Giannis Antetokounmpo Sees Himself With Bucks 'As Long As Everybody's Fighting For The Same Thing'

[RealGM Wiretap]

The future of Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most pressing issues in the offseason as he becomes eligible for a supermax contract before potentially becoming a free agent in 2021.

"As long as everybody's fighting for the same thing ... which is to be a champion, I don't see why not to be in Milwaukee for the next 15 years," Antetokounmpo told Ernie Johnson on NBA TV after accepting the trophy.

Antetokounmpo had a three-hour meeting with Marc Lasry this week.

"Obviously, I would like to keep that conversation I had with the ownership and my coach and the general manager private, but at the end of the day, every team has got to improve. It's simple. You've got to be better than what you were last year. If you did not win the whole thing, you've got to get better," Antetokounmpo said. "If you win the whole thing, you've got to get better and do it again. So, for now, our team has got to get better. I think we have great talent and as long as we improve individually and improve as a team we're gonna be in a good spot.

"I left the meeting encouraged and was happy with what we discussed and for now, we're on the same page. I was happy that they came and we had this long conversation about how we're gonna get better and about things for the future but, as I said, I was happy," he continued. "I left the conversation encouraged, but I've been encouraged my whole career in Milwaukee. I know that we've gotten better each year and I know that Milwaukee has great people that view every year the same I do every year which is to play well, improve and win it all. So, I've always been encouraged but after the meeting I was encouraged, too."

Via Eric Woodyard/ESPN

[Laimbeer]

If he still doesn't know...

[agkagk]

If they wanted to keep giannis they shouldn’t have cheaped out on Brogdan.

He gone.

[alienpick]

He’s gone

[TheBoi10]

Mediocrity?

He gone

[njknicks]

Given the pandemic will impact NBA's revenue for this and next season - the best route for Giannis is to sign a short term deal with an opt out after year 2 making him an un-restricted free agent 2023 when Giannis will be 28 ( still in his prime ).

By keeping a short term contract it will keep maximum pressure on the Bucks in terms of title contention ( 3 years ) - and allow Giannis to explore his options in his prime should the Bucks not make suitable improvements.

[njknicks]

If they wanted to keep giannis they shouldn’t have cheaped out on Brogdan.

He gone.

Brogdan is a solid, well balanced player. However, Brogdan has consistently been injured throughout his career - he averages 60 games per year ( and he has only been in the league for 4 seasons ) - you can not commit big money to a player that has consistently missed 25% of the season -- that would be irresponsible from an GM perspective. As solid as his numbers were, Bucks were right to pass on his contract demands due his health concerns and opt to sign Wesley Matthews instead for a fraction of the sum.

[agkagk]

If they wanted to keep giannis they shouldn’t have cheaped out on Brogdan.

He gone.

Brogdan is a solid, well balanced player. However, Brogdan has consistently been injured throughout his career - he averages 60 games per year ( and he has only been in the league for 4 seasons ) - you can not commit big money to a player that has consistently missed 25% of the season -- that would be irresponsible from an GM perspective. As solid as his numbers were, Bucks were right to pass on his contract demands due his health concerns and opt to sign Wesley Matthews instead for a fraction of the sum.

Kawhi Leonard.
Chris Paul.

Tones of injury prone players are worth investing in.

Brogdan plays a winning style and has a hell of a head on his shoulders. You invest in guys like him.

Kyle Korver and Wes Mathews Combined were paid a fraction of Brogdans salary and the results speak for themselves. You need big players for the big moments, not for the regular season (that’s what grunts like Wes are for).

You echo the Gm’s line of thinking perfectly and it’s the kind of linear logic that should be reserved for Accounting offices.

I’d call Hammond a tool, but I suspect the bucks cheap-o owner made the call.

[wa7hnaussksjst]

It's Brogdon, not Brogdan

[deeps6x]

He is saying the correct things for himself and for his team. For himself, he HAS to appear loyal, even if he isn't. Ok, maybe HAS is too strong. He is the MVP after all, and would get max money from every team in the league. Any other lesser player would need to appear loyal in his situation, or some other team might not be willing to offer as much money. For the team, if he appears loyal, they can get a greater haul for him, if it appears that it will be very hard for some other team to pry him away from the Bucks.

This was probably the first thing communicated to him in the meeting. After that, they probably had some weak-ass theoretical options for trading players (Bledsoe, etc), or signing options into MLE money (that won't help). They probably didn't admit that the team gets weaker from here, and that this was their best shot. The team might have said if we extend you for five years, and give you max money, then we can gut the team over the next season or two, create a ton of cap space and try to lure one other max money player to the team for the 22/23 season and maybe land a few decent, cheap players to surround the two max money players with for another title shot in 23/24. We could be this year's Clippers in 23/24 (which might have sounded great a week ago). But realistically, would Giannis really want to stick around for that?!? I don't think so. Maybe yes. But I don't think so.

My guess:

He gone.

Best case is that the Bucks convince him to extend for max money/years, then trade him in 13 months (or as soon as he can be traded after signing the extension) for a Paul George like haul of assets. Of course, in that scenario, while it works great for the Bucks, it also takes away Giannis' ability to choose where he plays for the next 6 years.

If I was Giannis, I'd be telling the team I'll do everything right publicly to maintain my value, but I'm going to tell you which team(s) I want to get traded to, this off-season, and then you can try to extract whatever you can from them. He is a max money player for the rest of his playing days no matter what, so he might as well choose where he really wants to live/play.

[GBPackers47]

If they wanted to keep giannis they shouldn’t have cheaped out on Brogdan.

He gone.

Brogdan is a solid, well balanced player. However, Brogdan has consistently been injured throughout his career - he averages 60 games per year ( and he has only been in the league for 4 seasons ) - you can not commit big money to a player that has consistently missed 25% of the season -- that would be irresponsible from an GM perspective. As solid as his numbers were, Bucks were right to pass on his contract demands due his health concerns and opt to sign Wesley Matthews instead for a fraction of the sum.

Kawhi Leonard.
Chris Paul.

Tones of injury prone players are worth investing in.

Brogdan plays a winning style and has a hell of a head on his shoulders. You invest in guys like him.

Kyle Korver and Wes Mathews Combined were paid a fraction of Brogdans salary and the results speak for themselves. You need big players for the big moments, not for the regular season (that’s what grunts like Wes are for).

You echo the Gm’s line of thinking perfectly and it’s the kind of linear logic that should be reserved for Accounting offices.

I’d call Hammond a tool, but I suspect the bucks cheap-o owner made the call.

Not sure why you would considering Hammond hasn't been GM of the Bucks since 2016.

[Temuhjan]

The Greek Freak will play out the final year of his contact. Then we will have the Giannis sweepstakes next summer. Whichever team that is one Giannis away from lifting the Larry O'Brien will get Giannis

That could be the Clippers, Golden State, Portland, Boston or Brooklyn

Let the games begin!!

[TheCage4]

I think Giannis has defied the status quo since he was drafted. This guy is from a different mold.

If he says he’s happy, I’ll take his word for it. If he wants to see improvement to stay, and they improve in his eyes, he’ll stay.

He has a real chance to break the trend of running to build a super team. I surely hope he and Milwaukee capitalize on it.

[Cassius]

I think "fighting for the same thing" could easily be interpreted as win vs profits. The Brogdon contract is the first strike against the Bucks. They'll have to do something really shrewd this offseason to even the count.

[Batsy]

I think Giannis has defied the status quo since he was drafted. This guy is from a different mold.

If he says he’s happy, I’ll take his word for it. If he wants to see improvement to stay, and they improve in his eyes, he’ll stay.

He has a real chance to break the trend of running to build a super team. I surely hope he and Milwaukee capitalize on it.

Your comment sinks of the "ignorance is bliss" mindset. He's going to lose years in his prime continually falling short to win a championship because no one wants to go to Milwaukee. Yeah, he says all the rivht things and he says wants to stay, but I feel all of that talk is coming from the management group around him coaching him on how to maintain his public image with the media and fans. He's a international player, 95% of them have never been as successful (regular season) or popular as he has been the last 4 years, so we don't hold them to that high of a standard when it comes leading their team to winning a championship. I'm 100% certain if he could leave the Bucks and team up with another star in another city and he had the guarantee of not receiving hate or damaging his image, he would. Idk who actually buys pr garbage like this, he wants better teammates and a better coach, he just doesn't want to say it publicly.

[ItsDanger]

Reminds me of Kevin Garnett in Minnesota.