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The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo have officially reached an impasse. The team is floundering in the play-in zone in the Eastern Conference and has hamstrung its future in an effort to appease the superstar forward, who continues to play like a league MVP despite the chaos around him. Antetokounmpo has reportedly seen enough, and he’s officially looking for a new franchise to call his own.
Teams around the league have been waiting for this moment for years as the Bucks continued to leverage their future to keep Antetokounmpo around. His contract makes it tougher for him to determine his next destination before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, but if he waits until the summer, he can cast a wider net for destinations. The Bucks might also want to wait until the offseason to create a bidding war for the Greek Freak.
Here’s a look at the teams most likely to land Antetokounmpo, according to the oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo post-trade deadline team odds
Via DraftKings:
Favorite: Milwaukee Bucks (-125)
The only reason Milwaukee is favored here, in my opinion, is because of Antetokounmpo’s contract and the way this market is graded. Trading any player with a cap hit north of $54 million is already a challenge, but to do so and get adequate assets in return to rebuild is a secondary constraint. This market is being graded as a post-deadline one, so there’s a good chance the Bucks simply don’t find a deal they want and hold on to Antetokounmpo to wait until the summer when more teams can adjust their books and make bids.
Other contenders: Minnesota Timberwolves (+250), Golden State Warriors (+600), Chicago Bulls (+700)
The Timberwolves would likely need to get a third team involved and gut most of their rotation to accommodate Antetokounmpo, but pairing him with Anthony Edwards could boost the ceiling for this franchise. Edwards has done well with good players around him but Minnesota seems to fall short in the playoffs once the competition heats up. Antetokounmpo could change that. The Warriors are trying to maximize Stephen Curry’s final years and have long been a rumored destination for Antetokounmpo. Golden State has apparently been shopping Draymond Green as well, so there’s a possibility we see an entire reconstruction of this roster around Curry and Antetokounmpo for one last title run over the next two seasons.
Antetokounmpo was nearly on the Bulls a year ago and was reportedly good with going to the Windy City but the Bulls front office declined to pursue a deal. Chicago just dealt Kevin Huerter and Nikola Vucevic, so there’s an attempt to revamp this roster. Could Antetokounmpo be the starting point of that retooling? This move is less likely because the Bulls are not as close to contending as the Timberwolves and Warriors.
Longshot: San Antonio Spurs (+5000)
It’s intriguing to envision pairing Antetokounmpo with Victor Wembanyama, and the Spurs have plenty of assets Milwaukee would gladly take in a rebuilding scenario. The question is whether Antetokounmpo actually wants to go to San Antonio, another small market team that doesn’t necessarily attract stars in free agency. The Spurs haven’t shown any sort of willingness to engage in trade talks but the fit is exciting to think about and Milwaukee would get a great foundation for its rebuild.