It feels like we’re in the movie Groundhog Day, but let’s repeat this one more time:
The Milwaukee Bucks will not trade Giannis Antetokounmpo unless he demands it — and Antetokounmpo has yet to play the bad guy and make that push. Milwaukee is shooting down teams calling about an Antetokounmpo trade, and reportedly is signaling to other teams that it is looking to add players at the deadline, to improve the roster, not trade away the best player in franchise history.
That last part played out again on Thursday, when Antetokounmpo, speaking to reporters for the first time since reports surfaced that his agent was talking to the Bucks about his future in Milwaukee, said he was not aware of any of it (via Eric Nehm of The Athletic).
“I didn’t hear about the report. Again, if my agent is talking to the Bucks about it, he is his own person. He can have any conversation he wants about it. At the end of the day, I don’t work for my agent, my agent works for me…
“But, at the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks. I’m still locked in, locked in on my teammates. Most importantly, locked in on me getting back healthy. And then locked in on my teammates and how can I help them from the sideline or encourage them to be able to play and play free…
“So, right now again, I’m just focused on getting back healthy on the court, focusing on how can I encourage my team to be the best version of themselves. After that, focus on how can I go out there and help them win games and get out of this hole that we’ve dug ourselves in and then everything else comes after that.”
Antetokounmpo is on social media, with a marketing and PR team, and is undoubtedly aware of the trade reports and talk around him, as well as how this is playing out. What he said above fits the pattern we have long seen from him: trying to stay focused on what is in front of him at this moment, but that also is not him asking for a trade.
Whatever Antetokounmpo says, the trade rumors do not stop, but the in-season market for him may be somewhat limited. Here are some of the other trade rumors tied to Antetokounmpo:
• The Golden State Warriors want to see how the Antetokounmpo situation plays out before making a run at New Orleans wing Trey Murphy III (the Pelicans are reportedly asking for a very high price for Murphy or Herb Jones, more than teams seem willing to pay), reports Marc Stein at The Stein Line.
• Don’t expect the Spurs to push all in to go after Antetokounmpo, league sources told NBC Sports (echoing other reports). Impressed by the way Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell are coming together, San Antonio wants to see how the rest of this season plays out — especially after an impressive run to the NBA Cup finals — not break up a promising young core for an older player with an injury history.
• Along those same lines, anyone suggesting the Oklahoma City Thunder — the young, defending champions who are 25-2 and have the best point differential in NBA history to this point — are going to blow up their core so they can get into the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes is just trolling for clicks. There is no truth to it.
