Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future with the Milwaukee Bucks has been a big talking point in recent months, and his agent, Giorgos Panou, has finally spoken on that matter. During an interview with Amerikanos24, Panou revealed that Antetokounmpo will make his decision after the season. (via BasketNews)
“The end [of the season] will tell,” Panou said. “He obviously considers it his home. That’s not up for debate. He has proved it. Every year, every night, people can feel it, too. The truth is that they also have to make a decision, as well as Giannis will decide at the end of the year.”
“It’s important that the project continues to exist with the specific structure of the team because guys like Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton have contracts similar to Giannis’,” Panou added. “After everything the Bucks have offered, we thought it was fair for them to have a great asset in their hands, like Giannis, for the team to continue to exist.”
“Today, Milwaukee is the only option. There’s nothing else,” Panou concluded.
Antetokounmpo’s three-year, $175 million extension kicks in from next year, so the Bucks hold some leverage in this situation. The earliest that the 29-year-old can hit free agency is in 2027, by opting out of a $62.7 million player option for the 2027-28 season.
So, the Bucks should get a pretty good haul in return for Antetokounmpo should he ask out, but they’d be hoping it doesn’t come to that. The two-time MVP is one of the very best players in the NBA and has had an outstanding start to this season.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game for the Bucks in 2024-25. The eight-time All-Star is shooting a ridiculous 60.8% from the field too and has been unstoppable.
Despite Antetokounmpo’s excellence, though, the Bucks got off to a woeful 2-8 start to the season. That poor start came on the back of consecutive first-round exits in the playoffs in 2023 and 2024 and led to intense speculation about his future. It seemed like the Bucks were on a slippery slope, but the ship has now been steadied to an extent.
The Bucks have won six of their last seven games to improve to 8-9 on the season and are currently on a four-game winning streak. A big reason for this turnaround has been a significant improvement on the defensive end.
The Bucks have a defensive rating of 109.0 in their last seven games, as compared to 117.5 in their first 10. The coaching staff and the players deserve credit for turning things around in this manner and it will be interesting to see how much better they can get on the defensive end as the season progresses.
That Bucks defense will have their hands full in their next game, as they take on Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET in an NBA Cup clash. Butler has averaged 31.5 points per game on 65.5% shooting from the field after returning from injury and the Bucks will have to figure out a way to slow him down if they are to make it five wins in a row.
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