In the aftermath of the lottery, the Bucks are prepared to listen to trade offers for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.
However, the Bucks are in no rush to make a deal. There is expected to be a robust market for Antetokounmpo, according to Charania, and ownership and front office officials will carefully sift through offers with a high asking price. Milwaukee is seeking a young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks.
According to previous reports, the Celtics, Magic, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Heat, Rockets and Raptors are among the potential suitors for Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks listened to offers for Antetokounmpo prior to February’s trade deadline but opted to put off those discussions until the offseason. They will now engage in those conversations once again. The playoff results could also factor into the number of teams that will make an offer. That group includes the Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Knicks and Lakers. who all pursued Antetokounmpo at the February deadline.
After one Bucks co-owner – Wes Edens – told ESPN in March that the team figures to either trade or extend their franchise player in the coming year, another one of the team’s co-owners – Jimmy Haslam – said on Wednesday that he’d like to see the team reach a resolution on Antetokounmpo by next month’s draft.
“Sometime over the next six or seven weeks we’ll decide whether Giannis is going to sign a max contract and stay with us or he’s going to play somewhere else,” Haslam told reporters during a news conference introducing Taylor Jenkins as the Bucks’ new coach.
Haslam has said publicly and privately that the Bucks will work with Antetokounmpo in the coming weeks on an outcome that is best for both sides. Nothing has changed in Antetokounmpo’s stance that the time has come for both sides to move on, according to Charania’s sources.
Things became even more contentious after the trade deadline, as a fractured relationship between the two sides led to a league investigation into his own organization for shutting him down late in the season with a knee injury.
Milwaukee didn’t have any luck in Sunday’s lottery and are slotted at the No. 10 pick. None of Antetokounmpo’s projected suitors, such as Miami and Golden State, moved into the top four as well.
There are two more years left on Antetokounmpo’s contract, including a player option of $62,786,682 in the final year. Any potential suitor will likely want to know if he’s willing to sign an extension before trading away multiple assets.
The Bucks are not going to get what they seek. He’s an aging star with a history of recent lower body injuries. He’s not reliable anymore and they need to understand that they missed their window to trade him for a boatload of talent. They’d be wise to take the best offer, even if it’s not what they’ve set their sights on.
Depends on which teams he’s willing to play for. Unfortunately, it’s in his interest to pick one or two teams and say he won’t sign an extension with anyone else, because that will drive down the price and give him better teammates on his new team.
Desmond Bane and Rudy Gobert got 4 frp, the Bucks will do just fine.
ignorant…there will be MULTIPLE teams that make wild offers for Giannis. i love how people talk about Giannis like he’s 100 yrs old and in a wheelchair. Trading for him doesn’t make sense for some teams obviously but look at the recent returns for players like Bridges, Bane, Gobert, etc….a number of teams will give everything they can for Giannis and just hope to convince him to stay.
About time lols. I’ll believe it when I see the trade go down. NY Knickerbockers ………. come on
Brown to the Griz, Ja to Bucks plus multiple FRPs (Bucks via Memphis and Boston getting whichever ones they can get back) and Giannis to the Cs
they just hired Taylor Jenkins, who i am pretty confident wants nothing to do with Ja
MIL would have needed double luck (both they and the NOP getting to the top 4), since they only had the lower of two lottery picks.
I’m interested to see what offers come in, and Giannis’ level of accommodation in terms of the number of teams he’ll be open to extending with. FO’s like comps, but I don’t really see many good ones here. The closest I can think (off hand) is AD. Maybe Kwahi? Who else?
– 1 year left on his contract before he’s an UFA.
– Done (for sure) with his current team (has to be traded).
– Likely, not open to extending with the universe of potential suitors.
AD and Kwahi were both younger. LAL was AD’s preferred destination, but still the LAL gave up alot (although less than a full depletion of all their assets). Kwahi wasn’t willing to extend with TOR, and the consideration reflected that.
Shams <3 Giannis
A Giannis trade is more difficult when Giannis himself has already rejected all the West teams and the Celtics in the East. He definitely wants to stay in the East. The Knicks interest was real, but the Knicks probably shouldn’t go for that with the success they have had this year.