Giannis Antetokounmpo, Doc Rivers Report Bucks Engaged in Trade Talks With Knicks
At least for now, Giannis Antetokounmpo is focused on the Milwaukee Bucks.
Antetokounmpo was asked Wednesday about a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania this week that the Bucks and New York Knicks entered into trade talks about him this summer. The Knicks were reportedly the only other team in the league that Antetokounmpo wanted to join.
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Antetokounmpo said Wednesday that he had not read Charania’s story and did not explicitly deny the Knicks connection. But Antetokounmpo said multiple times that he was “stuck” with the Bucks in the weeks leading up to the 2025-26 season.
“I’ve said it many times, I want to be in a situation where I can win and now I’m here. I believe in this team,” he said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team wherever we can go and it’s definitely going to be tough. We’ll take it day by day, but I’m here… I’m locked into whatever I have in front of me.
“Now, if in six, seven months, I change my mind, I think that’s human too. You can make any decision you want, but I’m stuck. I’m stuck in this team. I’m stuck in these guys, in this group, in this coaching staff and in myself.”
Notably, Antetokounmpo left the door open for a future exit.
The two-time league MVP has spent his entire career with the Bucks, who selected him with the No. 15 overall pick in 2013 out of Greece. Last season he averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists, while making 11.8 field goals per game.
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The Bucks, however, are in a strange situation. The franchise, which went 48-34 last season, was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round for the third straight season. They also lost Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton in the offseason, while getting Myles Turner. It’s easy to see why Antetokounmpo might want to be traded to a championship contender, especially as he enters his 13th season in the league and will turn 31 in December. He is, after all, in the second half of his career.
But the Bucks, at least according to coach Doc Rivers, never made a legitimate move to trade Antetokounmpo.
“At the end of the day, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Rivers said of the report, which he called “unbelievable.”
“I can tell you [general manager Jon Horst] he never named a team for Giannis. This never happened. And until that happens, you don’t really have a story.
So for now, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are happy with the state of their relationship. But if things get bad and the team struggles, Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee will surely be called into question in the coming months. And given the way he plays, you’d be hard-pressed to find a team that isn’t at least a little interested in trading for him.