On Monday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Bucks are "open for business on trade calls and offers" for Giannis Antetokounmpo, which was more than enough to catch the Golden State Warriors' attention. More importantly, the superstar still reportedly thinks that it's time for him to leave Milwaukee.
Nothing has changed in Antetokounmpo's stance that the time has come for both sides to move on, sources said.
No, that's not Antetokounmpo explicitly requesting a trade, something he previously told Sam Amick of The Athletic that he would never do. It would be helpful if Giannis came out publicly and said he wants to leave, though his belief that it's time for both sides to move on is enough proof.
Giannis reportedly still thinks it's time to move on from Bucks
Whether he will go back on that remains to be determined. We all remember how things played out after the deadline. Antetokounmpo acted like he never wanted to leave the Bucks to begin with, though that was clearly misleading.
This offseason, Giannis won't be able to be wishy-washy, as Milwaukee owner Jimmy Haslam said last week that he hopes there will be a resolution on the superstar's future by next month's draft. If he doesn't tell the Bucks that he wants to sign an extension on Oct. 1 when he becomes eligible, a trade should happen in the next few weeks.
Charania wrote that NBA owners and front-office executives expect Milwaukee to ask for a "young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks," as was the case before the deadline. The Warriors don't have the top young talent to outbid other teams (sorry, Brandin Podziemski), but they could offer a surplus of picks (if only they had gotten lucky at the lottery), as they did in February.
Would Giannis be open to a trade to the Warriors?
As Charania also outlined, where Antetokounmpo wants to go could be the biggest factor in where he ends up, as he has a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season that he could decline to become an unrestricted free agent. Even Golden State shouldn't be desperate enough to trade for him without first receiving assurance that he wants to be in San Francisco long term.
There is no updated list of teams Giannis is open to playing for, but he may not be all that interested in teaming up with Steph Curry on the Warriors because of their tight championship window. He may prefer to stay in the East, which would give him a better shot at returning to the NBA Finals than going through the Thunder or the Spurs to get there.
All of this is speculation, though. Maybe Giannis wouldn't oppose a trade to Golden State, or maybe Milwaukee would end up sending him to a team that's not high on his destination list. His situation could go in about 100 different directions — the Warriors hope that in the end, it will go in their favor.
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