Report: Giannis Antetokounmpo Expected To Start Next Season On Bucks

According to Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to start next season on the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Antetokounmpo doesn’t plan to request a trade from the Bucks. 

“A possibility is far from a certainty. And, as things stand today, the expectation is that Antetokounmpo will start next season as a Buck, sources told ESPN. To be clear, the emphasis is on today. There’s still a lot of road to be walked this offseason, and it’s hard to know exactly how everything will shake out,” Windhorst and Bontemps wrote. 

“In meetings with ownership since the end of the season, Bucks coach Doc Rivers and recently-extended general manager Jon Horst have presented plans to keep the core of the team intact around Antetokounmpo, with a goal of competing for a top-six playoff spot and with a hope Damian Lillard could return from his Achilles recovery before the end of next season. The Bucks went 10-4 without Lillard to close the regular season as he dealt with a blood clot. That, plus Antetokounmpo’s larger role of keeping Milwaukee afloat, were the cornerstones of the team’s projection.”

The Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of this year’s playoffs in five games.

Milwaukee has won just one postseason series since winning the 2021 championship against the Phoenix Suns in six games. 

Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP, a one-time Finals MVP, a one-time Defensive Player of the Year and a nine-time All-Star. He has career averages of 23.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks. 

Antetokounmpo, 30, will make $54,126,380 next season. The Bucks signed the forward to a three-year, $175 million extension in October 2023.

Antetokounmpo is one of the top players in the NBA. He averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.2 blocks for the Bucks this season while shooting 60.1% from the field and 61.7% from the free-throw line.