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Bucks eyeing Thanasis Antetokounmpo extension

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Jaren Kawada | Last updated Oct 19, 2024 4:19 PM ET

The Milwaukee Bucks still have at least two players to cut before opening day but are considering adding another veteran to its roster. After spending the last five years with the team, Thanasis Antetokounmpo will likely miss the entire 2024-2025 season but is still a name the Bucks are considering bringing back.

Antetokounmpo is being contemplated by general manager Jon Horst due to his locker room presence, per NBA reporter Keith Smith. Milwaukee is currently over the roster limit but Smith added that they are considering trading third-year guard MarJon Beauchamp to clear up space. The Bucks are reportedly examining the market for a perimeter defender if they decide against bringing back Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo’s Achilles injury was suffered in practice at the end of the 2023-2024 season. Due to his condition, the 32-year-old was unable to join his brothers on the Greece national team during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Throughout his six-year career in the NBA, Antetokounmpo has never averaged more than 3.6 points per game in a single season. That tally came in the 2021-2022 season when he also recorded a career-high 9.9 minutes per game and six starts. Since that year, Antetokounmpo has yet to record another start and has only appeared in a combined 71 regular season games.

Bucks’ 2024-2025 preseason roster

Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo (43) warms up before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Milwaukee Bucks at the American Airlines Center. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

On the heels of an embarrassing first-round exit courtesy of the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 playoffs, the Bucks are still in the process of finalizing their 2024-2025 roster. As of Oct. 19, the team is currently one player over the league maximum of 18 players, a limit that includes three on two-way contracts.

With 19 players currently on the Bucks’ offseason roster, Milwaukee still needs to clear at least one name before opening night. If the team decides to welcome Antetokounmpo back into its organization, two current players would need to either get traded or released.

The Bucks have not given any indication on who they plan on releasing but Beauchamp has become an obvious candidate along with Anzejs Pasecniks, Liam Robbins and Ryan Rollins. Pasecniks and Rollins are the Bucks’ current two-way player along with third-year guard Stanley Umude. The team’s G-League affiliate, Wisconsin Herd, is located just one hour away from Milwaukee in the city of Oshkosh.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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