Jimmy Haslam said weeks ago that a Giannis Antetokounmpo resolution with the Milwaukee Bucks would come before the draft on June 23 and 24. After the 31-year-old's recent comments, the organization has to feel even better about setting that "deadline." In an interview with the School of Hard Knocks, the superstar said:
"In 2013, I got drafted, came here to Milwaukee. I've been here for 13 years with the team, and hopefully, many more."
Antetokounmpo will be eligible to sign an extension on Oct. 1, and by that time, training camp and the preseason will be underway. The regular season will be just a few weeks away. Milwaukee doesn't want to wait until then to find out whether Giannis will sign a new deal.
Haslam specifically said that Antetokounmpo can either sign a max contract and stay with the Bucks or "he's going to play somewhere else." It doesn't sound like he will have the option to stay in Milwaukee and decide on his future during the season or next summer, when he could decline his $62.7 million player option to hit unrestricted free agency. That makes sense.
Giannis has to figure out what he wants from Bucks (and soon)
Antetokounmpo hasn't publicly requested a trade, telling Sam Amick of The Athletic at the beginning of the calendar year that doing so wasn't in his nature. Less than two weeks ago, on ESPN, Shams Charania (I know, I know) said that Giannis had "made it clear" to the Bucks over the course of several months that it's time for both sides to move on.
Charania doesn't have the best reputation in Milwaukee, especially given how things went leading up to the February deadline.
Still, Antetokounmpo is the one who said he would leave the Bucks if there were a better situation elsewhere for him to win a second championship. He had his eye on New York last summer, and the two teams discussed a trade, but talks didn't progress into anything serious. Milwaukee listened to offers before the deadline, but again, nothing serious came out of it.
As for Antetokounmpo, he waited until after the deadline to post this:
Legends don’t chase. They attract 💯😎 pic.twitter.com/62r1jg93vt
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 5, 2026
The Bucks didn't need his permission to trade him before the deadline, but he could've made it known before the deadline passed that he didn't want to leave. Maybe he did in private, but you have to think that if that were the case, Milwaukee would've ended discussions entirely.
There have been a lot of conflicting reports the past few months about Antetokounmpo's future, making it all a whirlwind for Bucks fans to keep up with. If what he said about wanting to stay in Milwaukee for many more years is true, he shouldn't think twice about doing that, right? He could've already made it known that he wants to sign an extension, but he hasn't.
Leaving the only NBA home you've ever known, especially after over 10 years, wouldn't be easy. It's not supposed to be. Giannis wouldn't (or shouldn't) be the bad guy in anyone's story if he decides what's best for him is to go elsewhere. It is a tough decision, one he has had a lot of time to think through, and he won't be able to delay giving a concrete answer for much longer.
The ball is in Antetokounmpo's court, and he'll have to pick a lane between now and the draft.
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