While fans headed to the trade machine and teams lined up potential offers just in case, the most logical outcome of this summer’s Giannis Antetokounmpo’s flirtation with the trade market was always that he would remain with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Antetokounmpo essentially confirmed that during a live stream with iShowSpeed, when asked if he would remain with the Bucks next season:
“Probably. Probably, we’ll see. Probably, I love Milwaukee.”
We have seen this movie before. Antetokounmpo uses the hint he could ask out as leverage, pushing the Bucks to make big, bold offseason moves to keep the team in contention. A couple of years ago, that meant making a massive trade and sending out Jrue Holiday to help acquire Damian Lillard. This summer, it was waiving and stretching Lillard — at great cost to the future, $22 million of dead money on the books for each of the next five years — to sign Myles Turner. Rinse and repeat.
Except, these Bucks still feel like they are one player, one ball-handling guard or wing away from contending. Right now, Antetokounmpo is an MVP-level offensive creator and after him… the Bucks need some guys who can dribble. (Lillard, with his torn Achilles, was not going to be that guy this season.) The Bucks are going to be good, Turner is an upgrade over Brook Lopez at this point in their careers, but even with Antetokounmpo in a down East, does this team strike fear in anyone?
Antetokounmpo’s challenge is, where is he going to go that’s better? Any trade to the West puts him in a conference with the Thunder, Rockets, Nuggets and a host of other potential contenders — that’s a rough path back to the NBA Finals. If Antetokounmpo stays in the East, the cost in players and picks — having to match his $51.4 million salary — is going to gut that roster, so is what’s left of the Knicks or Cavaliers or whoever any better than the Bucks are now?
All of which means expect Antetokounmpo to remain with the Bucks. Probably.
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