Giannis Thread - 13th Season with the Bucks

[tonyreyes123]

Giannis has won 8 series with us with 4 being the 2021 title which looks just as flukey as the Lakers 2020 title.

It was a Bucks/Hawks/Suns/Clippers final 4 lmao

[midranger]

Most trade restrictions end around December 15th, right?

[midranger]

Giannis has won 8 series with us with 4 being the 2021 title which looks just as flukey as the Lakers 2020 title.

It was a Bucks/Hawks/Suns/Clippers final 4 lmao

Also, the Nets having injuries to 2 of their 3 best players.

Anyway, it’s crazy to think we haven’t had more playoff success with Giannis. Similar situation to Favre and Rodgers. Best player on the planet willing you to one championship at the height of their power, but coaching/personnel was never close to good enough to establish a dynasty.

[paulpressey25]

Giannis has won 8 series with us with 4 being the 2021 title which looks just as flukey as the Lakers 2020 title.

It was a Bucks/Hawks/Suns/Clippers final 4 lmao

Nah, we win in 2022 also if Khris doesn’t go down. Not standing for title blasphemy.

The more pertinent observation is Giannis himself was injured in the playoffs in 2020, 2023 and 2024.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Giannis has won 8 series with us with 4 being the 2021 title which looks just as flukey as the Lakers 2020 title.

It was a Bucks/Hawks/Suns/Clippers final 4 lmao

Also, the Nets having injuries to 2 of their 3 best players.

Anyway, it’s crazy to think we haven’t had more playoff success with Giannis. Similar situation to Favre and Rodgers. Best player on the planet willing you to one championship at the height of their power, but coaching/personnel was never close to good enough to establish a dynasty.

It was also flukey we didn't win the other years. Even the best teams have like a 1/4 shot winning it all. We were the best team for five years, 1-2 rings is realistically expected with zero probably being as likely and 3

[pifhluk23]

Something has definitely changed with Giannis. The comments and his family leaving. We should probably trade him before he demands it, just start quietly shopping him.

[ACGB]

The Luka trade made him paranoid we're going to trade him even if he never asks for it and now he wants to leave before it happens. That's my conspiracy theory.

[paulpressey25]

The Luka trade made him paranoid we're going to trade him even if he never asks for it and now he wants to leave before it happens. That's my conspiracy theory.

I think he’s asked for it. In his own way with all these signals.

That said, maybe the team gets out of the gate fast and winning brings a smile back to his face.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I really dont see how this changes much. We are better off with him this year unless: 1. we are blown away with a trade. 2. we absolutely suck. If he said, I love being here and Shams is a liar really doesnt impact the realities of our timeline. We are in the same exact situation in April if we lose in R1 whether Giannis moved his kids or not.

[aboveAverage]

The Luka trade made him paranoid we're going to trade him even if he never asks for it and now he wants to leave before it happens. That's my conspiracy theory.

I think he’s asked for it. In his own way with all these signals.

That said, maybe the team gets out of the gate fast and winning brings a smile back to his face.

Why wouldn’t he have done so back in May/June? Why do it now?

Maybe he’s dealing with other stuff, not everything in his life is related to the Bucks.

He’ll be excited when the season starts and we start playing exciting ball. This team looks fun and will be pretty good.

[emunney]

Most trade restrictions end around December 15th, right?

Yep. Hoopsrumors (a really good resource for a lot of NBA minutiae) always has a good breakdown of when trade restrictions expire.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/09/players-currently-affected-by-trade-restrictions-4.html

[midranger]

If you were betting your house that Giannis is/isn’t on the team come April, what are you laying money on?

“I’m here,” isn’t the vote of confidence that I was hoping for.

[aboveAverage]

If you were betting your house that Giannis is/isn’t on the team come April, what are you laying money on?

“I’m here,” isn’t the vote of confidence that I was hoping for.

50/50. Honestly I have no idea how to interpret Giannis’ statements. He’s always said concerning things about his future in MKE. So far it’s all worked out. Let’s see.

[emunney]

Banchero sucks man

orlando will be better this year most likely. would you prefer wagner?

I would definitely prefer Wagner over Banchero, yes. It'd be like trading LeBron for Paul George. I doubt they'd do it and I doubt we could do any better in a trade, but it still wouldn't motivate me to make the deal unless Giannis demanded it.

[raferfenix]

Sam Amick says Knicks won’t trade Brunson.

This part stands out too: “It’s fair to wonder if the mixed messaging that took place between Antetokounmpo and Bucks owner Wes Edens on media day might have sparked this latest turn of events.”

Yet while the Bucks went to great lengths to quiet the noise created by a recent ESPN report on Wednesday, when coach Doc Rivers took his favorite nothing-to-see-here approach with the media and Antetokounmpo made it clear that he’s completely locked in (for at least six months), the truth here is that this was not nothing. Not even close.

Sloppy and ill-timed though it might have been, with Antetokounmpo’s interest in joining the New York Knicks revealed after their failed trade talks with the Bucks in August, this was nothing short of an escalation. And it doesn’t really matter who caused it.

What does matter — in terms of the dynamics of this dilemma going forward — is that the NBA world has more intel about this situation now than was known before. For starters, this confirms once and for all that Antetokounmpo — at 30 years old, four years removed from his lone title and with two seasons left on his deal — has a wandering eye.

“Temptation,” as he explained it.

That doesn’t mean he has fallen out of love with the city of Milwaukee or that he has lost total faith in Bucks ownership or management. But just like the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James in late June, when he expressed concern about their ability to contend for a title by way of a statement from his agent, this is a case of a star player reading the room in the offseason only to realize, in the end, that getting to greener pastures isn’t so easy in today’s NBA.

The timing of it all was nothing short of absurd, with the Bucks and Knicks talking at a time when the odds of a deal actually happening were minuscule because of a choice the Knicks had made just weeks before.

“They should have done it in June,” said one league source close to the situation, who was granted anonymity so that he could speak freely.

Team sources have made it clear that Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was, as expected, untouchable in these talks. In terms of possible players being involved, the common sense lens turns toward Towns, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson from there.

But even if the Bucks had interest in a package involving several of those players, the Knicks are known to have concerns about the possible roster imbalance that could result from a deal of this magnitude. That doesn’t mean they don’t have interest — they absolutely do — but we’ve seen plenty of proof these past few years that Antetokounmpo’s impact alone simply isn’t enough. As the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers showed in the finals, depth and diversity of talent is the modern-day way to the mountaintop.

For Antetokounmpo’s part, it was quite impressive to see him walk the line between admitted angst and appeasement during his session with the media. He didn’t run from the reports about his concerns, saying (accurately) that it’s only human for someone to want what’s best for themselves and their family. But in stark contrast to so many star player sagas that have come before, from Dwight Howard to Jimmy Butler, James Harden and the like, he made it abundantly clear that his professionalism would not wane.

“I believe in this team,” he told reporters. “I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go, and it’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day by day, but I’m here. So, all the other extra stuff does not matter.”

It’s fair to wonder if the mixed messaging that took place between Antetokounmpo and Bucks owner Wes Edens on media day might have sparked this latest turn of events. Edens’ choice to tell reporters that Antetokounmpo had expressed his commitment to the Bucks in a recent meeting was dicey, if only because it ran the risk of putting added public pressure on the franchise’s star to stay. Antetokounmpo, in turn, claimed he didn’t recall the meeting at all.

When a superstar of this magnitude is clearly contemplating his future, it’s probably best to let him speak for himself. It should surprise no one that Antetokounmpo focused so heavily on his right to change his mind when he addressed the situation on Wednesday.

But the reality here is that the season to come will (mostly) determine what comes next. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks need to see if this group has any chance of contending in the East, with the mood sure to change depending on the answer to that question. Ditto for the Knicks and their title hopes. The rest of the league, meanwhile, will be ready to pounce if the Giannis sweepstakes ever become a real thing.

For now, it’s “tbd” all around.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6705000/2025/10/10/knicks-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-news-latest/

[Ron Swanson]

The more that comes out about the Knicks stuff, the more it seems like a complete nothing burger. Like yeah, I'm sure they called. Beyond that, what exactly was there to discuss? They're a tax team with a full roster and no assets (picks) outside of some big contract players that wouldn't help our rebuild anyways. A trade was never going to happen this close to the season starting, and it could have just as easily been about Horst picking up the phone because he thought maybe it was a tangible benefit in gauging their interest in an OG trade or something. Shams playing up/exaggerating this "it's the only team that Giannis wants to play for outside of Milwaukee" is exactly the kind of **** that he continues to pull and why nobody should ever take what he says at face value.

[jakecronus8]

The Knicks have literally nothing of interest to me in a post Giannis world. If a deal were to happen and the Knicks wanted to inexplicably gut themselves for Giannis and Giannis wanted to go a Knicks team that was gutted for some reason, it comes down to what picks and young players were getting for all of Towns, OG and Bridges on top of whatever picks and swaps they currently have.

[aboveAverage]

I think the interesting part of that report is that Giannis gave them the indication that he’d be interested in the Knicks if he were to ask out. That’s how I understood it.

But still no reporter is saying that he ever asked out or even anything close to that. Just that he might consider it in the future if the Bucks are not contenders, and he threw in the Knicks as a potential team he might consider. In fact, I think he’s said that multiple times, even going back a few years.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

giannis signals thru back channels a very specific interest in the knicks

the knicks call and the bucks uncomfortably chat

giannis declares he doesnt ever recall telling the bucks owner hes committed to milwaukee as his family all moves out of the city.

the entire bucks team including giannis is "here" and the season will be "hard". the season will be over in "6 to 7 months" and then we can see if its been "too hard"

some bucks fans are like what the actual **** is this **** show and other bucks fans call nothing burger.

ahh joy i for one do agree it will be a hard season

[Ron Swanson]

Thought Camille on the LOB pod had a good comment about how this team needs to perform out of the gate in order for a lot of this stuff to quiet down, even if just temporarily. She threw out 13-7 as a number through the first quarter of the season and I think I agree. Don't care as much about the media crap (that's gonna continue all season even if we're on pace for 50+ wins), but that 13-7 mark seems like a sort of bare minimum threshold to keep the apathy from setting in and everyone engaged. Absolutely can't have another 2-8 or 3-7 start with Doc having these dudes completely unprepared.