{"id":170432,"date":"2025-12-22T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=170432"},"modified":"2025-12-22T03:53:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:53:30","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpo-denies-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/22\/giannis-antetokounmpo-denies-trade-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Shuts Down Trade Rumors With Recent Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid trade rumors<\/a> and injuries, Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> remains adamant that he is not pursuing other teams to join. The Milwaukee Bucks, currently holding an 11-17 record as the 11th seed, are weighing their options to make the best decision for both their present and the future. Despite previous interest in a potential trade to the New York Knicks<\/a>, talks have broken down between the two teams.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo suffered a soleus muscle strain<\/a> in his right calf three minutes into a game against the Detroit Pistons on December 3rd, and has not played since. Antetokounmpo later recalled that he felt as though he was being kicked in the back of his leg, as per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/a>. A scary sensation, particularly as Antetokounmpo’s older brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, and many others have reported feeling the same thing when they tore their Achilles tendons. Expected to recover from his injury in four to six weeks, this puts Antetokounmpo’s return in early to mid-January. This would be the best time for the Bucks to make their push for a higher playoff seed.<\/p>\n

However, questions surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo’s tenure in Milwaukee remain unanswered, with plenty of trade rumors floating around.<\/p>\n

Giannis Shuts Down Trade Rumors With Recent Interview<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Talks And Trade Rumors For Giannis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Earlier this month, on December 4th, Antetokounmpo’s agent, Alex Saratsis, had reportedly begun talks with the Milwaukee Bucks front office on what would be the best decision for Antetokounmpo’s future, as per Shams Charania<\/a>. To be sure, resolutions about Antetokounmpo’s future with the team are to follow. However, in a recent 24-minute interview, Antetokounmpo denied his involvement in talks with the Milwaukee Bucks front office.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf my agent is talking to the Bucks, he\u2019s his own person” \u201cI personally have not had that conversation. I\u2019m locked in on my teammates and on getting back healthy.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, Antetokounmpo has been supportive of his teammates during such uncertain times. He has been talking with them informally, and not being evasive about the trade rumors surrounding him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been approached by teammates and asked about the rumours because it also might affect their own life and their own career. I\u2019m straight with them, whatever that answer might be.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Solutions?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Milwaukee
Oct 12, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) prays before the first half against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, Milwaukee does not appear to want to surrender Antetokounmpo just yet. Moves like adding Myles Turner<\/a> on a four-year, $107 million dollar contract suggest that they want to win now. The Bucks picked up Turner to be an impactful rim protector and solid three-point shooter to stretch the floor. Plus, he can take over when Antetokounmpo is off the floor. In his season so far with Milwaukee, Turner is averaging fewer points, rebounds, blocks, and field goals made per game compared to his last season with Indiana, suggesting a lesser impact and role, or simply early-season struggles to mesh with this Bucks team.<\/p>\n

Injuries to rotation players like AJ Green<\/a> and Taurean Prince<\/a> have left Doc Rivers’<\/a> team understaffed. Coach Rivers does not have any reliable wings to play in games aside from the injured Prince. That leads to the Bucks playing with mismatched lineups of three guards or three big men. It may have contributed to inefficiencies in their offense and defense, and the Bucks’ subsequent losing streak.<\/p>\n

Trade Options<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Several players all around the league have been linked to the Bucks, who may seek to make moves mid-season. These include household names such as Zach LaVine<\/a>, Paul George<\/a>, Anthony Davis<\/a>, DeMar DeRozan<\/a>, and even Kawhi Leonard<\/a>. To get any of these players, the Bucks’ General Manager Jon Horst<\/a> will have to make a very tough decision. Trading the Bucks’ future picks for one of these players, in their early to mid-thirties, for production that may not be up to par with what the millions on their contracts suggest is a tough decision to make.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid trade rumors and injuries, Giannis Antetokounmpo remains adamant that he is not pursuing other teams to join. The Milwaukee Bucks, currently holding an 11-17 record as the 11th seed, are weighing their options to make the best decision for both their present and the future. Despite previous interest in a potential trade to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5724,"featured_media":170497,"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":[1608,15,62],"tags":[306,637],"class_list":["post-170432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-bucks","category-nba","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-myles-turner"],"modified_by":"Benjamin Yu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170432","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\/5724"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170432"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170499,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170432\/revisions\/170499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}