The Milwaukee Bucks reportedly may have only until the end of the 2025-26 season to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to stay with his longtime team.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported Sunday there is a “common belief” among executives that “wherever Antetokounmpo begins the 2026-27 season, it must be with a team that he believes is capable of competing for a championship.”
According to Stein, rival teams have not yet received a “clear signal” the Bucks are listening to offers on Antetokounmpo.
Should Antetokounmpo eventually push for a trade, however, Stein wrote there is a “strong belief leaguewide” he would want to play for the New York Knicks.
Antetokounmpo has averaged 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists through 17 games of the Bucks’ 10-15 start to the season.
He last played on Dec. 3, when he suffered a right calf injury that Bucks coach Doc Rivers has said is expected to sideline him for around four weeks.
Stein’s report comes four days after ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote that Antetokounmpo and his agent Alex Saratsis were speaking with the Bucks about “whether his best fit is staying or a move elsewhere.”
According to Charania, “a resolution to these talks is expected in the coming weeks.”
That report has since been disputed by Bucks coach Doc Rivers, who said Wednesday “there’s been no conversations” about Antetokounmpo leaving Milwaukee.
The Bucks have just over eight weeks until the trade window closes on Feb. 5.
When asked about trade rumors ahead of the 2025-26 season, Antetokounmpo told reporters, “You know what it is? It’s like temptation… and that starts when the season ends until the season begins.
“There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to approach me, or approach my agent… but at the end of the day, ultimately, I’m going to make a decision. My decision today is that I’m here.”
Stein reported Sunday that Antetokounmpo was specifically speaking about the Knicks when discussing that “temptation.”
Charania wrote back in October that the Bucks and Knicks discussed a potential trade involving Antetokounmpo in August.
“The Bucks insisted to the Knicks that they preferred not to move Antetokounmpo, but those in Milwaukee believe New York did not make a strong enough offer to continue even discussing a trade, league sources said,” Charania wrote.
Charania added that the Knicks came out of those talks believing “the Bucks never were serious about entertaining an Antetokounmpo trade.”
The Knicks are sitting at No. 2 in the East after a 16-7 start to the season. Should the Bucks make Antetokounmpo available ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, adding a perennial MVP candidate would boost the chances the Knicks could finally get past the Eastern Conference Final next spring.
