Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future is set to be one of the biggest talking points of the 2025-26 season. The campaign could well prove to be Antetokounmpo’s last with the Bucks, and his latest comments about his future on SiriusXM NBA Radio should worry the fanbase.
“I think I’ve said from day one, number one goal is to be on the same team for 20+ years,” Antetokounmpo said. “I want to be like the all-time greats that have played on the same team. But at the end of the day, my competitive spirit is number one before that. I want to win.
I’m not satisfied with just being in my comfort zone and being in a place if we are not competing,” Antetokounmpo stated. “It’s easy for me to make a decision of say, I’m here 13 years, the city loves me. This is my comfort zone. I can drive with my eyes closed to the arena. I know the route, I know every turn. I know how [to get here] with my eyes closed.
“I know how the game is going to be played,” Antetokounmpo added. “I know everybody in this building, I know everybody in the arena, but that’s your comfort zone. I try to get out of my comfort zone because that’s where I know I excel. And I want to keep on pushing myself to be uncomfortable. I don’t want to be in my comfort zone.”
This might be the clearest indication yet that Antetokounmpo will ask out if the Bucks’ 2025-26 season doesn’t go according to plan. The nine-time All-Star wants to win and doesn’t mind leaving this comfort zone he finds himself in.
Antetokounmpo fully understands the situation he is in right now. The 30-year-old is adored in Milwaukee and can do little wrong in the eyes of the fanbase. The front office also appears willing to do whatever it takes to please him, having signed his brothers Thanasis and Alex.
Everything revolves around Antetokounmpo, and few players in the NBA are in the position that he is in. It would be easy to just sit back and get comfortable, but he wants to win another title.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to the championship in 2021, and you’d have imagined back then that they’d continue to make deep playoff runs at the very least in the years that followed. That hasn’t happened, though.
The Bucks have won one playoff series since winning that title. They have lost in the first round in each of the last three seasons, and a similar fate might await them in 2026, as Myles Turner is the second-best player on this team now. If that run does extend to four, Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in 2024-25, might well head out.
Antetokounmpo can become a free agent as early as 2027 by opting out of his $62.7 million player option for 2027-28. The Bucks would have little choice but to trade him in a year if he asks out, or else they risk losing him for nothing.
The Bucks held exploratory trade talks with the New York Knicks over Antetokounmpo in the summer, and they are one of the teams to keep an eye on. There will be plenty of other suitors for a player of his caliber, but his contract situation means he’s likely to end up at one of his preferred locations, whatever those may be.
Despite all the uncertainty, Antetokounmpo has made it clear he is fully committed to the Bucks right now. He did add, though, that he is allowed to change his mind in six to seven months.
