Giannis Antetokounmpo Will Reportedly Consider Leaving Bucks
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has become open-minded about considering opportunities outside of Milwaukee for the first time in his career, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
Teams have routinely called to check on Antetokounmpo’s potential availability in recent years, and that process is expected to intensify as they gather in Chicago this week for the draft combine, Charania adds.
Antetokounmpo’s representatives, Giorgios Panou and Alex Saratsis, will meet with Bucks officials at some point to discuss the team’s future and determine whether Milwaukee is still the best fit for their client, according to Charania’s sources. The Bucks are reportedly resistant toward the idea of trading Antetokounmpo, who is still under contract through the 2026/27 season and holds a $62.8MM player option for the following year, and are unlikely to pursue a deal unless he requests it.
Speculation about a possible Antetokounmpo trade has been rampant since the Bucks were eliminated by the Pacers last month, marking the third straight year they have been ousted in the first round. Antetokounmpo has been open about his desire to add another championship to the one he captured in 2021, and there are doubts regarding whether he still has any hope of achieving that in Milwaukee.
The situation became more dire with the torn left Achilles that Damian Lillard suffered in Game 4 of the Indiana series. Lillard underwent surgery last week and faces a lengthy rehab process that could force him to miss all of next season. That would leave the Bucks without a second star to team with Antetokounmpo and little chance to acquire one as Lillard remains on the books for $54.1MM next season with a $58.5MM player option for 2026/27.
Charania notes that Antetokounmpo, a finalist for MVP honors, just completed one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists in 67 games while shooting 60.1% from the field. He raised those numbers in the playoffs, posting 33 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists per night in the five-game loss.
Antetokounmpo has established himself as one of the greatest players in Bucks history since being selected with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. He’s a two-time MVP and a nine-time All-Star, and he delivered the team’s first NBA title in 50 years.
According to Charania, Milwaukee’s .663 winning percentage since 2018/19 is the best in the league. However, the Bucks only have one playoff series victory since their 2021 championship season.
If Antetokounmpo goes on the market, teams that can offer young talent and a stockpile of draft assets are considered to be the most likely destinations. The Rockets, Spurs, Thunder and Nets have already been mentioned prominently in trade speculation, but Milwaukee’s front office would likely hear offers from all 29 rival teams.
Charania notes that the Bucks have an opportunity to remake their roster this summer, with Kyle Kuzma, A.J. Green, Andre Jackson, Chris Livingston and Tyler Smith joining Antetokounmpo and Lillard as the only players currently under contract. Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton and Kevin Porter Jr. hold player options for next season, and they could decide to join Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince and Gary Trent Jr. as free agents.
However, the Bucks are already facing cap concerns as Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Kuzma will earn roughly $130MM of the $164MM they already have committed for 2025/26. General manager Jon Horst has limited draft assets to offer in any trade, with the franchise not controlling any of its first-round picks until 2031.
Charania notes that the Bucks were able to escape the second apron with the Kuzma trade in February, but they still have limited breathing room heading into the summer. They’re currently about $23MM below the luxury tax and $41MM away from a return to the second apron for next season.
Charania points out that even a modest offseason that includes re-signing Lopez, using the $14.1MM non-taxpayer midlevel exception and filling out the roster with minimum-salary signees would put Milwaukee into tax territory for the sixth straight year.
Nikola Jokic Comments On Shooting Woes In OKC Series
While evening their playoff series with Denver at 2-2, the Thunder have accomplished something that seemed impossible — they’ve found a way to keep Nikola Jokic under control. The Nuggets center finished with 27 points in Sunday’s Game 4 loss, but he remained uncharacteristically inefficient, shooting 7-of-22 from the field and being limited to three assists.
It continued a frustrating trend for Jokic, who has struggled since scoring 42 points in the series opener. He’s shooting 21-of-63 from the field over the last three games and his assist-to-turnover ratio is an awful 19-to-23. It’s the first time in his career that he has shot worse than 40% while taking at least 15 shots in three consecutive games, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Jokic said in Sunday’s post-game media session. “They’re playing really good defense on me. They’re really into my body, physical. I think I missed two or three open looks night, so it’s a little bit of everything. They’re shrinking the floor on me. They’re having a guy behind the defender, so it’s a bit of everything. I need to do a better job, of course, but it’s part of the game.”
Jokic was noticeably off his game in the fourth quarter as Denver let an eight-point lead slip away. He made just 2-of-7 shots during the quarter and went 1-of-4 from the foul line, including two costly misses with the Nuggets trailing by four points and 3:15 remaining.
In contrast, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has battled Jokic as the MVP favorite throughout the season, was outstanding in the clutch on Sunday. The OKC guard hit three shots in the final 4:36 and finished with 25 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander wouldn’t reveal any secrets about the Thunder’s defensive strategy against Jokic, telling reporters he’s “not sure” how they’re shutting him down and adding, “but we have to keep doing it if we want to win.”
It has been suggested that fatigue might be playing a role in Jokic’s subpar numbers, and MacMahon points out that Sunday marked Denver’s seventh game in the past 13 days. There was a short turnaround as the teams tipped off roughly 36 hours after the end of Friday’s exhausting overtime matchup. Nuggets coach David Adelman said both teams had “tired legs” as they combined to shoot 33.5% from the floor, which MacMahon states is the worst mark for a playoff game in 21 years.
While the Thunder can rely on a deep bench to help prevent their players from wearing down, the Nuggets don’t have that luxury, especially at center. Jokic has logged 44 and 43 minutes in the last two games.
Credit should also go to center Isaiah Hartenstein, MacMahon adds, who was signed as a free agent last summer to help OKC match up better with opposing bigs. Jokic shot just 3-of-10 on Sunday with Hartenstein as his primary defender.
“We’re just really just focused on how to execute as a team,” Hartenstein said. “He’s a great player. We know he is going to make tough shots throughout the series, but we’ve just got to stay disciplined. I think that’s the biggest key. We’ve been doing a great job staying disciplined, great job playing team defense. Again, he’s a great player, so he is going to make shots eventually.”
Five NBAGL Elite Camp Standouts Earn Combine Invites
The NBA has invited the following prospects to its draft combine this week after they were among the standouts at the G League Elite Camp over the weekend, according to the league:
- Tamar Bates, G, Missouri (senior)
- Mackenzie Mgbako, F, Indiana (sophomore)
- Ryan Nembhard, G, Gonzaga (senior)
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser, F/C, Penn State (junior)
- Lachlan Olbrich, F/C, Illawawa Hawks (born 2003)
Bates scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 22 minutes of action in the first scrimmage of the weekend on Saturday, then chipped in nine more points in 14 minutes in a Sunday scrimmage.
Mgbako was the leading scorer in Saturday’s second scrimmage with 19 points and was also a game-high +28. He poured in another 22 points with seven rebounds in Sunday’s first scrimmage.
Nembhard was a +22 in 19 minutes on Saturday, with six points and nine assists, then chipped in 11 points and six assists in 24 minutes on Sunday.
Niederhauser barely missed a shot over the course of the weekend, scoring a total of 31 points on 14-of-17 field goals.
Olbrich had 16 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting on Saturday and followed it up with a 16-point, 10-rebound outing on Sunday. He was a game-high +18 in Sunday’s first scrimmage.
The G League Elite Camp is essentially an opening act for the full-fledged draft combine, featuring lower-rated prospects who are less likely to be drafted. The best players from that first event receive invitations to the combine, where they’ll get the chance to speak to more teams and scrimmage in front of more NBA evaluators.
Both events take place in Chicago. The initial list of combine invitees can be found here, though that list has undergone some minor changes since it was initially announced earlier this month, with Duke’s Isaiah Evans and Serbian big man Bogoljub Markovic among the players who won’t attend.
Moritz Wagner Rehabs Knee, Hopes To Stay In Orlando
The season ended early for Magic backup center Moritz Wagner when he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in a December 21 game against Miami. In an interview with Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, Wagner says he hopes that wasn’t his last game with the organization.
The Magic hold a team option on the second season of the two-year, $22MM contract that Wagner signed last summer. A decision is due by June 29, and he’ll become a free agent if the $11MM option is declined. Beede notes that he was in the same situation a year ago when Orlando turned down the second season of a two-year, $16MM deal and gave him a raise with the new contract.
Wagner, 28, played for four teams during his first three NBA seasons, but he has found stability since signing with the Magic in 2021.
“Honestly, I’ve felt great here,” he said. “I’m very excited to be here. I feel like I’m valued here. I understand that this is a professional environment, so there are no givens. That’s all I can say about that.”
Wagner was in the midst of his most productive season when the injury struck. He was averaging career highs with 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds through 30 games while shooting 56.2% from the field and 36% from three-point range. Beede suggests he could have been a strong candidate for Sixth Man of the Year honors, pointing out that he trailed only Boston’s Payton Pritchard in bench scoring before getting hurt.
Wagner’s injury was one of several that dashed the Magic’s hopes of being a serious contender this season. The team also lost his brother, Franz Wagner, along with Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs, for long stretches as the four of them were together for only six games.
“It’s tough to watch, but at the same time you have a decision,” Moritz Wagner said. “You can sulk about it and be mad, or you can take it as an opportunity to grow and learn from it, and view the game from a different perspective. I tried to do that, tried to ask questions and tried to look at basketball from a different view, and I learned a lot about this group and myself, especially. I’m very excited to be playing again to use that and become more professional, more equipped to (have) a successful career.”
It has been about four months since Wagner underwent knee surgery, and he’s focused on being ready for the start of training camp. He didn’t share many details about his rehab process, but Beede states that he was often seen in the team’s weight room, on a stationary bike or shooting on the court throughout the playoffs.
Wagner faces an important offseason both physically and financially that will determine his NBA future, and he hopes it continues in Orlando.
“The turnover in the league is so high that being a part of something that’s bigger than your individual career is very rare and something that you have to embrace and appreciate. … That’s something that we have here,” he said. “I look in the stands every night and you kind of remind yourself on nights like the win against the Celtics or Atlanta, there were times where we won 20 games in a season here and now we’re playing in the playoffs. That feels really good to be part of that journey of an organization and you feel the city buzzing about basketball again.”
Karl-Anthony Towns Suffers Hand Injury In Game 3 Loss
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to say “I broke it” (Twitter video link) after getting hit on his left hand in Saturday’s game, writes Bridget Reilly of The New York Post.
Towns declined to elaborate on the injury when talking to reporters after the game. Reilly notes that he was able to remain on the court, although he shot just 5-of-18 in a 22-point loss to Boston.
“It is what it is. I just want to do whatever I can to be out there,” Towns responded when asked if he has a broken finger. “It is what it is. I’m gonna keep finding ways to play, so I ain’t tripping.”
Reilly adds that the reaction captured on the ABC broadcast came after Towns battled Luke Kornet for a rebound late in the second quarter. He was also seen wincing in the third quarter following a foul by Jrue Holiday. Towns posted 21 points and 15 rebounds, but he went just 1-of-5 from three-point range and is shooting 14.3% from beyond the arc in the series.
Towns refused to reveal whether he underwent an X-ray or any other tests after the game, saying he would “let [the Knicks] tell you that.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau was also guarded about releasing information on Towns’ condition, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.
“It’s the playoffs,” Thibodeau said. “People are going to get hit and you have to play through things. That’s why you do it the entire season. No one is 100 percent. You have to understand that you can play well when you’re feeling less than your best, that’s all part of it. I think the mental toughness part of this in the playoffs is huge.”
Warriors Hope Stephen Curry Can Return For Game 6
The Warriors are hoping to extend their series with Minnesota to at least six games to give Stephen Curry the best chance to return, Shams Charania of ESPN said on tonight’s NBA Countdown (Twitter video link).
Curry, who suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in the series opener, is scheduled to be reevaluated on Wednesday. He was projected to miss at least a week when the injury occurred May 6.
Sources tell Charania that the Warriors view Game 6 as “the earliest potential window” for Curry to resume playing. Games 3 and 4 are tonight and Monday in San Francisco before the series returns to Minnesota for Game 5 on Wednesday. A scheduling quirk gives the teams a three-day break prior to Game 6 next Sunday back in the Bay Area.
Charania reports that Curry is receiving “a ton of treatment” on his hamstring as he tries to work his way back into playing shape. He adds that there’s still plenty of work left to do to get Curry through the progression of “movement, contact, running, sprinting.”
Charania also points out that this is the first muscle strain that the 37-year-old Curry has experienced in his NBA career, which adds to the caution surrounding his rehab work.
Curry was limited to 13 minutes in Game 1, but he scored 13 points and was 3-of-6 on three-pointers as Golden State picked up a 99-88 road victory. The offense struggled without him in Game 2, producing just 15 points in the first quarter on the way to a 117-93 defeat.
Coach Steve Kerr leaned heavily on Curry in the final two games of the first-round series against Houston, playing him 42 minutes in Game 6 and 46 minutes in Game 7, which was two days before the Minnesota series began. Curry discussed the difficulty of trying to create open shots against the Rockets, calling them “one of the toughest defenses I think I’ve ever faced” (Twitter video link from 95.7 The Game).
Al Horford Would Like To Re-Sign With Celtics
As Brian Windorst of ESPN.com writes, the defending-champion Celtics were always going to be faced with difficult financial decisions this offseason no matter how they fared in the playoffs. But if they’re unable to dig themselves out of the 0-2 hole they find themselves in after unexpectedly blowing a pair of 20-point second-half leads, then there will be new questions about the viability of the current roster.
Nearly all of Boston’s core is under contract for multiple seasons beyond 2024/25. Veteran forward/center Al Horford is the team’s biggest free agent, and he will be 39 years old next month.
Horford does not plan to retire after ’24/25 and would like to re-sign with the Celtics, sources tell Windhorst. Whether Boston is amenable to that idea may depend on the type of contract Horford is willing to accept, since the team’s payroll (including luxury tax penalties) is projected to exceed $500MM in ’25/26, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Horford remained productive this season, averaging 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 60 games, including 42 starts (27.7 minutes per contest). While Horford was a mid-range maestro early in his career, he has extended his range over the years — 68.1% of his field goal attempts came behind the three-point line this season, and he converted 36.3% of those long-range looks.
According to Windhorst, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his staff have successfully been able to keep the players’ minds off the impending ownership change. The team also hasn’t discussed potential roster changes with player agents, Windhorst reports, though that obviously doesn’t mean that future moves won’t be in the cards.
Boston will face the Knicks in New York for Saturday’s pivotal Game 3.
Heat’s Pat Riley Discusses Butler, Roster, Tax, Herro, More
At his end-of-season press conference on Friday, longtime president Pat Riley admitted the falling out with Jimmy Butler affected the Heat‘s season in a major way, per Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
“There’s no doubt what happened with Jimmy had a tremendous impact on our team,” Riley said. “The buck stops with me. I’ll take that hit if you want it. What happened in the regular season, I don’t want to discuss.”
That doesn’t mean Riley regrets his comments about Butler last offseason — he made a number of pointed remarks during that spring media session, including telling reporters that the star forward wouldn’t get the extension he was looking for due to concerns about his availability.
“I’m not going to apologize for saying no on the contract extension,” Riley said on Friday. “We didn’t have to I don’t think I should… It’s over. It’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him. And I hope in his heart somewhere he wishes us well too.”
As for the underwhelming return package the Heat received in return for trading Butler to Golden State, Riley said the team was somewhat hamstrung by the situation.
“We were pretty much locked in with one team (Phoenix), the team of his choice. It didn’t happen there. We took the deal we felt was best for us now and also in the future. We have young players. We have medium age players in their prime. Our draft picks are in better order than what they were. We have a lot of flexibility. That’s where the blueprint is going to come from this summer.”
Here’s more from Riley’s presser, with quotes courtesy of The Herald, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, and Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel:
- While Riley isn’t sure that the Heat need to make major roster changes this offseason, he acknowledged there’s “no doubt” that changes of some sort will be necessary and said the team “probably won’t run it back.” Still, he doesn’t think the ugly losses to Cleveland in the postseason reflect Miami’s true talent level and suggested he’ll try to avoid tanking at all costs. “(That playoff series) might have put the final nail in thinking we got to tear everything apart and rebuild. We’ve never done that,” Riley said. “Thirteen times, we’ve always found a way to rebuild (into) a team that was respected, that was a contender.”
- Riley admitted that the Heat, who have been in the luxury tax for each of the past two seasons, would like to stop surpassing that threshold every year, especially with harsher repeater penalties about to take effect. “We have to make an adjustment,” he said. “It gets punitive financially. It’s not a priority, but it is in order to manage the financial part of the team. We will try to get out and then back in and reset it.”
- Riley isn’t permitted to talk about players on other rosters, and reporters didn’t ask him specifically about Kevin Durant, but the Heat president faced questions about whether the team needs to acquire an “alpha” and whether he’d be willing to trade for an “aging” star. Riley didn’t rule out either scenario. “For us, if that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, I still think an aging player can play,” Riley said. Regarding the idea of adding an alpha, he stated: “If that talent can help and he’s humble, that’s fine. If it translates to winning, that’s all that counts.”
- According to Riley, the Heat are “moving forward” with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Regarding a possible extension for Herro, Riley said the front office wants the veteran guard to remain in Miami for the rest of his career and indicated that a new deal this summer is a possibility, but not a given. “We’ve already talked about it. I’ve talked about it with Tyler. You’ll see what happens as we plan,” Riley said “… Definitely Tyler is deserving of the thought of an extension. But are we going to do it? We haven’t committed to it. But we’re going to discuss it. I’ve already talked to him about it. He’s cool (with whatever happens).”
- Asked about critics of “Heat culture” and whether that reputation has taken a hit in the last year or two, Riley pushed back, referring to that criticism as a “narrative” created by people who aren’t familiar with the organization. “I’m proud of the culture and what we’ve created,” Riley said. “For people who don’t really know, but it’s fashionable to comment on it and criticize it, the hell with them. We have a great culture that hasn’t been crushed. Just because there were some issues this year that were not culture-oriented, they were player-oriented — talking about the Butler situation — our culture is the same.”
Luke Adams contributed to this story.
Cavs’ Mobley, Garland, Hunter Available On Friday
5:59 pm: All three injured Cavaliers will be active for Friday’s Game 3, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Head coach Kenny Atkinson said during his pregame media session that there wouldn’t be a set minutes limit for Garland, Mobley, or Hunter, but that the team would make that decision over the course of the night based on “feel” and “communication” (Twitter link via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star).
8:28 am: The Cavaliers played without three of their best players in Tuesday’s Game 2, in which Cleveland blew a seven-point lead with under a minute remaining to fall in a 0-2 hole in its second-round series vs. Indiana. Darius Garland has missed the past four games with a left great toe sprain, while both Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and De’Andre Hunter (dislocated/sprained right thumb) were injured in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
All three of the injured Cavaliers are officially listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis, just like they were for Game 2 prior to being ruled out. However, two league sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the Cavs are optimistic the trio will attempt to suit up tonight.
“They participated in the walk-through and we’re hoping for the best,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said Thursday. “I think it’s frustrating for all of us, right? It’s no indictment on anybody, it’s just, injuries are a tough thing and you don’t really know unless you experience it yourself.”
As Vardon observes, even if the three players are able to play, it remains to be seen how effective they’ll be. A source tells Vardon that the swelling on Hunter’s thumb has decreased, but Mobley and Garland appeared to be hobbled during Thursday’s walk-through.
Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that Garland continues to deal with pain and swelling in his toe, which he aggravated in the team’s first-round series against Miami. The injury has made it “incredibly difficult” for the All-Star point guard to make any “sharp movements,” Fedor writes.
“He desperately wants to get on the court,” Atkinson said of Garland. “It’s just kind of in these situations I just kind of, I step back. I support him 100%, whichever way it goes. I think he’s probably like, ‘I’ve got to get to a certain point where I can compete at a high-intensity playoff level.’ That type of intensity is tough to simulate. I guess at some point hopefully he will get out there and try it. But obviously couldn’t run or anything.”
Clippers To Target Malcolm Brogdon In Free Agency?
In a discussion about the Clippers‘ offseason with Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron (YouTube link), Law Murray of The Athletic said veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon is a name worth monitoring. Brogdon will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after earning $22.5MM in 2024/25 with the Wizards.
“I would consider Brogdon a primary target for the Clippers,” Murray said (Twitter video link). “ … They almost traded (for him in the past). I think if Brogdon would have been a buyout guy (after the February trade deadline), I think the Clippers would have considered him along with Ben Simmons.”
Murray noted that Brogdon has a longstanding relationship with former Clippers executive Michael Winger, who now leads Washington’s front office.
“At the very least, there will be some consideration there,” Murray said. “He fits everything that the Clippers look for as far as a point guard who can shoot, who has positional size. That’s like a bullet on the board there.”
When healthy, Brogdon has been a very productive NBA player. He won Rookie of the Year back in 2017 and Sixth Man of the Year in ’23, and he holds career averages of 15.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists on .463/.388/.874 shooting in 463 appearances (29.1 minutes).
However, injuries have been a major issue for Brogdon. He was limited to just 24 games this season for the Wizards and has appeared in fewer than 40 contests in three of the past four campaigns. That could limit his market value this summer.
Brogdon also wasn’t as effective as he’s been in the past in 2024/25. He averaged a career-low 23.5 MPG and shot a career-worst 28.6% from beyond the arc, though those numbers are a little misleading because it’s a fairly small sample size and he was playing for the second-worst team in the league.
Still, Brogdon makes some sense as a potential target for the Clippers. As Murray mentioned, the 32-year-old can play both guard spots, has plus size, and is a very good shooter when given space.