Giannis Antetokounmpo appears to be going … absolutely nowhere.
The notable news emerged on Thursday that the New York Knicks have signed forward Mikal Bridges to a new long-term contract extension. Bridges, the 28-year-old former All-Defensive selection, is getting a deal for four years and $150 million, per Shams Charania of ESPN. That is slightly below the max extension number of $156 million that Bridges could have commanded.
Along with the news about Bridges also came a major reported development with the Bucks star Antetokounmpo. Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire reports that the Knicks, before extending Bridges, received intel that Antetokounmpo would not be requesting a trade from Milwaukee. Mathur adds that “all signs point toward” the former NBA MVP Antetokounmpo remaining with the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo, still only 30 years old, has recently been the subject of much buzz over his NBA future. The Bucks have now lost in the first round for three straight years, and Antetokounmpo’s co-star Damian Lillard suffered a torn Achilles tendon last May before eventually being stretched-and-waived by Milwaukee.
In past months, we even heard rumors that Antetokounmpo was open to the possibility of a trade from the Bucks for the first time in his NBA career. That led to some major NBA teams positioning themselves for the potential of Antetokounmpo asking out.
But some top reporters have since cast doubt on the possibility that Antetokounmpo could be traded. Milwaukee has also been making some seismic offseason splashes in the hopes of convincing The Greek Freak to stick around, and now it sounds like Antetokounmpo may indeed be content to stay put with the Bucks.
