If you asked anyone in the NBA last week if they thought Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo could be available at the 2025 trade deadline, they might not have even justified your question with a response. However, that is now an entirely different question given the Dallas Mavericks willingly parting ways with their superstar point guard Luka Dončić.
Milwaukee is Currently Stuck
The Milwaukee Bucks are not playing well as of late, having dropped 4 of 5 games. They will be entering February 3rd’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder without Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, likely Bobby Portis, and possibly Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez as well. The product on the court so far in 2025 has not been particularly impressive.
Milwaukee was amongst the teams speculated to swing big at the trade deadline this year. Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine was heavily linked to the team, and conversations around Miami Heat outcast Jimmy Butler seemingly also took place. However, with LaVine now on his way to Sacramento and the possibility of landing Butler looking less and less likely, the Bucks appear to be stuck in the mud with no reinforcements on the way.
Some feel that the Bucks need to attempt a more subtle method to improving the roster instead of making a blockbuster move or simply trawling the buyout market. In any case, there doesn’t seem to be a clear path forward to make this team a legitimate contender, even in an increasingly weak Eastern Conference.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Has Expressed
In the wake of the Dončić deal, almost everyone across the NBA has weighed in on the situation. Antetokounmpo was asked to speak on the matter the Monday after, and what he said is certainly thought-provoking.
After tonight’s game, Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked for his thoughts on Luka Dončić getting traded by the Dallas Mavericks.
Turns out Antetokounmpo had quite a few thoughts on the matter: pic.twitter.com/nNWNpg1LfJ
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 3, 2025
Antetokounmpo’s full comments can be read above, but the most intriguing segment will be included below:
You cannot have a double standard here. When the teams make the best moves for them and they believe they can get another player to win now, when a player believes that he can go to a different team and he believes he can have a chance to win a championship, we cannot crucify that person and say that he’s not loyal and he didn’t do the right thing and he let everybody down. History has shown you, you have to do what is best for you and your family. You have to do what’s best/most important to win.
Antetokounmpo’s comments are understandably worrying to Bucks fans, who have already had to live through an era where many felt Antetokounmpo was going to depart for greener pastures a few seasons ago. Regardless of the fact that the Greek Freak is right to point out the double standards, it doesn’t take much to get into the speculation about what his comments mean about his own future.
To make matters even more complicated, Antetokounmpo finished his statements by expressing how excited he was that a European star like Dončić was finally in a big market. But he did not stop there. He said it was “his dream” for “all Europeans to go to all the big markets” and even mentioned wanting Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic to go to New York.
“I want Luka to the Lakers, I want Nikola Jokic to the New York Knicks, I want all the Europeans to go to all the big markets to see something incredible.”
— Giannis Antetokounmpo pic.twitter.com/mRGSdjfUjr
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) February 3, 2025
If Antetokounmpo includes himself in “all Europeans,” then he practically is saying that he wants to play in a big market city before he is done playing. His happiness for Dončić is genuine, but it sounds like he has aspirations of a new team of his own one day. Who knows when that day will come, or if Milwaukee will be involved in his decision at all.
NBA Teams Are Inquiring About Giannis Antetokounmpo
It appears that the Golden State Warriors, hellbent on bringing Steph Curry another All-Star-caliber player, have been asking about Antetokounmpo. The Bucks are far from the only team that the Warriors have reached out to. The Warriors have several young pieces that could be included as well as a great many of their own first round picks that would need to be in on it as well.
The latest for the Warriors, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone:
They want Giannis Antetokounmpo.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) February 3, 2025
The plausibility of such an idea would have been ridiculous just days ago, but perhaps it is not as inconceivable as one would initially think.
It certainly does not seem likely that Antetokounmpo would be dealt, and who’s to say if general manager Jon Horst would even think about making such a move, let alone negotiating one. Although Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has repeatedly said that he felt strongly about giving up Dončić, it doesn’t mean that dealing with the PR disaster and witnessing the entire fanbase turn on him is something every GM would welcome. Most Bucks fans would likely feel a similar way, given their attachment to Antetokounmpo and his willingness to stand by Milwaukee in recent times.
Given the exodus of Maverick fans who clearly feel more attached to Dončić than the team, one wonders about what the world would look like if/when the Bucks separate themselves from Antetokounmpo, particularly if Giannis is not the instigator of the move.
It would be hard to find anyone who would be predicting that Giannis Antetokounmpo would be the second international superstar on the move this trade deadline, but crazier things have happened as recently as days ago. Time will tell.
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