lot of role players in free agency.
Just talking heads desperate for clicks.
We will see if it actually happens, and if he would head west to the much tougher conference (because there’s no way the Bucks would be able to trade him somewhere he doesn’t want to go).
If I am a team in the west I would only trade for him if I am a top 4 team. Why go all in if you can’t beat OKC. In the east you can be a CF finals team.
Isn’t there a NBA rule where if a team has 2 max players currently on their roster, they are uneligible to trade for a 3rd max player?? This is why Kyrie never became a Laker during the Bron/AD days in 2021-2023. CBA rule prevents teams from trading for max, when they have max salaries. This is also why AD was traded for Luka, instead of AD remaining with Bron and adding Luka (also Nico’s stupidity). For any Warriors deal to work, Butler would have to be involved in it because of that rule.
No rule on that Raz
As long as they tuck under apron 2 and take back less money in trade they are fine
Mil ability to take on more money helps all parties here
Kuminga Dray Buddy for G and Cole Anthony works on Jan 15
Got it. Thanks for clarifying.
Another interesting piece is that Milwaukee called the Bulls to inquire any interest on Giannis, Bulls said no….
L M F A O im so angry im laughing….
Might have just been gauging packages around the league
Truth of the matter in this all is that it’s not an open market fir Gianni’s it will be his say in where he goes or doesn’t go
Mil is probably just trying to drum up heat on who that actually will be . You’d hope if your Mil that list extends beyond Nyk as they are not getting 3 quarters on the dollar there
I still say Atl would intrigue me if I’m G
ATL does make sense depending on who goes back to Mil. Players often seem to be bad GM’s and end up picking a place they don’t actually fit. So who knows.
There was a rule along those lines (it was more specific and didn’t apply to all max contracts) but it was eliminated in the 2023 CBA.
Thanks Luke!
Hawks would be an interesting choice. It depends if ATL wants to accelerated that time line and offer up Risacher and that coveted Pelicans pick? Really interesting team there.
It’s going to be Vassell, Castle and Keldon Johnson plus picks for Giannis.
OR
Sengun, Thompson and Sheppard plus less picks.
I don’t know how you can honestly consider other packages. These teams can out offer everyone and this doesn’t seem like a Luka situation.
No one wants Draymond, lol. I’m not even sure the Rockets would do that trade. Spurs definitely would.
No way i would do that trade if i am Houston. Hard no on trading Thompson. Not sure I would consider sengun either. He is 23 and only getting better. Giannis is only going to start declining.
I mean I get your reservations it’s a lot of young cheap talent. I really don’t understand the hang up about Thompson though. He can’t shoot.
Sengun is the headliner and almost impossible to replace on offense. But Giannis would definitely inch you closer to a championship, and may even make the refs think twice about blowing the whistle if he switches onto or guards Shai. Thompson is still just an elite athlete. I’d take the MVP champion chasing another ring over that.
Rockets need a PG, not a PF, and Sengun (7.1 apg with 3.3 TO/gm) is initiating their offense a la Jokic and Thompson is 2nd at 5.3 apg with 2.5 TO/gm. They have plenty of scoring (4th in ppg, 2nd in Off Rtg) and rebounding (#1 in the league) now.
That trade would definitely make them worse.
Totally agree. Once again, G to the Warriors is the best and most logical conclusion to this. Helps both teams, puts Giannis and Steph together. If GSW finally get bold and fire Kerr, that opens up ring chasers who will take less money to play on another Hamptons 5, more veterans will come here if Kerr is gone, this is fact. Word on Kerr forever has been he has been hard to work with behind the scenes, and just makes bad choices pretty much consistently.
Fumbling Curry’s prime looks worse and worse every year by GSW and not firing Kerr after he told Poole to say that to Draymond just really is making his legacy look worse and worse.
“Shams” was, is and will always be an absolute media w))))e. He has been wrong about almost everything he has reported on. He IS a laughingstock.
We get it, ESPN wants Giannis out of Milwaukee and hates that he resigned with them twice already. YAWN.
Giannis is signed thru 2027-28 with a no trade clause. Yet we all know Bucks will get Giannis approval as to where he goes. I feel confident saying Giannis will resign. With team he approves a trade to.
Bucks should have moved him at draft. Like Suns did with KD. They would be way on their way to rebuilding. The Bucks owe it to their fans. To get the best value possible. Young vet starters and draft picks. Is the way you build a team. Even if it takes a 3/4 team trade. You don’t mess this trade up. Like the Alcindor trade …….
The Thunder ….. The Spurs ….. both have the assets and picks. To pull this trade off. And Not hurt their team. And still have picks in the future. Now you may say, Why the Thunder. Well not even SGA is the player Giannis is ….. that’s WHY !!!!
Well, whoever trades for Giannis is getting a mature, introspective young man, who definitely did not make his own bed and now refuses to lie in it.
I want him with the bulls, but i knew, akme wont make it come true…
Giannis approached the Bulls but apparently the Bulls didn’t want him. Man, I hate this organization so much.