MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 23: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks walks off the court after a game against the Denver Nuggets at Fiserv Forum on January 23, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
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The worst-kept secret in the NBA became pseudo-official Wednesday: Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to move on from the Milwaukee Bucks.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, “Antetokounmpo has informed the Bucks for months that he believes the moment has come to part ways after 12-plus years together.” He added that “multiple teams have received a sense that the Bucks are more open than ever to Antetokounmpo offers” between now and the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline.
Charania did note that the Bucks have “indicated to interested teams that the organization is not in a rush to complete a move and is willing to navigate Antetokounmpo’s future in the offseason if its believed price point of a blue-chip young talent and/or surplus of draft picks isn’t met.” However, he reported that several teams have already “made aggressive offers” for Antetokounmpo.
While the Bucks might be tempted to turn the page on the Antetokounmpo era rather than drag this out any longer, they’d be better off staying patient at this point. Unless they get bowled over by a Godfather-esque offer between now and Feb. 5, waiting until the offseason to trade him might give them their best chance of getting their rebuild started on the right foot.
How The Bucks Should Approach The Trade Deadline
Antetokounmpo is likely to miss at least 4-6 weeks with the calf injury that he aggravated against the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 23. The Bucks fell to 12th in the Eastern Conference after their 139-122 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday and figure to remain toward the bottom of the standings in the Greek Freak’s absence.
As we noted on Friday, that could be a blessing in disguise for the Bucks. Rather than burn additional assets at the trade deadline on a win-now move, the Bucks should be firmly in seller mode, particularly in the wake of Antetokounmpo’s desire to be moved.
Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., Gary Harris, Taurean Prince and Jericho Sims are all on contracts that can expire after this season. If the Bucks can flip any of them for anything of long-term value, that would put their rebuild on better footing. They no longer need to worry about staying competitive this season. In fact, just the opposite.
Although the Bucks don’t have control of their own 2026 first-round pick, they get the worse of their pick and the New Orleans Pelicans’ unprotected 2026 first-rounder. With the Pelicans also hovering toward the bottom of the Western Conference standings, the Bucks might be in position to get a primo lottery pick regardless.
As John Hollinger of The Athletic noted Tuesday, if Antetokounmpo remains in Milwaukee past the trade deadline, the Bucks should urge him to take his time returning from his injury. If he sits out the remainder of the season, all the better when it comes to their draft-lottery odds.
In theory, the NBA’s player participation policy exists to prevent that type of a long-term shutdown for a star player. However, NBA teams have been extremely cautious about calf injuries in the wake of the Achilles tears that Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered in the playoffs last year.
Would the league dare intervene and pressure the Bucks into playing Giannis in meaningless games in March after he already aggravated that injury once this year? That seems doubtful, particularly given its lax enforcement of that policy to date.
If the Bucks decide to keep Antetokounmpo through the trade deadline, they should be focused on two things for the remainder of the season: Flipping any veterans they can for draft picks and/or younger prospects, and maximizing their lottery odds. They should lean heavily on their young players and hope to find another diamond in the rough like Ryan Rollins. Wins and losses are now effectively inconsequential.
Why The Bucks Should Wait To Trade Giannis
If the Bucks don’t get the blockbuster offer they’re hoping to receive for Antetokounmpo, the offseason could offer them far more clarity about what they specifically need.
Once the draft lottery passes, they’ll have a better sense of which prospect they’re about to add to their post-Giannis core. They’ll also know exactly which picks every other team has to offer. That’s a key selling point given the impact of the flattened lottery odds.
Last year, the Dallas Mavericks won the No. 1 overall pick despite entering the lottery with only a 1.8 percent chance of doing so. The San Antonio Spurs cashed in on their 6.3 percent chance to land the No. 2 pick, too. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz, who had the NBA’s worst record, slipped to fifth, while the Washington Wizards, who had the second-worst record, fell to sixth. The Jazz and Wizards had only a 47.9 percent and 20.0 percent chance of doing so, respectively.
That type of draft-pick certainty is critical for the Bucks since they already owe their fully unprotected 2027 and 2029 first-round picks to other teams. The Bucks also owe pick swaps in 2028 and 2030, so they don’t have control of their own first-round pick until 2031. This might be their best chance to land a franchise-caliber talent via the draft.
The Bucks could also have more suitors available this offseason than they do at the trade deadline. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team that’s currently above the second apron—and are therefore the only team that can’t aggregate contracts in a trade—but a handful of other teams are hard-capped and are close to those respective aprons.
Teams above the first apron also can’t take back more salary than they send out in a trade. That limits what the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics can currently offer for Antetokounmpo. And teams can roster up to 20 players in the offseason compared to only 15 during the regular season, which could help facilitate a blockbuster deal.
If some team offers the Bucks every draft pick under the sun and/or a blue-chip prospect like Stephon Castle or Amen Thompson, that could tempt them to pull the trigger on a deal ahead of the trade deadline. But the certainty of knowing which draft picks they’re acquiring in 2026—along with knowing where their own pick lands—has real value.
With that in mind, the Bucks should be in no rush to move Antetokounmpo within the next week. Teams should still be willing to offer a haul this offseason even though he’ll be only one year removed from potentially becoming a free agent. The clarity that they’ll gain between now and then could be invaluable to their upcoming rebuild.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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