Before the season started, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst suggested the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo was being closely monitored. Now that the Milwaukee Bucks are off to a slow start, multiple unnamed executives are quoted by CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter that they believe there is a possibility of him requesting a trade in the near future.
“Teams are circling — and hopeful,” one Western Conference team executive said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened by the trade deadline,” said a top executive of a team that could pursue Antetokounmpo.
“The teams I’ve heard are Miami and New York — the Nets, not the Knicks,” said an executive from an Eastern Conference team.
Doc Rivers’ influence within the front office has grown where he is now possibly the key voice in personnel decisions.
“They tell me it’s up to Doc now, that they’re going to wait 20 games and then see what Doc wants,” said one person familiar with the Bucks’ front-office inner-workings. “It sounds like it’s a mess.”
Antetokounmpo cannot become a free agent until 2027 and he has signed extensions with the Bucks three separate times in the past, most notably in 2020 after the Jrue Holiday trade and again in 2023 after the Damian Lillard trade.