The Milwaukee Bucks experienced as significant of a letdown as possible, being the team that finished with the NBA’s best regular season record. Despite that success, they could not make it out of the first-round after being defeated handily by Jimmy Butler’s Miami Heat.
A significant focus is being placed on the possible implications of such a failure. However, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst took it a few steps back — pointing out the meaning of former team owner Marc Lasry sold the team due to a “thundercloud that’s on the horizon.”
“[Marc Lasry sold] because of the thundercloud that’s on the horizon,” Windhorst said. “We are now hearing the first rumblings. … The Bucks are in a quagmire and we have the first move with the firing of [Mike] Budenholzer.”
With Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez aging and set to reach free agency, the Bucks are about to be locked into a core that poses more questions than answers. Additionally, Jrue Holiday even stated last summer that he plans to retire at the end of his current contract, which expires after the 2024-25 season if he was to exercise his $36.7 million player option. They are stuck.
Antetokounmpo will not be eligible to sign a contract extension until September. It is unclear if he has an interest in doing so. He has a $51.9 million player option for the 2025-26 season, but as is the case for all superstars, he will surely decline it to sign a much larger deal. Milwaukee has him signed for the next two seasons before his option comes up.
“Is Giannis going to extend?” Windhorst asked on First Take. “I don’t know. And that uncertainty is what the league is watching right now. The New York Knicks, for example, they got 97 percent of their attention on the Miami Heat, three percent of their attention on Milwaukee. What’s going on over there?”
The Knicks will be just one of many teams to keep an eye on as a future trade suitor for Antetokounmpo. However, back in March, a league executive told the NBA Analysis Network to watch the Knicks as a potential future landing spot for Antetokounmpo.
“After winning a ring with the Bucks, there isn’t a sense of unfinished business if Giannis was to ever leave for somewhere else. … There isn’t much upside to the team they have now. Jrue Holiday has been great next to him, but is there enough beyond him long-term? Brook Lopez is old, and who knows how much he has left in the tank? Khris Middleton has struggled to stay healthy, he’s a free agent this summer and will be 32 this summer. A new beginning would make sense.”
“The Knicks are a team that people around the league have heard that Giannis is eyeing if he was to leave the Bucks. The ability to play in an iconic market with the ability to recruit could appeal to him. Being on the East Coast also makes it easy to get to Europe during the offseason.”
Many superstars have pondered forcing their way onto the Knicks with a trade request without the thought amounting to more than just that. It requires a significant buildup before reaching an outcome where that request is made. Sources tell NBA Analysis Network that a common cause for that hesitation is the lack of interest in playing for coach Tom Thibodeau.
While the Knicks get frequently linked to big names, they are genuinely emerging as a viable, desired landing spot for NBA superstars once again. With the Bucks having a poor outlook to re-tool around Antetokounmpo, his name will only continue to be a focus.
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