The Bucks have come under the league’s scrutiny after they reportedly shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season, even when he is reportedly fit to play. The NBA has even initiated an investigation into the franchise after the NBPA was forced to intervene.
Subsequently, the Bucks’ general manager, Jon Horst, spoke with Eric Nehm of The Athletic and shared his views on Antetokounmpo’s injury status for the first time.
“He’s not cleared to play yet in a game,” the Bucks general manager said. “And we’re going to continue to evaluate it. I don’t know what the outcome in that world will be, but the only lens we have is to make our best professional judgment for him and for us.”
“And it has nothing to do with draft picks. It has nothing to do with tanking. It has everything to do with the health of the player,” Horst further added.
“Listen, I think he’s been working to get himself back because he wants to play, and I love that he wants to play,” Horst said on Tuesday. “And I think we are continuously on a day-by-day basis evaluating, in our professional judgment, whether or not that’s the right thing and the lens is his health. And that’s what’s best for the organization.”
“He wants to play and has been rehabbing. That’s one of the many reasons he’s great,” Horst said. “We haven’t cleared him yet for a game, but will continue to evaluate.”
Horst was further asked if the Bucks are open to considering allowing Antetokounmpo to play one NBA game [possibly the final home game of the season against the Nets on April 10] with both his brothers to build a bridge on the possibility that the star forward repairs his relationship with the team.
“It’s a good question,” Horst said. “I care because of the partnership and everything that we’ve done together, what I hope we continue to do together, everything he’s done for me personally.”
“Organizationally, we care what Giannis thinks. Of course. And I hope he cares what we think and what we feel, but you have to make tough decisions in tough circumstances, and the lens, again, is to make the best professional judgment that we can that’s best for him and us regarding his health.”
“That is ruling everything. That’s really all that we care about. It’s none of the other stuff. There’s no gamesmanship here. There’s no angling. We just care about doing what’s right for him and for us from a health perspective.”
“Of course, I care about what he feels and what he cares about. And I have his entire career,” Horst continued. “And he cares, hopefully, what I care about and what I feel and the organization. And he has said as much in a lot of this stuff. But it doesn’t mean that you always just do what someone else wants. Like you can still care and not do what they want.”
These comments have undertones that suggest that while the Bucks have gratitude for everything that the Greek superstar has done for the team, he no longer calls the shots on whatever he wants to do, and the front office needs to step in to take control of what’s best for the organization as a whole and not a factory of his personal wishes and desires.
It is seeming increasingly likely that the Bucks will trade Antetokounmpo in the summer to maximize the return they can get before he eventually becomes a free agent and leaves for nothing if he doesn’t extend a contract with the team.
According to NBA insider Jake L. Fischer, the Knicks are still viewed as the primary target for Antetokounmpo, since they are a big market team that is facing a championship drought.
“I’ve heard from multiple people who have checked in with Giannis’s side of things that playing in the Garden and seeing that fanbase electrify in the playoffs, knowing that there will be an absolute parade thrown throughout the city, breaking a long title drought is very appealing to Giannis,” he wrote.
The Bucks superstar was averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 62.4$ from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc before he was shut down for the season. The 31-year-old superstar clearly has several years of his prime left and can still get a lot of value if traded to the right franchise.
Hence, we might see Antetokounmpo heading to New York in the summer to play at Madison Square Garden since the Bucks owner has made it clear that the superstar will be traded if he does not extend with the team. It will be interesting to see how things turn out for the Greek superstar in the summer.
