Giannis Antetokounmpo could join the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Knicks if he decides to leave the Milwaukee Bucks, according to NBA insider Marc Stein. Antetokounmpo can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 if he declines his 2025-26 player option.
“The Lakers and the Knicks are already being mentioned as franchises presumed to interest Antetokounmpo down the road if he does decide to move on from Milwaukee, which just made a slew of moves (re-signing Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and replacing Mike Budenholzer as coach with Adrian Griffin) to try to appease its face of the franchise,” Stein wrote.
Antetokounmpo told Tania Ganguli of The New York Times that he will not sign an extension with the Bucks this year. The two-time MVP will become eligible for a contract extension in September.
“The real question’s not going to be this year — numbers-wise it doesn’t make sense,” Antetokounmpo said. “But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties. Even then, I don’t know.”
Antetokounmpo added: “I would not be the best version of myself if I don’t know that everybody’s on the same page, everybody’s going for a championship, everybody’s going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don’t feel that, I’m not signing.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks Updates
The Bucks signed Antetokounmpo to a five-year, $228.2 million designated maximum contract extension in December 2020. The future Hall of Famer will make $45.6 million next season.
Antetokounmpo doesn’t want to spend his entire career with the Bucks and not win another championship. The Bucks won the 2021 title over the Phoenix Suns but lost in the second round of the 2022 playoffs to the Boston Celtics and lost to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
“This is my team, and it’s going to forever be my team,” Antetokounmpo told Ganguli. “I don’t forget people that were there for me and allowed me to be great and to showcase who I am to the world and gave me the platform. But we have to win another one.
“But at the end of the day, being a winner, it’s over that goal. Winning a championship comes first. I don’t want to be 20 years on the same team and don’t win another championship.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks Updates
One of the greatest players in NBA history, Antetokounmpo has career averages of 22.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He has won the Most Improved Player of the Year Award, two regular-season MVPs, one Finals MVP and one Defensive Player of the Year Award with the Bucks.
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