Inside the Bucks' Locker Room: Why Giannis Trade Rumors Might Be More Than Just Talk

Until Antetokounmpo stops just rattling his sabers and actually makes a trade request (or, until he doesn’t sign an extension with the team next October when they can offer him a new max deal), the Bucks are going to try to find ways — including making moves at the February trade deadline — to improve the roster and win with him. The Bucks are all-in on Antetokounmpo until he tells them not to be.

• The other question being asked around the league is, if Antetokounmpo does request a trade, will the Bucks be willing to work with him and take less in return to get him where he wants to go (New York, presumably, but other teams like Miami or Golden State could be on a short list) or, are they going to take the best package regardless of where it sends the two-time MVP? Teams like Atlanta and San Antonio can put together offers far better than New York or the other reported preferred Antetokounmpo landing spots, should those teams decide to jump in and go after him. How would Antetokounmpo react if the Bucks worked out a trade with the Hawks or Spurs? Would this be like Antetokounmpo’s former teammate, Damian Lillard, who didn’t have Milwaukee on his trade list but was open to the idea once presented with the deal? Antetokounmpo has some leverage because he is under contract for one more season after this one and could tell a team he would not re-sign with them if they trade for him. Of course, that’s what Kawhi Leonard told Toronto, they traded for him anyway, won a ring, and then he left. There are teams that would sign up for that outcome.