Could Giannis Antetokounmpo finally be on his way out of Milwaukee?
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that the Bucks are engaging with teams on possible deals for the two-time NBA’s Most Valuable Player, opening the door to the possibility that Antetokounmpo — currently sidelined with a calf strain — has played the final game of his Hall of Fame career with the team that drafted him in 2013.
After Milwaukee’s 139-122 loss in Philadelphia Tuesday night, the Bucks are now tied with the Charlotte Hornets for 11th in the East standings – a full three-and-a-half games behind the Atlanta Hawks for 10th place, and with it the final play-in spot, in the conference.
More importantly, the loss has Milwaukee in a tie for seventh place in the NBA’s Draft Lottery standings – and, with now a 3-12 record without Antetokounmpo sidelined this season, plenty of opportunity remaining for the Bucks to put themselves in even better position to get lucky in what is a loaded 2026 NBA Draft class.
A trade season that so far has only seen one move — the deal that sent Trae Young to the Washington Wizards earlier this month — has been waiting for just this kind of catalyst to potentially pop off.
What does it mean for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo and the rest of the NBA? Our NBA insiders break it all down here.
Quick links:
What 29 teams could offer for Giannis
Trade machine | Guide for all 30 teams
More trade deadline coverage
Why is Giannis prepared to move on now? What changed since his recent comments?
Antetokounmpo’s frustration has been building all season long.
He began the 2025-26 season willing to give Milwaukee a chance to build a competitive team around him. But as the Bucks have descended down the Eastern Conference standings, Antetokounmpo has grown more forceful in his critiques.
A week ago, he called out his teammates as «not playing hard, not playing to win, not playing together» while adding that «the chemistry is off and guys are being selfish.» The Bucks lost again on Tuesday in their first game since Antetokounmpo sustained his latest calf strain, dropping them to 12th in the East with even the play-in tournament slipping out of reach.
For a team that is 3-12 without its best player this year, it has become increasingly clear Milwaukee will not be able to salvage this season. — Jamal Collier
Wait, haven’t the Bucks talked to teams about a trade before?
For a brief window this past summer, the Bucks and the New York Knicks engaged in discussions about a potential Antetokounmpo trade. Sources told ESPN that New York never believed Milwaukee seriously entertained the idea of moving Antetokounmpo then, however, and those in Milwaukee believe New York never made a strong enough offer to continue discussing the trade.
The Bucks picked up the Knicks’ call on Antetokounmpo for an exclusive negotiating window after New York emerged as the only destination he wanted to play for outside of Milwaukee, sources told Charania over the summer, but Milwaukee maintained its superstar was not available throughout the first half of the ’25-26 season. League sources have long believed that it was going to take a more forceful effort from Antetokounmpo to force an exit.
Despite locking in on New York a few months ago, Antetokounmpo has been much more open about his future going forward and is not expected to focus on one destination. — Collier
What’s the early chatter around the league?
For weeks, the NBA has been in a collective holding pattern waiting to see what will happen with the Antetokounmpo situation, for a few different reasons.
Injuries to Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler and Ja Morant — coupled with Milwaukee’s understandable reticence to move their superstar, the difficulty in moving giant contracts under the constraints of the collective bargaining agreement and the lack of available draft capital outside of a handful of teams across the NBA — have combined to grind the trade market to a halt.
Instead of teams scrambling to find short-term fixes, potential suitors for a star are waiting to see what happens with Antetokounmpo – and, if he doesn’t get moved now, they’ll just wait until the offseason and see what happens then.
But for all of the complications, an Antetokounmpo trade is not only one teams will twist themselves into pretzels to get done, but it also is the kind of move that can set off a domino effect — which is why every conversation with sources across the league for the past month has started and finished with some variation of, «Well, what’s going on with Giannis?»
And, if nothing changes between now and 3 p.m. on February 5, those same conversations will carry forward to the summer — Tim Bontemps
How did Giannis and the Bucks get to this point?
By repeatedly maxing out the potential of the roster. You have to give Bucks general manager Jon Horst credit for being aggressive over the past several years, from trading for Jrue Holiday and then Damian Lillard and then this summer waiving and stretching Lillard to then go get Myles Turner.
However, the sum total of all of those moves is a Milwaukee roster that’s devoid of talent and a cupboard of assets that’s nearly empty for the next few seasons.
That is the price a team often pays for repeatedly trying to satisfy the needs of a superstar like Antetokounmpo. But it’s also unclear a player like him will ever arrive in Milwaukee again – after all, it was 50 years between titles for the Bucks, and it took generations for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s standard as best player in Bucks history to be exceeded (in terms of total contributions in Milwaukee) by Antetokounmpo’s incredible run with the franchise.
But there’s at least a chance the Bucks could try to do it again, with Antetokounmpo still on the roster. Milwaukee will get the lesser of its pick and New Orleans’ pick in June’s NBA Draft. That pick could realistically wind up inside the top five.
The Bucks would then have a bunch of flotsam salary, and a couple of future draft picks, to go try to add talent to the roster, and see if that’s enough to convince Antetokounmpo to stick around long-term.
But past bills, eventually, come due. And for Milwaukee, a team that’s now sitting outside of the play-in in the East, that means it’s time for hard conversations about the future – presuming Antetokounmpo remains unwilling to commit himself to the franchise again. — Bontemps
Which teams could have the players/picks for a Giannis trade?
That question is dependent on what Milwaukee is looking to accomplish.
Based solely on first-round picks, Oklahoma City, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Memphis, Sacramento, Utah and Washington have the most to offer.
Those seven teams control 50% of the tradable firsts in the next seven years. But that does not mean the Thunder are going to break up their championship and go after Antetokounmpo. The Nets have the first-round draft capital and contracts to match, but Antetokounmpo would be walking into a worse roster than he left in Milwaukee.
As we wrote in the recent Giannis trade guide, there are 11 teams, including Atlanta, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Miami, Minnesota, New York, Portland, San Antonio and Toronto that have a combination of draft picks and players to entice the Bucks into a deal.
The Trail Blazers are an interesting match or possible third team because they control Milwaukee’s first-round picks from 2028 to 2030.
A potential Golden State trade for Antetokounmpo would represent possibly the last shot to win a championship with Stephen Curry on the Warriors. However, to make such a trade, Golden State would likely have to trade the injured Jimmy Butler and most if not all of their first-round picks available. They are allowed to trade up to four.
One other factor to keep in mind: teams interested in Antetokounmpo will need to have a comfort level on his willingness to extend his contract in the offseason. Antetokounmpo is eligible to do so starting on Oct. 1, when he can sign up to a four-year $275M extension. — Bobby Marks
What type of trade package should Milwaukee be looking for in an Antetokounmpo trade?
There should be three goals: get younger, rebuild their draft assets and acquire win-now players.
The Bucks are the fifth-oldest team in the NBA and have built their roster solely through trades and low-cost signings. Outside of Antetokounmpo and Andre Jackson Jr., there are no players on the roster that were drafted by Milwaukee.
Trading a franchise player should signal that the Bucks are ready to bottom out and rebuild solely through the draft. But unless Milwaukee is going to regain their first-round picks in the next four years from New Orleans and Portland, the goal should be to acquire players on controllable contracts who can help in the future.
The Pelicans own the Bucks’ 2027 first and the Blazers have the right to swap firsts in 2028 and 2030. They also have the most and least favorable 2029 first of their own, Boston and Milwaukee.
The recent trades to improve the roster around Antetokounmpo have also left Milwaukee without a first in 2027 and 2029. They sent the last of their seconds to Charlotte this summer in the Pat Connaughton salary dump. — Marks
1:54
Why Stephen A. isn’t surprised by Giannis being ready for a new team
Stephen A. Smith reacts to Shams Charania’s report that Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to be traded from the Bucks.
What is Giannis looking for in a potential new team?
Antetokounmpo has been clear about one thing in his desire for the second half of his career. While till in his prime, the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo wants a team that will give him a chance to compete for a second championship.
«I just want more,» Antetokounmpo said near the start of the season. «I want to win another championship. I want to win another medal for the national team. Legacy is very important for me. … You got to play to win. I don’t play to be around and get paid.»
It makes trading for Antetokounmpo tricky for any team giving up a large return. A trade suitor will need to have enough remaining on the roster to give Antetokounmpo confidence they can be a contender. He can still become a free agent as early as the summer of 2027. — Collier
If Giannis gets moved before the deadline, what’s next for the Bucks?
The Bucks are already better positioned in the 2026 draft lottery than they were for the postseason.
Milwaukee will get the lesser of the picks between itself and New Orleans, which could still put the team in position for a top-10 draft slot. Besides Antetokounmpo, the team lacks other viable assets that would be desired around the league in a potential fire sale.
Beyond this season, the Bucks don’t control their draft picks from now until 2031, which could complicate any Antetokounmpo trade talks.
And because of their lack of draft assets, the Bucks can’t fully benefit from a full-on rebuild, which could force more of a re-tool, at least in the immediate term. — Collier
