{"id":619463,"date":"2026-02-23T08:07:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T08:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/619463\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T08:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T08:07:41","slug":"fischers-latest-antetokounmpo-morant-bulls-yabusele","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/619463\/","title":{"rendered":"Fischer’s Latest: Antetokounmpo, Morant, Bulls, Yabusele"},"content":{"rendered":"

The rumors circulating about the Bucks trading Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> didn\u2019t amount to anything at the February 5 deadline, but that will only postpone speculation about Antetokounmpo\u2019s future in Milwaukee rather than ending it.<\/p>\n

Jake Fischer, writing for The Stein Line<\/a> (Substack link), says his sources around the situation still believe that a move to what he calls \u201ca true title contender\u201d is the most likely outcome for Giannis this summer, especially since many of those contenders will be able to offer more than they did at the deadline.<\/p>\n

Fischer also writes that many people around the league are expecting the Nets to become a legitimate suitor for the two-time MVP, either using a package built around Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> and draft picks or one that keeps Porter in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Fischer adds that how teams like the Rockets and Spurs fare in the playoffs could impact Antetokounmpo\u2019s trade market too.<\/p>\n

We have more from around the league:<\/p>\n

Ja Morant<\/a> wasn\u2019t traded at the deadline, with reports<\/a> indicating that the Grizzlies weren\u2019t ready to accept a package similar to the one the Hawks received for Trae Young<\/a>. While there wasn\u2019t a strong market for the Memphis point guard at the deadline, multiple teams believe that the Bucks have real interest in bringing Morant in, Fischer reports, whether as a successor to Antetokounmpo in their next phase of team-building or as a complement to him.
\nTrade deadline moves by the Wizards and Jazz reduced the future financial flexibility of two of the projected cap space teams in 2026, leaving Chicago, Brooklyn, and the two Los Angeles teams as the summer\u2019s probable cap room clubs. According to Fischer, the Bulls have signaled that their primary directive in free agency will be going after wings. The list of free agent wings ranges from unrestricted veterans like Khris Middleton<\/a> and Tobias Harris<\/a> to younger restricted FAs such as Bennedict Mathurin<\/a> and Tari Eason<\/a>. In addition to wings, the guard-heavy Bulls will also need to find a starting center.
\nAfter removing his second-year player option in order to facilitate a trade<\/a> from the Knicks to the Bulls, Guerschon Yabusele<\/a> is expected to have a competitive EuroLeague market this summer, Fischer writes, noting that the French forward had considered signing with the Nuggets prior to joining the Knicks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rumors circulating about the Bucks trading Giannis Antetokounmpo didn\u2019t amount to anything at the February 5 deadline,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,123,204,178,102,121,3871,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-619463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","11":"tag-guerschon-yabusele","12":"tag-ja-morant","13":"tag-milwaukee","14":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","15":"tag-milwaukeebucks","16":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116118922605220199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}