Giannis Antetokounmpo says quiet part out loud about his future with Bucks originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After a season full of tension and conflict, things between the Milwaukee Bucks and star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo may have finally reached a breaking point, and Antetokounmpo acknowledged as much.
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The two sides have been at odds regarding Antetokounmpo’s status for the remainder of the season. Antetokounmpo wants to finish out the current campaign out on the floor, but with their playoff hopes dashed, the Bucks want to shut him down.
The NBA is currently investigating the situation, but being held out of action when he wants to play may be the final straw for Antetokounmpo.
“For somebody to come and tell me to not play or not to compete, it’s like a slap in my face,” Antetokounmpo told reporters Friday. “So I don’t know where the relationship goes from there.”
There was already a strong possibility that the Bucks were going to try to trade Antetokounmpo over the offseason, but these comments make that possibility seem even more likely.
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Last month, Bucks owner Wes Edens said that trading Antetokounmpo was one of the two options facing the team over the offseason.
“Giannis is going into the last year [of his contract]. So one of two things will happen: Either he will be extended or he’ll be traded,” Edens said.
“The likelihood you’ll let him just kind of play out the last year, we can’t afford that. It’s not consistent with what’s good for the organization. That’s not a Giannis issue. That’s any player that’s in their last year.”
If Antetokounmpo makes it clear that he doesn’t want to continue his career as a member of the Bucks, which it sounds like he’s hinting at, the Bucks will have no choice but to trade him over the offseason, or at least prior to the trade deadline next season, as opposed to losing him for nothing in free agency next summer.
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At this point, it certainly feels like we may have already seen Antetokounmpo play his last game in a Bucks uniform.
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