{"id":157450,"date":"2025-08-31T14:12:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T18:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=157450"},"modified":"2025-08-31T14:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T18:40:21","slug":"thanasis-antetokounmpo-returns-to-bucks-confirms-giannis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/31\/thanasis-antetokounmpo-returns-to-bucks-confirms-giannis-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanasis Antetokounmpo Returns To Bucks; Confirms Giannis News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MILWAUKEE, WI. \u2014 <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetth01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thanasis Antetokounmpo<\/a> has confirmed his return to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/bucks\/\" target=\"_self\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> via his X account. His curt two-word caption, &#8220;I&#8217;m back,&#8221; told fans all they needed to know. The fan favorite and brother of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> returns to Wisconsin after a year away from the league. He has agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million deal with the Bucks. It means that Giannis will stay in Milwaukee after exploring other options this summer. Shams Charania confirmed <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1962209720040636797?t=x8nSpoO2BSz1hmhpw2sZHg&amp;s=19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Thanasis Antetokounmpo Returns To Bucks; Confirms Giannis News<\/h2>\n<h3>Role Beyond The Box Score<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150005\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150005\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-150005\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_25921578_168415934_lowres-1024x707.jpg\" alt=\"Giannis' brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo has reunited with the Bucks\" width=\"640\" height=\"442\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_25921578_168415934_lowres-1024x707.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_25921578_168415934_lowres-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_25921578_168415934_lowres-768x530.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_25921578_168415934_lowres-1536x1060.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_25921578_168415934_lowres-2048x1413.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-150005\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 13, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and his brother Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo talks during a time out against the Detroit Pistons in the second half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The other Antetokounmpo brother became a fan favorite not for his stat lines but for his infectious bench energy. On the floor, his numbers are modest: 2.4 points, 0.6 assists, and 1.6 rebounds in 7.6 minutes across 196 games. Still, Thanasis Antetokounmpo\u2019s time on the Bucks has always been less about production and more about family. He\u00a0missed last season while recovering from a torn Achilles&#8217; tendon.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m back. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2L4VrngACi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/2L4VrngACi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; T. Antetokounmpo (@Thanasis_ante43) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Thanasis_ante43\/status\/1962204848629100630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 31, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Who Will Get Cut?<\/h3>\n<p>Over a month ago, Marc Stein hinted at this move in The Stein Line. &#8220;The Bucks\u2026 are expected to re-sign Antetokounmpo\u2019s brother Thanasis if their superstar indeed remains in Brewtown,&#8221; Stein <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/13\/thanasis-antetokounmpo-set-to-return-to-bucks-under-one-condition\/\" target=\"_self\">reported<\/a>. The Bucks had used their final roster spot signing <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/coffeam01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amir Coffey\u00a0<\/a>to a minimum contract, leaving no space open specifically for Thanasis. Therefore someone will have to get cut prior to opening night.<\/p>\n<h3>Sentiment Over Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>Of all the fiscal levers Milwaukee has pulled to keep Giannis happy, this one may be the cheapest\u2014yet the most symbolic. Thanasis Antetokounmpo\u2019s return to the Bucks\u00a0signals far more than a rotation piece. It all but confirms Giannis\u2019 own commitment to Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<h3>A Bigger Picture<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the financial sting of waiving and stretching <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a>, which leaves years of dead cap, the front office can still point to success. In the end, keeping Giannis mattered more than dollars. By reuniting with Thanasis, the franchise sent the clearest message yet: they will do whatever it takes to keep Giannis happy and settled in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p><label>Credit:<\/label>\u00a9 Jovanny Hernandez \/ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MILWAUKEE, WI. \u2014 Thanasis Antetokounmpo has confirmed his return to the Milwaukee Bucks via his X account. His curt two-word caption, &#8220;I&#8217;m back,&#8221; told fans all they needed to know. The fan favorite and brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo returns to Wisconsin after a year away from the league. He has agreed to a one-year, $2.9 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":150006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,15,3,4721],"tags":[306,4975,4557,4984],"class_list":["post-157450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-bucks","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-nba-contracts","tag-nba-offseason","tag-thanasis-antetokounmpo"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157450"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157458,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157450\/revisions\/157458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}