After months of speculation, we now know where Giannis Antetokounmpo will be – at least through the end of the 2025-26 season.
According to ESPN, the Bucks have informed other teams that they are keeping Antetokounmpo on the roster beyond the NBA trading deadline, which is Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. ET.
This doesn’t rule out that Milwaukee could eventually trade Antetokounmpo during the offseason when potential suitors would have more draft capital and financial flexibility to sweeten their offers. But it also opens the path for the Bucks to try to make complementary moves to convince Antetokounmpo to commit to the franchise over the long term.
Antetokounmpo, 31, is signed through the end of next season and has a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season. In theory, the Bucks would want to secure Antetokounmpo’s future with a multiyear extension, but if they get any indication that he’s not committed to signing a deal, they eventually might consider a trade to recoup assets for a post-Giannis era.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, though he is currently sidelined with a right calf strain and is expected to miss several more weeks.
Antetokounmpo has had an eventful season with the Bucks.
Recently, he booed home fans at Fiserv Forum after they had booed the team’s performance. Earlier in the year, he scrubbed his social media of most mentions of the Bucks, leading to the rampant speculation that he was looking to be traded.
According to multiple reports, Antetokounmpo broached his future with Bucks management through his representatives, but he addressed the rumors and said ‘there will never be a moment that I will come out and say, ‘I want a trade.” In mid-December, however, he didn’t rule out that his agent might be having conversations about his future with the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo has maintained that he wants to compete for a championship, but the Bucks (20-29) are languishing in the East.
‘We’re not playing hard,’ Antetokounmpo told reporters Jan. 21 after a 20-point loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. ‘We’re not doing the right thing. We’re not playing to win. We’re not playing together. Our chemistry is not there. Guys are being selfish, trying to look for their own shots instead of looking for the right shot for the team. Guys trying to do it on their own.
‘At times, I feel like when we’re down 10, down 15, down 20, we try to make it up in one play, and it’s not going to work – we’ve just got to keep on chipping away, possession by possession.’