Giannis Antetokounmpo’s belief in his ability to engineer a turnaround is admirable. It’s also worthy of emulation. Too many superstars around the league bail at the first sign of trouble. Antetokounmpo has never taken the easy way out. While Joel Embiid opted to depart from Cameroon’s floundering national team and cashed in his U.S. citizenship to chase gold for Team USA, Antetokounmpo has suited up to play for Greece’s international program his entire career.
Antetokounmpo has had countless opportunities to ask out of Wisconsin. However, while in Brazil recently, Antetokounmpo did his best to put the rumors of a summer sweepstakes for his services to rest. On Tuesday, Brian Windhorst also splashed cold water on any trade discussions involving Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
“The Finals are different, I hope to be back soon with the Bucks,” Antetokounmpo remarked to the Brazilian outlet “Coast to Coast.”.The thing about loyalty is, it doesn’t always know the difference between love and inertia. In Milwaukee, that line has never been thinner.
Staying in Milwaukee might not be the best thing for Giannis, or the Bucks
After Damian Lillard ruptured his Achilles against the Indiana Pacers, the Bucks were teetering toward an amicable divorce. You could feel it in the air like a couple beginning to realize that their cracks in the relationship had become irreconcilable. There was even a serenity to it, in a way. Antetokounmpo had done what he came to do. A title in 2021, the first post-pandemic parade, and Antetokounmpo’s promise had been fulfilled. No one would have blamed him for moving on.
Quietly, it was encouraged by a front office that is devoid of picks, a top-heavy roster that has nearly 90 percent of its roster devoted to four players, one of which likely won’t play next season. Antetokounmpo’s openness to exploring his options felt like a soft launch for his farewell and it still may be.
Antetkounmpo has been on a pre-agency watchlist for years. After all, very few players commit to a small market franchise for the entirety of their career. Tim Duncan was in title contention until the end so it rarely made sense. Malone and Stockton had each other for two decades. Dirk Nowitzki hung around the Mavericks for years after the 2011 Larry O’Brien Trophy and took the 2014 Spurs to seven games in the first round as an eight-seed. These Bucks will likely never achieve that level of competitiveness again during Antetokounmpo’s prime due to the immeasurable damage Jon Horst has done to the Bucks since 2021.
Since Horst made the monumental trade that bogarted Jrue Holiday from New Orleans he has confused their moment of glory for an open bar tab, struck out in evaluating valuable first-round picks and has been outmaneuvered in trade negotiations.
The acquisition of Lillard cost the Bucks multiple firsts and Holiday. On its face, the Lillard trade didn’t sink the Bucks, but it was a magnifying glass that exposed the brittle bones of the roster.
The Bucks have successfully wasted Antetokounmpo’s late 20s by failing to draft a supporting cast that could have extended their window. Even when they swung for contact, Horst whiffed at the plate. At the 2025 trade deadline they traded a swap, Khris Middleton and a promising rookie for 2.5 years of Kyle Kuzma’s decaying value.
The grace period for Horst’s role in the 2021 title has run out. But instead of demanding more, they remained loyal to a fault, rewarding Horst with a four-year extension. The next phase of the Antetokounmpo era in Milwaukee is about surviving instead of thriving.
Reportedly, Antetokounmpo’s allegiance to Doc Rivers has created an avenue for the Bucks to reconcile with their star player which shields him from a mediocre job performance review. It's also given Horst runway to make more deleterious decisions that could drip into the next decade.nThe Bucks are pushing the limits of loyalty. Together, they’re holding each other back.