Giannis Antetokounmpo reacted to the frantic start of the 2025 NBA free agency period — and a busy news cycle for his Milwaukee Bucks, in particular — with a post on social media Tuesday morning.
Antetokounmpo posted a screenshot of former teammate Brooks Lopez during the Bucks’ 2021 NBA Championship celebration with the caption “I don’t know what’s going on right now, man.” Antetokounmpo then captioned the screenshot, “Mood [100%].”
Amid the Bucks’ busy start to free agency, it was announced Monday evening that Lopez agreed to join the LA Clippers as a free agent on a two-year, $18 million deal. He played seven seasons in Milwaukee after originally signing a one-year, $3.38 million contract with the Bucks back in 2018.
Shortly following Antetokounmpo’s post, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Bucks have waived the superstar point guard using the stretch provision in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. This stretch provision will nullify the final two years of his contract and allow the Bucks to spread the remaining $113 million cap hit over the next five seasons.
This move had been announced just minutes after the Bucks agreed to sign Myles Turner from the Indiana Pacers to a four-year, $107 million deal. It’s unclear if Antetokounmpo was made aware of Lillard’s release prior to his social media post.
Lillard found great success during his nine seasons with the Portland Trailblazers before leaving to join Milwaukee in 2023. Lillard averaged 24.9 points, 7.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game in the 2024-25 regular season before tearing his Achilles in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against Indiana.
Milwaukee waived the nine-time All-Star just over 18 hours after the window for teams to begin free-agent negotiations opened. A minute after the 6 p.m. ET window, New York Knicks star Josh Hart jokingly wrote, “It’s 6:01 and I ain’t see one deal….what happened to the game I love?”
The floodgates opened shortly after as negotiations continued through most of Monday evening. Among the noteworthy moves included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander agreeing to a four-year, $285 million supermax extension after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA title.
Former Golden State Warriors big Kevon Looney is also leaving the Bay Area to join the New Orleans Pelicans, reuniting with former Dubs point guard Jordan Poole. After Looney agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal, Poole posted the ESPN graphic on his Instagram story and wrote, “Omg!!! It’s so lit.”
Poole helped the Warriors win the title in 2022 and was traded for Chris Paul after the following season. After two seasons in DC, Poole was traded to the Big Easy as the Washington Wizards acquired CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk.
Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee remains questionable as the team struggles to follow up on its 2021 title. Antetokounmpo has two years remaining on his contract after signing a three-year, $186 million extension in October 2023. The Bucks finished this past season with a 48-34 record before falling to Indiana in the playoffs.
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