Hot Seat, Milwaukee: Giannis Has Made It Abundantly Clear That There Is No Guarantee He Stays With The Bucks

Dylan Buell. Getty Images.

You could make the case that in the current NBA slow period, things have been a little stale with nothing but James Harden and Damian Lillard trade speculation/drama. We as fans need something else to freak out/overreact/speculate about until the season actually starts in late October. Looking around the landscape, what could possibly fit the bill?

Oh I dunno, how about some good old fashioned Giannis drama?

Intrigued? I don't know how you couldn't be. If you clicked on this blog I imagine you're a basketball/NBA fan/just want to tell me how much I stink, so I feel like this massive feature from the New York Times that dropped today might be of some interest

I'll be honest, I may need to hit Tania up for some headline advice because this thing

"Giannis Antetokounmpo Wants It All. Even if It’s Not in Milwaukee"

hooked me in so fast it'll make your head spin. Could not have clicked fast enough. Now I'll warn you, it's long as hell and I say that as someone who knows a thing or two about writing shit that is long as hell, so read it in waves if you have to.

Coming off a first round loss to the Heat this past Spring, it marked the 3rd time since 2016-17 that the Bucks lost before the 2nd round, and the 5th time they failed to reach the ECF. Obviously, their 2021 title is truly all that matters, but a 2nd round loss in 2021-22 followed up by a 1st round loss in 2022-23 with an aging roster certainly puts the focus on Giannis' future as a Buck in question. 

For starters, let's review where he's even at in his current extension to help paint the picture

so right off the bat, the Bucks don't really have to be freaking out right this second. They technically do have some time, but after reading that piece and reading some of these quotes from Giannis, should they be more worried than we think?

In a few weeks, he will be eligible for a three-year extension worth about $173 million, but he doesn’t plan to sign one just yet.

“The real question’s not going to be this year — numbers-wise it doesn’t make sense,” Antetokounmpo said. “But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties. Even then, I don’t know.”

He added: “I would not be the best version of myself if I don’t know that everybody’s on the same page, everybody’s going for a championship, everybody’s going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don’t feel that, I’m not signing.”

Him not signing an extension now should not be a concern for anyone. That's a simple business decision that literally every NBA player will make who finds themselves in a similar spot. There's no need to extend now when the TV money and cap is going up. You may as well wait until next summer when Giannis will have 1+1 left on his deal. But what you should focus on is that next part. I can't ever remember a time we've ever heard Giannis even utter the idea of not signing an extension. Not only that, his reasoning is a little subjective, which you could argue gives him the out if things once again don't work out in the playoffs. 

Does he mean the front office making win now trades? Does it mean how hard his teammates train? It's not like the Bucks have a ton of cap space to work with, they just reinvested big money in an aging Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton, so things are a bit limited for the foreseeable future.

Let's keep going.

Milwaukee fired its coach, Mike Budenholzer, and hired Adrian Griffin, who had been an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors. That change, Antetokounmpo said, is part of why he is unsure if he’ll sign an extension.

“You’ve got to see the dynamics,” he said. “How the coach is going to be, how we’re going to be together. At the end of the day, I feel like all my teammates know and the organization knows that I want to win a championship. As long as we’re on the same page with that and you show me and we go together to win a championship, I’m all for it. The moment I feel like, oh, yeah, we’re trying to rebuild —”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“There will never be hard feelings with the Milwaukee Bucks,” he said. “I believe that we’ve had 10 unbelievable years, and there’s no doubt I gave everything for the city of Milwaukee. Everything. Every single night, even when I’m hurt. I am a Milwaukee Buck. I bleed green. I know this.

“This is my team, and it’s going to forever be my team. I don’t forget people that were there for me and allowed me to be great and to showcase who I am to the world and gave me the platform. But we have to win another one.”

Uhhhh…that seems pretty crazy right? How do you do absolutely anything in terms of the coaching staff or the roster without getting Giannis' full blessing? For that change to potentially be a reason he leaves is interesting because I have to imagine they asked him who they should hire to replace Budenholzer. That quote about not even getting close to suggesting a rebuild is probably why they forked over all that money to Lopex/Middleton this summer. With no real way to replace them, you probably stomach overpaying for aging players if it keeps Giannis in MIL.

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Throughout the entire piece, you keep seeing Giannis basically give the team an ultimatum. They either win another title, or he's leaving. I'm not sure how much clearer he could be

“But at the end of the day, being a winner, it’s over that goal,” he said. “Winning a championship comes first. I don’t want to be 20 years on the same team and don’t win another championship.”

That's pretty terrifying as a Bucks fan I imagine. Winning an NBA title is hard as shit. You need health mixed with a little bit of luck. Things can change in a single possession, all it takes is a twisted ankle or a back injury and your season is over. Hell, the 2021 Bucks title is proof of just how much luck/injury luck you need. If KD's toe was half an inch behind the line, the Bucks don't win that title. If Kyrie and then Trae Young don't get hurt, what happens?

The next logical question in all of this is if Giannis is leaving MIL in the summer of 2025, where could he go? Of course, a lot can change in terms of what rosters look like, but this is how cap space is projected to look that summer as things stand today

Clippers? Lakers? Bulls? 

It'll be interesting to see what route Giannis takes if he does want to leave. He could turn down that player option and hit free agency, but he could also pull the Dame move and sign the supermax extension and then demand to be traded later. At least that way the Bucks could get something back. The tricky part of that is because Giannis will be at 10+ years of service by then, he doesn't need the "supermax" from the Bucks to get the 35% of the cap deal. Anyone can give him that money at that point. 

To me, this feels like a situation where he's just making it very clear to Bucks ownership/management that they cannot just assume he'll be a Buck for life. This is just your classic example of putting pressure on a team through the media. At the same time, it might not matter what the front office does if this team keeps losing before the ECF. 

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Giannis has pretty much drawn his line in the sand. Either contend/win titles, or he's out. Safe to say that would be a league altering decision, and I think it's fair to suggest that the clock is officially ticking.