{"id":159974,"date":"2025-09-23T13:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159974"},"modified":"2025-09-23T13:03:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:03:47","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpo-details-needs-amid-bucks-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/23\/giannis-antetokounmpo-details-needs-amid-bucks-trade-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo Details Needs Amid Bucks Trade Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since the Dallas Mavericks traded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a> to the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> has been thinking: &#8216;<em>what if I&#8217;m next<\/em>?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it hasn&#8217;t been in those exact words. However, that&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/03\/giannis-trade-more-likely-after-luka-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">what he jestingly told reporters<\/a> shortly after the exchange went down. Ironically, Antetokounmpo is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/11\/mavs-giannis-antetokoumpo-anthony-edwards-luka-doncic-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">one of the players<\/a> that Mavs president Nico Harrison tried to move Doncic for. Those talks never got off the ground, but they did come at a time when Antetokounmpo&#8217;s commitment <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/08\/25\/nba-rumors-giannis-antetokounmpo-reveals-uncertain-future-with-bucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">was already being questioned<\/a>, so it didn&#8217;t hurt to try.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly eight months later, Antetokounmpo has re-stated his position on potentially being traded.<\/p>\n<h2>Bucks&#8217; Giannis Antetokounmpo Dishes On Trade Rumors, His Needs<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;Look, I hope it never happens, but I&#8217;m still waiting for it,&#8221; Antetokounmpo tells SPORT24&#8217;s Haris Stavrou.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FUMRUtW8dRQ?si=MPhKoIqx6uSH9DxA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Because it doesn&#8217;t mean that just because you&#8217;ve contributed to the team, the team won&#8217;t do what&#8217;s best for them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Diving into oft-discussed anecdotal evidence of new ownership making significant roster changes after they take over the team, he adds:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not always the owners themselves. And when I say the owners, the presidents of the team now, they are not the same as the ones who won the championship, they are different. And if Giannis doesn&#8217;t do it for me, can&#8217;t offer it to me, I&#8217;ll trade him. I will do the best for my team and for my investment. Because I have put hundreds of millions into the team.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To clarify, when Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to an NBA championship in 2021, the franchise&#8217;s primary co-owners were Marc Lasry, Jamie Dinan and Wes Edens. In April 2023, Cleveland Browns (NFL) co-owners Dee Haslam and Jimmy Haslam purchased <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisn.com\/article\/nba-approves-sale-of-marc-lasrys-share-milwaukee-bucks\/43603489\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lasry&#8217;s 25% share<\/a> for $800 million.<\/p>\n<p>That offseason, Milwaukee traded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a> to the Portland Trail Blazers for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a>, sacrificing their defensive foundation. They also fired two-time Coach of the Year, Mike Budenholzer, replacing him with first-year head coach Adrian Griffin. The experiment went poorly that Antetokounmpo considered 2023-24 to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/14\/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-opens-up-hardest-season-career\/\" target=\"_self\">&#8220;hardest season&#8221;<\/a> of his career.<\/p>\n<p>It also provided him with first-hand experience of how ownership changes can have a trickle-down effect on the roster.<\/p>\n<h3>&#8216;I Like Challenges&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>To be sure, Antetokounmpo would <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/21\/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-double-speak-front-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">prefer to stay<\/a> in Milwaukee. He&#8217;s simply being open-minded and, more importantly, realistic:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Surely, if I were flying in the clouds, I would say &#8216;yeah, there&#8217;s no way I&#8217;m being traded, I&#8217;m Giannis Antetokounmpo,'&#8221; he explains. &#8220;Because I don&#8217;t fly in the clouds and I&#8217;m very normal, normal, down to earth, I say &#8216;anything is possible, you never know.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_130782\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-130782\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-130782\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Giannis recently went viral some interesting comments.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25746418_168404824_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-130782\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 22, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts after scoring against the Sacramento Kings during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, he&#8217;s a two-time NBA MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. He&#8217;s an NBA Finals MVP and an NBA In-Season Tournament MVP. He&#8217;s a nine-time All-Star who was averaging 6.8 points per game as a rookie and 22.9 points per game three seasons later, leading to him winning the 2017 Most Improved Player award. All of that being said, Antetokounmpo doesn&#8217;t shy away from challenges.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One thing I want to say is that I like challenges,&#8221; he answers when asked if he&#8217;s willing to play for another team.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve realized that I like living with pressure. Is that good? Is that bad? I don&#8217;t know. If I&#8217;m in an environment where there&#8217;s no pressure and I don&#8217;t believe we can achieve anything great, I don&#8217;t want to be there, things just go on. It doesn&#8217;t make me happy anymore, as a person.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I want to do what makes me happy,&#8221; he explains, &#8220;and what makes me happy is winning and feeling like there&#8217;s a challenge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, though there&#8217;s always skepticism surrounding splash trades, Milwaukee obviously can&#8217;t rest on their laurels. Not when Antetokounmpo isn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<h3>Point-Giannis?<\/h3>\n<p>Houston Rockets center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sengual01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alperen Sengun<\/a> doesn&#8217;t believe that the Greek Freak <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1966862166361014334\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is a great passer<\/a>. Even so, given his explosiveness and the gravity Antetokounmpo generates when attacking the rim, drive-and-kicks have become second-nature to him. That steady increase in experience has actually just made him a more comfortable facilitator in general.<\/p>\n<p>So, understandably, Antetokounmpo feels that &#8220;to get the best out of the team and to get the best out of me, I have to be a creator.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I need to feel like I can and do create,&#8221; he dishes. &#8220;If you look at the last two months of the team, where I had the green light, if I have the ball in my hands and I have that green light to create&#8230; I don&#8217;t always have to execute, but I have to feel like I&#8217;m creating, that I&#8217;m part of the team and not just an executioner&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Bloody good passing from Giannis.<\/p>\n<p>13 AST | 12 REB | 11 PTS <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6LGIFIIK6h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/6LGIFIIK6h<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bucks\/status\/1876467993657635159?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is how my true self comes out,&#8221; he continues, &#8220;because that&#8217;s what I did at Filathlitikos and that&#8217;s what I always wanted to do. And there were times when I did that in my career, but most of the time I was the executor. In the last two months when I was more of a team creator, I had a good time. I think the team did very well during that time.<\/p>\n<p>Again, what Antetokounmpo is stating isn&#8217;t exactly new information. When he assumed more playmaking duties due to Lillard&#8217;s blood clot diagnosis, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/10\/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-message-front-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">he was quite pleased about it<\/a>. Furthermore, after Lillard was sidelined, the Bucks managed to go 10-4 for the remainder of the season. In fact, they closed out the regular season on an eight-game win streak.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been thinking: &#8216;what if I&#8217;m next?&#8217; Perhaps it hasn&#8217;t been in those exact words. However, that&#8217;s what he jestingly told reporters shortly after the exchange went down. Ironically, Antetokounmpo is one of the players that Mavs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":139105,"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":[15,1608,2,62,3,4721],"tags":[187,306,1382],"class_list":["post-159974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bucks","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-damian-lillard","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159974","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\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159983,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159974\/revisions\/159983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}