When Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline finally passes, Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly will remain right where he's always been.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported at 12 p.m. ET that the Bucks have indicated to other teams they plan to keep Antetokounmpo through the trade deadline.
That's right, Antetokounmpo is still on the Bucks despite all the whispers and rumors and not-quite-a-trade demands. He's still under contract with the Bucks next season and he still has a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 campaign.
Antetokounmpo has been in Milwaukee since the Bucks drafted him in 2013. He's never gone anywhere despite the fact that other franchises have been dreaming about him leaving Milwaukee for nearly a decade now.
Ever since he ascended to the ranks of All-Star and entered the MVP conversation during the 2016-17 season, teams have been hoping to steal him away. Fans and front offices have been waiting for him to tire of Milwaukee or get frustrated with a lack of success or become unhappy for whatever reason.
But he won a title in Milwaukee and he kept signing large contracts.
The Knicks have been monitoring the situation for years. In '19 they were clearing cap space and had their sights set on Antetokounmpo as he approached free agency following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season. He didn't end up in New York.
While the Heat were eliminating the Bucks in the bubble in '20 there was an article in The Athletic about how the Heat were a front-runner to acquire Antetokounmpo. He didn't end up in Miami.
Instead he stayed and won that title. Even that didn't quiet things. After the Bucks won the Finals he said that "the next challenge might not be here." It was just one of many cases of him saying something that made it sound like he might be ready to move on.
Yet he never has. And the Bucks can't bring themselves to move on, either. Antetokounmpo has finished in the top four in MVP voting for the last seven years and is still just 31. He's averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists per game and shooting a career-best 39.5% from three this season. It seems like there is another supermax deal worth of supermax productivity left in him. Why wouldn't the Bucks want to be the team that pays him for that?
There are plenty of reasons to believe that the Bucks will now trade Antetokounmpo during the offseason. And we'll hear about them all. But it hasn't happened yet and unless it happens, it's never going to happen.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: Bucks Won’t Move Giannis Antetokounmpo Before NBA Trade Deadline.
