Giannis Antetokounmpo still seems fairly happy in Milwaukee, but that is not stopping one rival team in the conference from making some apparent overtures.
Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports this week that a trade for the Bucks star Antetokounmpo “has been and remains Plan A” for the Brooklyn Nets. Lewis cited conversations with “multiple league personnel” as the basis for the report.
Antetokounmpo, now 30 years old, is under contract with Milwaukee for at least two more seasons (making $54.1 million in 2025-26 and $58.5 million in 2026-27). He also holds a monster player option of $62.8 million for the 2027-28 campaign.
But the Bucks are facing a bit of reckoning right now at a mediocre 40-34 this year. While that is still good enough for a top-six spot in the East, Milwaukee went just 7-9 in the month of March (after already getting off to a 2-8 start to the season). The Bucks swapped Khris Middleton, 33, for Kyle Kuzma, 29, at the trade deadline but may still be facing the unfortunate reality that they are aging out of their championship window.
As for the Nets, they are all about the future at this point and currently have the NBA’s lowest amount of salary on their books for next season at a mere $53.2 million. Though Brooklyn lacks the blue-chip youngsters that it might require for the Bucks to even entertain the idea of trading Antetokounmpo (Cameron Johnson, 29, Nic Claxton, 25, Cam Thomas, 24, and Noah Clowney, 20, may be their best current roster assets), they notably have 15 first-round picks and 16 second-round picks over the next seven drafts to sweeten the pot with for Milwaukee.
We heard a few months ago that there was only one scenario where Milwaukee would consider trading away their longtime franchise linchpin Antetokounmpo. But with another early playoff exit for the Bucks this season, things could get really interesting for the Nets and other possible suitors.
