Apr 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) reach for the ball in the third quarter during game four of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Giannis Antetokounmpo Still Undecided About Future With Bucks: Report

Originally posted on Milwaukee Bucks on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated May 27, 2025 4:41 PM ET

Two-time MVP Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo apparently remains undecided about his future with the only NBA franchise he has ever known.

After a third consecutive first-round playoff defeat this spring, the nine-time All-NBA superstar faces a murky path back to contention.

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Antetokounmpo's nine-time All-Star sidekick, aging point guard Damian Lillard, tore his Achilles tendon during the Bucks' five-game loss to the Indiana Pacers this year.

The 6-foot-2 Weber State product could miss all of the 2025-26 season, and with him sidelined, Milwaukee has little chance to trade his contract and improve the roster around Antetokounmpo.

During an appearance on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show," NBA insider Shams Charania indicated that Antetokounmpo was still figuring out if he wanted to demand a trade or if he was open to waiting things out in Milwaukee.

"Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the process of figuring things out..

I'm told that process is ongoing and he hasn't had that meeting with the Bucks yet" @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/7QjaAYmYG8
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 27, 2025

"He is open-minded. He is right now in the process of figuring out, 'Is my forever home going to be in Milwaukee, or is it time to go pursue a championship somewhere else?' I'm told that process is ongoing. There still has not yet been a big moment-of-truth meeting, I'm told, between the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

"That will happen at some point in the offseason. But the Bucks are operating as if, listen, loyalty's going to win out, we're going to have Giannis there, he's been there 12 years... And so the Bucks are banking on that. They're banking on a gap year, essentially, where they're going to be able to retool around Giannis."

If the 2025-26 season is expected to be a gap year, what would Antetokounmpo call the 2022-23 through 2024-25 seasons?

Milwaukee couldn't emerge out of the first round in any of the prior three seasons, in part due to major injuries to Antetokounmpo in the '23 and '24 playoffs, in part as a result of injuries to Lillard in the '24 and '25 postseason, and in part due to being thoroughly outplayed by the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers in the '23 and '25 series.

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"They only have one first round pick they can trade, they lack the high-level, tradeable contracts," Charania said. "This year, [Jon Horst] doesn't really have that same bandwidth to go make moves [that he employed in the 2020 and '23 offseason]... If he looks elsewhere, Pat, that will be a big market that we're going to see for Giannis Antetokounmpo."

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This article first appeared on Milwaukee Bucks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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