An NBA exec told Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports that the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs are two darkhorse teams to watch in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes if the superstar requests a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks or becomes a free agent in the summer of 2025 by declining his 2025-26 player option.
“I think you can’t rule out those kinds of teams,” the NBA executive said. “Giannis has always carried himself like he is all about winning, like that is what matters most to him. He is a little different. I mean, that is the reputation, anyway. If that is really the case, then wouldn’t he want to go play for (Gregg Popovich), play alongside Wemby there? If Toronto can give up only one of its guys and brought back Giannis? They would really have something there.”
Antetokounmpo recently told NBA reporter 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.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors Updates
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.”
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 NBA 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 in seven games and lost to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in five games.
“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, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors Updates
One of the best 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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