On the morning of the NBA draft lottery, Giannis Antetokounmpo was reportedly "open-minded" about his future with the Milwaukee Bucks. In the weeks since then, there have yet to be any concrete updates about what Antetokounmpo is thinking while the Bucks continue to hope they can convince him to remain with the franchise. The Bucks have limited ways of improving their roster this offseason, while Damian Lillard will likely miss the entire season as recovers from a torn Achilles.
"I reported a few weeks ago he is open-minded," said Shams Charania. "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 loyalty is going to win out. 'We're going to have Giannis.' He's been there for 12 years. A player like that loyalty means a lot. Equity means a lot. 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."
When Antetokounmpo had big extension decisions previously in 2020 and again in 2023, the Bucks responded by acquiring Jrue Holiday and then flipping Holiday for Lillard. The Bucks are unlikely to be capable of executing a transaction of that magnitude this offseason.
"Antetokounmpo is still in the process of figuring out what his future looks like," added Charania. "I think between now and the start of free agency we're going to get some more answers."
