We are slowly but steadily approaching a resolution to the long-simmering Giannis Antetokounmpo saga. One Bucks co-owner, Wes Edens, said in March that Milwaukee would either extend or trade Antetokounmpo this offseason, and another co-owner, Jimmy Haslam, offered a more specific timeline this week, saying the team hoped to have clarity on Antetokounmpo by the NBA Draft on June 23.
That’s a bit more than six weeks away and the market is very much still setting itself, but on Saturday, The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote a thorough re-examination of teams that would potentially be in play, and it included two pretty notable nuggets that could inform how this is going to play out:
- Antetokounmpo is “believed to be interested in joining a true title contender,” which makes things harder for teams lower in the standings to make a sincere push.
- It is also “widely believed” that Antetokounmpo would prefer to remain in the Eastern Conference.
All of this aligns with Antetokounmpo’s previous quotes on the subject. Dating back to the 2023 offseason, he’s been consistent in prioritizing winning a second championship as his goal should he leave Milwaukee. This creates an understandable skepticism about joining an up-and-coming team. He’s 31 and just came off a lottery season. He may not believe he has time to wait for such a team to build itself into a true contender.
The Eastern Conference, in addition to its relative geographic proximity to his home bases in Milwaukee and Greece, is also the easier competitive path, as it means facing only one of the Facebook
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