Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’s dedicated to the Milwaukee Bucks — for now.
The 2-time MVP and 2021 NBA Finals MVP responded Wednesday to an ESPN report suggesting he would search a commerce to the Knicks if the Bucks didn’t advance previous the primary spherical of the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
The report positioned New York as the one most popular vacation spot on Antetokounmpo’s radar.
“I’ve said this many times: I want to be in situations where I can win, and now I’m here,” Antetokounmpo stated throughout Bucks coaching camp. “I imagine on this crew, I imagine in my teammates, I’m right here to steer this crew to wherever we are able to go… The second I step into this facility, put on this jersey, the remainder doesn’t matter. I’m locked into no matter I’ve in entrance of me.
“Now if in six or seven months, I change my mind, I think that’s human, too. You’re allowed to make any decision you want, but I’m locked in. I’m locked into this team. I’m locked into these guys, this group and to this coaching staff and to myself.”
Antetokounmpo, the one participant in league historical past to common 30 factors, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in three consecutive seasons, reportedly met with Bucks GM Jon Horst in Greece in July and expressed his considerations about Milwaukee’s capability to compete for a title.
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers downplayed the report, calling it a media-driven narrative based mostly on a single telephone name that didn’t quantity to substantive talks.
“Another [report]? It’s unbelievable,” Rivers stated. “What are you supposed to do? I’ve been coaching 26–27 years and one thing that I know is 30 teams call 30 teams. ‘Hey, would you like to trade Chris Paul?’ And you say no. That does not constitute a conversation. I read [in the ESPN report] where it said several conversations. Well, that never happened. It was a conversation where a team called, and Jon has been saying no now for 11 years. So I don’t know why this is a new story, but I guess it is.”
“If you read his comments this summer, every comment he’s made is about being in Milwaukee and loving this city, but for some reason — and it’s funny: you create the story, and then you report on the story you created, and that’s what it feels like, and it gets old for us,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, there’s nothing we can do about it, and I can tell you: Jon has never called a team about Giannis, and until that happens, you really don’t have a story.”
The Knicks have lengthy been linked to Antetokounmpo since Leon Rose took over as crew president in 2020. However New York’s capability to make a aggressive provide took a success over the previous two summers: buying and selling Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round decide to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Cities and sending 5 first-round picks to Brooklyn within the blockbuster Mikal Bridges deal.
The Bucks, in response to the ESPN report, have been bored with what the Knicks might provide. Complicating issues additional, Bridges’ current contract extension makes him ineligible for commerce till February.
Nonetheless, Antetokounmpo acknowledged the offseason noise.
“You know what it is? It’s like temptation. Like when you’re going through the amusement park or you’re going outside and you’re not wearing your wedding ring like me now, and then people are looking at you like, ‘Oh, he’s kind of handsome!’ It’s temptation,” he stated after apply. “That begins when the season ends till the season begins. There’s gonna be lots of people which are gonna strategy me or my agent, and so they’re gonna say hey it is a risk, that’s a risk. However on the finish of the day, in the end I’m going to decide.
“My decision — today — is that I’m here and I’m committed to this team.”
Whether or not that dedication holds relies upon largely on how this season unfolds.
The Bucks aren’t thought-about a favourite within the East regardless of accidents to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton weakening the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee traded Jrue Vacation and a trove of belongings to land Damian Lillard — solely to waive and stretch Lillard’s contract this summer season, consuming $22.5 million yearly over the following 5 years.
The transfer cleared sufficient cap area to signal Myles Turner away from Indiana, and Kyle Kuzma returns after the Khris Middleton commerce, however the Bucks now face a obvious gap at level guard, with solely Cole Anthony and Kevin Porter Jr. accessible to interchange Lillard.
In keeping with ESPN Guess, the Bucks now have worse odds to win the East than the Celtics — with Cleveland, the Knicks and Orlando positioned as stronger contenders.
And if the losses pile up, so will the rumors.
“I think that guys that haven’t been around a very, very good player, it’s kind of hard to get a grasp on [trade rumors], right?” Antetokounmpo stated. “However say should you’ve been round [Kevin Durant], or LeBron [James] or Steph [Curry] or Devin Booker, there’s at all times gonna be conversations, at all times gonna be rumors, and also you’ve simply gotta get used to it.
“So earlier than, once I was with Khris, Jrue, Brook [Lopez] and Pat [Connaughton], we have been used to, ‘Khris is gonna get traded, I’m gonna ask out, Jrue gonna get traded,’ all these rumors. And we simply lock in, deal with ourselves and deal with what we’ve gotta do and what our jobs are.
“Now, I believe we’ve acquired a younger crew, so with my actions and with my phrases, I’ve simply gotta carry on validating to these guys that we’re right here to do one thing particular, we’re right here to be taught, we simply must play exhausting and we’ve to compete. I’m right here and nothing else issues.
“In two-to-three days you’ll see I met with FC Barcelona, too, or I met with PSG, right? Yeah don’t believe it because I’m gonna show up in practice and we’re gonna do what we do, we’re gonna work through our plays, work through our defense, lock in and play the game tomorrow.”
The Vacation rumor got here true. So did Middleton. And Lopez discovered a brand new residence, too.
Time will inform whether or not these are media-manufactured narratives — or simply tales the media noticed first.
