Giannis Thread - 13th Season with the Bucks

[StickeeFingaz]

I didn't realize we were taking this seriously now. I've been ignoring (very literally) anything Shams has said about Giannis since he joined ESPN. So this time might be for real?

Correct. Giannis continues to not refute these reports. He joined the team late staying in Greece for as long as possible, and now there is the heavy likelihood the family is all moving out of Milwaukee and back to Greece. It's not hard to read the room here.

I thought he was late getting to camp because he tested positive for COVID and couldn’t travel?

[emunney]

The 4-month countdown clock has started (imo).

Because of the weak supporting cast, Antetokounmpo may have been wise to wait for any sort of trade demand. If the Bucks do sputter out of the gate, he’ll have more justification for asking out. In addition, as ESPN reported Tuesday, his monster $200-million-plus extension can be signed up until October 1, 2026, only if his team has employed him for at least six months. Teams will be motivated to acquire him ahead of the trade deadline rather than wait for this summer.

Oct 2026 is the starting point, not the ending point, for his eligibility to sign an extension.

[Prez]

Is it really an unpopular opinion that Giannis has actually been entirely, and refreshingly, honest about all of this for years? He's always maintained one thing, and that's "I wanna win". So this all has me wondering why anyone is acting surprised that this might finally be the turning point. Giannis isn't a moron and I never honestly expected him to accept sticking it out for a bunch of re-tooling/re-building or whatever-you-want-to-call-it seasons just out of blind loyalty. Like, at what point do people actually believe the words he says, specifically the "I wanna be here as long as we can compete for championships" stuff?

It's on you guys if you thought everything was going to be all peachy just because we somewhat salvaged a nightmare situation/timeline with the Turner signing and a couple savvy cap moves. The only way I'd be willing to put any of this on him, is if his agent/camp specifically timed it to leak this stuff all right before the season starts as a prelude to a mid-season trade request. But I'll still put the odds of that as close to zero as I can imagine. This coming season really is starting to look like it's it though. He'll make the decision for you the second he decides to (or doesn't) sign the extension 12-months from now.

If the team is as bad as the consensus suggests, it's a stretch to think he won't find a new team to extend with next summer. So given how people feel about the team, it's a pretty natural extension that they assume he's on his way out. But if the team works as well as I think it will, this will all be forgotten.

This is pretty much where I’m at. If they simply swap in Giannis for Kuzma in that same starting 5 and Rollins gets a lot of run off the bench, barring injuries I think they’re gonna be pretty damn good and they’ll find a different story to jump to for the time being.

[MickeyDavis]

I didn't realize we were taking this seriously now. I've been ignoring (very literally) anything Shams has said about Giannis since he joined ESPN. So this time might be for real?

Correct. Giannis continues to not refute these reports. He joined the team late staying in Greece for as long as possible, and now there is the heavy likelihood the family is all moving out of Milwaukee and back to Greece. It's not hard to read the room here.

I thought he was late getting to camp because he tested positive for COVID and couldn’t travel?

Correct. Not everything is nefarious.

[Daver]

1 question board if this has to happen is horst obligated to trade giannis where he wants to go for a sh.. package like to NY giannis preferred destination because of his loyalty or is it horst job to trade him to tbe team no matter where who offers the best package even if its a team who sucks.IM ALL for tbe 2nd scenerio.Thsnk giannis for all hes done but dont screw over the franchise to just make him happy

[raferfenix]

We don’t know anything of substance here. What we have is another nothing article from Shams that wouldn’t be printed in the National Enquirer. No sources and nothing even remotely concrete.

The kids thing is weird but I don’t buy it until I hear it from the horses mouth.

Either way it would be really nice if Giannis responded to this. Also the organization even if it’s true. Lie about it to get this vultures off of us for at least the start of the season. This has always been way too much pressure for this team.

I don’t buy the kids moving thing until I hear it from a reputable source or Giannis. Just seems so unlike him.

Wish this were true about Shams -- and I thought the same for most of the summer -- but sources did give him fresh intel on the fallout from the late July meeting:

After Horst expressed his confidence in the Bucks' roster and his moves, Antetokounmpo aired his concerns about whether this team could truly achieve championship contention, and he wanted to explore whether there would be an alternative path forward for both the team and the player, league sources said.

Several teams were discussed internally, but one emerged as the only place Antetokounmpo wanted to play outside of Milwaukee: the New York Knicks, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN.

This offseason marked the first time that Antetokounmpo truly initiated the pursuit of his best external options, and he had discussions with the Bucks that ultimately led to the conversations between the franchise and the Knicks.

Now it very much may be overblown for all the reasons Windy cited! However Giannis had the opportunity to tamp this down at media day and went the other direction, and now this.

I have started to wonder though about whether the family moving is actually true.

Is anyone hearing about that beyond the Greek sites?

No one has reported it out beyond aggregators aggregating from those so far. And Brew Hoop took Giannis' IG comment as a refutation of the story:

https://www.brewhoop.com/bucks-news/52318/milwaukee-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-refutes-rumors-family-move-greece-children

[Dick Tate]

The 4-month countdown clock has started (imo).

Because of the weak supporting cast, Antetokounmpo may have been wise to wait for any sort of trade demand. If the Bucks do sputter out of the gate, he’ll have more justification for asking out. In addition, as ESPN reported Tuesday, his monster $200-million-plus extension can be signed up until October 1, 2026, only if his team has employed him for at least six months. Teams will be motivated to acquire him ahead of the trade deadline rather than wait for this summer.

Oct 2026 is the starting point, not the ending point, for his eligibility to sign an extension.

Yahoo sucks.

[paulpressey25]

I have started to wonder though about whether the family moving is actually true.

Is anyone hearing about that beyond the Greek sites?

No one has reported it out beyond aggregators aggregating from those so far. And Brew Hoop took Giannis' IG comment as a refutation of the story:

https://www.brewhoop.com/bucks-news/52318/milwaukee-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-refutes-rumors-family-move-greece-children

The family is in Greece. I've heard that from couple sources here. And the Brewhoop link refers to a general desire of Giannis to not have the media track his family regardless of where they are situated.

[Daver]

We don’t know anything of substance here. What we have is another nothing article from Shams that wouldn’t be printed in the National Enquirer. No sources and nothing even remotely concrete.

The kids thing is weird but I don’t buy it until I hear it from the horses mouth.

Either way it would be really nice if Giannis responded to this. Also the organization even if it’s true. Lie about it to get this vultures off of us for at least the start of the season. This has always been way too much pressure for this team.

I don’t buy the kids moving thing until I hear it from a reputable source or Giannis. Just seems so unlike him.

Wish this were true about Shams -- and I thought the same for most of the summer -- but sources did give him fresh intel on the fallout from the late July meeting:

After Horst expressed his confidence in the Bucks' roster and his moves, Antetokounmpo aired his concerns about whether this team could truly achieve championship contention, and he wanted to explore whether there would be an alternative path forward for both the team and the player, league sources said.

Several teams were discussed internally, but one emerged as the only place Antetokounmpo wanted to play outside of Milwaukee: the New York Knicks, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN.

This offseason marked the first time that Antetokounmpo truly initiated the pursuit of his best external options, and he had discussions with the Bucks that ultimately led to the conversations between the franchise and the Knicks.

Now it very much may be overblown for all the reasons Windy cited! However Giannis had the opportunity to tamp this down at media day and went the other direction, and now this.

I have started to wonder though about whether the family moving is actually true.

Is anyone hearing about that beyond the Greek sites?

No one has reported it out beyond aggregators aggregating from those so far. And Brew Hoop took Giannis' IG comment as a refutation of the story:

https://www.brewhoop.com/bucks-news/52318/milwaukee-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-refutes-rumors-family-move-greece-children

So do you grant his wish n trade him to tbe knicks for a garbage package seeing they like only 1 frp plus maybe kat/ OB/ hart or you say sorry giannis your going to a team who offers you the most

[aboveAverage]

It’s moot anyways because this team is going to be much better than expected at the start of the season. Giannis is super competitive and is not asking out unless the team is god awful for a long time period. He’s going to like this squad.

[Daver]

And another thing horst for all his warts has done i feel everything possible to keep the bucks contenders giannis wanted turner check wanted to keep trent/ porter check wanted to get younger faster hungrier check check check.This team has improved alot porter will have a fantastik yesr as will trent n turner 55 wins 3 seed ECFs my pick.
Giannis seemed hsppy with this roster calking them dogs then saying we will be faster n much more athletic

[Daver]

It’s moot anyways because this team is going to be much better than expected at the start of the season. Giannis is super competitive and is not asking out unless the team is god awful for a long time period. He’s going to like this squad.

Absolutely he will already made comments on that

[Ron Swanson]

Also precisely why a lot of us were begging the organization to dump Doc's worthless carcass at the unemployment line as soon as the playoff clock hit zero. You basically have one more shot at convincing Giannis this team can be even a fringe contender with this scrappy but uninspiring roster, and yet we're banking on an old, bottom-tier re-tread coach to actually exceed expectations and make this roster greater than the sum of its parts?

Just lays bare the complete degradation of the infrastructure/culture and decision-making of a franchise that was, just a few years ago, considered one of the gold standards of the league under the Bud/Horst regime. You can paper over a lot of the margins failure stuff as long as you have talent, but the second that talent well starts to run dry, this is usually what happens when you don't have an upper tier coach/GM combo. This organization got arrogant and outside of the Dame trade, complacent.

[Reddeye]

Home game against the Knicks 10/28on NBC. Would be nice if the Bucks win that game.

[emunney]

Just wanted to add that if this ends in a Giannis trade and the Bucks pull a Nico and only negotiate with one team they deserve the backlash and boycotts they receive. Love Giannis, but no one gets to force that action.

To be fair to how insane Nico is, to truly pull a Nico you have to do this against the wishes of your god-level talent.

[jakecronus8]

If Giannis is truly planting the seeds for asking out it's very reminiscent of Lebron leaving Cleveland the first time and really both times when you think about it. While you're not the de facto GM per se, every roster and coaching move goes through you so you'd be abandoning the sinking ship that you yourself put the hole in.

I've said it many times over the years but I always wished we had a well established vet GM that could protect Giannis from himself. Not many great players are great evaluators of coaching and talent.

Alas, most of this is avoided if the Bucks aren't the worst drafting team in the nba and we hit on say 2 of our first rounders in the Giannis era.

[jakecronus8]

Also precisely why a lot of us were begging the organization to dump Doc's worthless carcass at the unemployment line as soon as the playoff clock hit zero. You basically have one more shot at convincing Giannis this team can be even a fringe contender with this scrappy but uninspiring roster, and yet we're banking on an old, bottom-tier re-tread coach to actually exceed expectations and make this roster greater than the sum of its parts?

Unfortunately Giannis seems to have a mindset of if you played in the NBA you're already a tier above any head coaching candidate in the league. Keep in mind, this is the guy who tried to beg ownership to "unfire" the dumpster fire that was Jason Kidd in Milwaukee.

[Ron Swanson]

Lebron has always been an absolute snake and left each of his teams high-and-dry with no ability to recoup value on their investment in him. Giannis playing this year out and then saying "not gonna sign the extension" on October 1st of next year is nothing like pulling a Lebron. He's doing the franchise a favor by making the decision for you, and if the organization is too dumb not to take advantage of that, then that's on them.

[DingleJerry]

I still don't have any worry about Giannis leaving.

I'd phrase it as I have no more worry than I did 4 days ago. I've always had they "hey I get it if we fall out of real contention and you only have 3ish megastar years left to get a title" type mindset. I know he's always been a bit vague on comments, but that's the summary/paraphrase of them imo over the years. He doesn't wanna say the fully homer thing because then he looks bad going back on it later. he'd prefer to stay and be the hero here, but leaves the crack open in case he just has to do it due to team having no chance anymore while he's still elite of elite.

I'd also note that in spite of the ridiculous dollar amounts, he would not surprise me to be an early retire guy after like 3-4 more years rather than drag out to his late 30s like so many. His body has to be hurting already and he's made so much money that nothing matters anymore on that end. To me this news is about setting up their life post career, which at most has what 7 years and could be as little as 3-4. and with the current state of the US they'd rather not be here

[ShootingtheJ]

Like what is actually new in that article that changes anything from yesterday to today?

You have to add in Mariah moving to Greece with the kids to get the full context. As I said when Porschla Kidd left Fox Point for LA, if Momma isn’t happy, no one is happy.

And Giannis knows that if he asks out, he does NOT want his wife and kids to be living in Milwaukee and subjected to a small handful of angry fans and angry sports talk shows going 24/7 on the topic. Getting the wife and kids out to a neutral place ahead of time is a smart move.

nailed it. damn

Giannis gave Mariah the choice of Milwaukee or Athens. No other US choices, which is telling. He could move his family immediately if getting traded was a option, there's no financial limitations here. He's not going anywhere. If he was considering a trade, Milwaukee wouldn't have been 1 of just 2 choices.