two time mvp giannis antetokounmpo Is poised for a new home ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, as multiple teams have made aggressive offers milwaukee bucksWho are starting to listen, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
League sources said multiple teams realize the Bucks are more open than ever to offers for Antetokounmpo between now and the deadline. However, Milwaukee has signaled to interested teams that the organization is in no rush to complete any moves and is prepared to navigate Antetokounmpo’s future in the offseason if the projected price point of blue-chip young talent and/or the surplus of draft picks is not met, sources said. By waiting until the summer, the Bucks can also see which teams are able to offer more attractive draft picks in June.
Miami Heat, minnesota timberwolves, new York Knicks And Golden State Warriors League sources said Antetokounmpo is one of the serious contenders.
Sources said Antetokounmpo has informed the Bucks for months that he believes the time has come to part ways after more than 12 years, making a trade expeditiously possible. At 18-27 and 12th in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks face significant questions about their future direction, which has led to open and honest conversations between the two sides.
Milwaukee is currently expected to have a lottery pick in the draft, with their own less favorable and New Orleans Pelicans‘ Selection.
Antetokounmpo, 31, will become eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million supermax extension on October 1. Without an extension, he can become an unrestricted free agent in the 2027 offseason by declining his $62.8 million player option in the summer.
Because next season essentially serves as the expiration year on his contract, it increases his positional potential where he wants to be dealt. Any team willing to pay a hefty price in both players and draft capital to acquire him will want to know if he’s committed long-term. If traded in the offseason, Antetokounmpo would have to wait six months from the point of the deal to sign a supermax extension.
When asked on January 19 if he believed he would stay with the Bucks for the remainder of the season, Antetokounmpo said: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I take it day by day.” After last Wednesday’s defeat oklahoma city thunderAntetokounmpo gave a blunt assessment of the team’s current situation.
“We’re not playing hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’re not doing the right thing. We’re not playing to win. We’re not playing together. Our chemistry isn’t there. Guys are being selfish, trying to look for their own shots instead of looking for the right shots for the team. Guys are trying to do it on their own.”
General manager Jon Horst, coach Doc Rivers and team ownership traded Antetokounmpo for title contention this season after waivers and an extension. damian lillard$113 million left to sign miles turner Another four years for $108 million. However, Antetokounmpo expressed concerns over the roster in the offseason. Find out their best external fitInvolved want a business If the teams were able to reach an agreement, so would the Knicks, but he re-committed to the Bucks and gave the 2025-26 campaign a true shot.
Antetokounmpo will miss the next several weeks after suffering a right calf strain suffered in Friday’s home loss. denver nuggetsThe same injury that ruled him out for 24 days in December. He admitted that he played most of Friday’s match despite the injury and that he would not have returned had the team been in a better position in the standings. Even in November, he sat for 11 days due to a back strain. He has expedited his return to the lineup every time in an effort to help the Bucks save the season. Milwaukee is 3-12 in games missed in 2025-26.
When he was injured, Antetokounmpo predicted that he would miss four to six weeks. On Monday, Rivers would not speculate on when Antetokounmpo might return from his latest injury.
Antetokounmpo, a 10-time All-Star who led Milwaukee to its first championship in 50 years and ranks first in every major statistical category in team history, has consistently made it clear to the Bucks in private conversations that he loves the city and the franchise. Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Psaratsis, have discussed with Horst over the past nine months whether he would be best suited moving forward in Milwaukee or elsewhere.
espn Reported on December 3 Antetokounmpo and Psaratsis have begun talks about their futures with the Bucks and a resolution is expected in the coming weeks. Since that point, anticipation has grown in the Bucks’ locker room and among team personnel that, as multiple sources have stated, “the writing is on the wall with Giannis.”
Sources have said the uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo has created tension and an uneasy atmosphere in the locker room. This has also reached the fan base. The Bucks were down 31 points at halftime against the Timberwolves on January 13, but when fans at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee criticized the home team at the half, Antetokounmpo took it personally. After taking the lead in the third quarter, Antetokounmpo immediately troubled the home fans.
The Bucks are 15-15 with Antetokounmpo in the lineup, a winning percentage that would be good enough to keep them in the play-in tournament. With Antetokounmpo off the field this season, the Bucks have an offensive rating of 106.0, which would be the worst in the NBA. fast bowlers are last on 108.0). The Bucks are an astonishing 15 points per 100 possessions when they’re on the floor vs. off, producing at a level that would make them the best in the league.
That’s the story this season for Milwaukee, which built a team designed to maximize Antetokounmpo’s skillset but instead built a team unable to function without him.
For the season, Milwaukee ranks 23rd in offensive efficiency and 23rd in defensive efficiency and is one of six teams (brooklyn, new Orleans, SacramentoIndiana and Washington) coming in the bottom 10th place in both.
Antetokounmpo averaged 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 29.2 minutes per game, leading the NBA in points per minute and shooting the highest field goal percentage (64.5%) for a player scoring 25 points per game.
He led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA title during a run in which he returned early due to a severe hyperextension in his knee, causing him to miss the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Taken No. 15 in the 2013 draft, Antetokounmpo ranks first in Bucks history in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and games played and second in steals. In addition to his two MVP awards, he won Most Improved Player honors in 2016–17 and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019–20.
From 2018–19 to 2024–25, the Bucks had a league-best record of 368–187. Horst creatively remodels perennially competitive teams around Antetokounmpo with acquisitions junior holiday In 2020, with multiple role players in the lead up to the 2021 championship, and in 2023 with the Lillard blockbuster. Both of those transactions led to extensions for Antetokounmpo. But the Bucks have lost in the first round of the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and their asset pool and overall roster talent is depleted.
Milwaukee has tried to pursue a buyer in the trade market, but has not been able to move forward with a transaction due to uncertainty about Antetokounmpo’s future and the team’s limited mobility to make a big move. Ahead bobby portis And kyle kuzma The Bucks are keeping one of their tradable first-round picks (2031 or 2032) off the table in trade talks unless it can be traded for an undrafted superstar, according to sources. At the draft in June, the Bucks will select the 2031 and 2033 selections to move up in trades along with their pick that night.
ESPN’s Jamal Collier and Bobby Marks and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
