Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors: Bucks’ talks have ‘intensified,’ per report

MILWAUKEE —Conversations between the Milwaukee Bucks and superstar big man Giannis Antetokounmpo about his future have “intensified in nature” recently, according to Shams Charania, who added in a report on “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday that the “tension” in the organization and the locker room is at “an all-time high.”

The Bucks have lost five of their last seven games to fall to 18-25 on the season, which has them in 11th place in the Eastern Conference — just outside of even the final Play-In Tournament spot. After a 20-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, Antetokounmpo called out his teammates for being “selfish” and “not playing hard.”

Earlier in the week, following the Bucks’ narrow win over the Atlanta Hawks, Antetokounmpo was asked if he would finish the season with the team. “I don’t know. I take it day-by-day,” he said. Those comments came just weeks after Antetokounmpo told Sam Amick of The Athletic that he would “never” ask the Bucks to trade him. 

The uptick in Antetokounmpo trade rumors combined with a string of bad losses — their last three defeats were all by at least 18 points — has created some terrible vibes in Milwaukee. Here’s more from Charania on what’s going on internally in Milwaukee ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline:

“Giannis and the Bucks, they’ve been having ongoing conversations about his future, even going back to May… Those conversations have only grown with every passing week and month since May. Recently, the Bucks and Giannis’ conversations have intensified in nature. He made some comments after their game on Wednesday — they’ve had some big blowout losses recently and they got blown out on our airwaves at ESPN against the Oklahoma City Thunder and he came out and absolutely went off on his team. These were very uncharacteristic comments from Giannis Antetokounmpo. We know also about a week ago, the fans in Milwaukee were booing him and the team when they were playing, and he booed them back. That is also something we have not seen from Giannis and the Bucks fans is the booing.

“His comments after the game, the frustration that Giannis Antetokounmpo has is at an all-time high. He’s frustrated with the losing, he’s frustrated with the situation. And I will say this: I’ve spoken to about a dozen sources on-and-off for weeks now and the tension that’s in the air within that organization, in that locker room, its at an all-time high. There’s something of a splintering environment going on there, because when a player of Giannis’ caliber maybe he has a wandering eye or maybe doesn’t know what his future holds there and is having these intense conversations with the organization about what that looks like, there’s gonna be such high levels and degrees of uncertainty within that organization.

“Again, it’s been going on all year, but I just think back to the summer. Late July, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bucks general manager Jon Horst are meeting face-to-face. Jon Horst and the Bucks, Doc Rivers and the ownership, they’re selling Giannis Antetokounmpo on competing for a championship. Like, ‘we have a title-contending roster.’ Giannis makes it very clear that he has concerns, he has issues with the roster, that he maybe doesn’t believe that this is truly a contending team. That leads to conversations with the Knicks. That’s a preferred destination that he had in the offseason. Those teams spoke, there were offers made. Obviously there was no deal that happened. The Bucks ended up signing his brother Thanasis, he ends committing to the season and he ends up starting the year there. 

“Everything about Giannis’ brand has been loyalty. He’s spent 13 years in Milwaukee. He loves the city, he loves the organization, but what I’ve been hearing over and over for months now is that the writing is on the wall for Giannis and the Bucks. It’s just how do they get there, when do they get there? And really, when is either side ready to step up to the plate and have that level of understanding? Or will it continue to live in this nebulus state of ‘will they or won’t they,’ ‘will he or won’t he,’ and that has a direct impact on the team and how the performance is.”

Antetokounmpo’s comments about his teammates after the defeat to the Thunder were an escalation, and made it clear that his frustration with the situation in Milwaukee is growing. It’s also worth noting that he only took 11 shots against the Thunder, and has taken 13 or fewer shots in five of the team’s last six games. 

Antetokounmpo’s annoyance and the team’s recent skid do not guarantee that he’ll be gone by the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline, however. He is under contract through 2027, and even if it’s hard to imagine him committing his long-term future to the Bucks, the team is not under pressure to trade him right now. 

In fact, there have been plenty of reports in recent weeks that the Bucks are actually looking to add talent ahead of the deadline to give themselves a chance to compete in a weakened East. Whatever happens, the entire league will be waiting with bated breath. 

“Giannis is the trade deadline,” Brian Windhorst said earlier this week. “There is really not a lot of other players out there that can move the needle. There is very small to no market for Ja Morant or Anthony Davis. The entire league is watching Giannis.”