Free agent forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo is headed back to Greece for the 2026/27 season, having signed with Aris BC, according to a press release from the team. Antetokounmpo’s new contract is a two-year deal that includes a third-year team option.
The older brother of two-time NBA MVP Giannis AntetokounmpoThanasis has spent six of the past seven seasons playing in Milwaukee alongside Giannis. He wasn’t on the Bucks’ roster in 2024/25 while he recovered from an Achilles tear but made 230 total regular season appearances for the team from 2019-26, averaging 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.2 minutes per night.
Following the blockbuster trade that sent Giannis to Miami, the expectation was that Thanasis would likely continue his career overseas unless the Heat pursued him. While he’ll no longer be teammates with Giannis, Thanasis will still compete alongside one of his brothers, as Kostas Antetokounmpo also signed with Aris BC earlier this offseason.
This will be the third stint competing in Greece for Thanasis, an Athens native. He played for Filathlitikos from 2011-13 and then suited up for Panathinaikos from 2017-19.
The 34-year-old, who won a pair of domestic titles with Panathinaikos in 2018 and 2019 and an NBA title with Milwaukee in 2021, has also represented the Greek national team several times, including in multiple EuroBasket and World Cup tournaments.
Antetokounmpo is joining an Aris squad that had a 14-10 record in the Greek Basketball League last season and went 8-10 in EuroCup play. The team has had an active summer, having signed NBA veterans like Cheap Birch, Jeremiah Robinson-Earland E.J. Liddell in addition to the two Antetokounmpo brothers.