The Milwaukee Bucks are not sure Brian Windhorst will trade superstars until they reveal what they’re going to do with Giannis Antetocompo, but they’re at the heart of the NBA offseason.
The Milwaukee Bucks have been at the heart of NBA trade rumors since they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers.
A third early exit was followed, and the Bucks seemed no longer competitive, so it was expected that superstar Giannis Antetocomo would demand trade.
However, all reports on Antetokounmpo have been largely speculative to date, and there is no real indication that the Bucks will trade Giannis unless he explicitly asks.
The Bucks seem willing to do anything their superstars want, and so far he hasn’t made it clear what he wants.
Depending on who took up their options and who the team would hold, the Bucks could see up to 10 players departing the roster in free agency. With all that cap space, the Bucks were able to recover around Giannis, giving him a reason to stay in town.
“I thought Giannis would be gone if Milwaukee wasn’t on a really good year,” insider Brian Windholst said. “Not only did they not have a good year, they also suffered a catastrophic injury to Giannis’ running buddy. Damien Lillard had it in the playoffs, but that’s still upsetting.”
Based on that claim, the fact that Lillard is likely to die next season of a non-trade market salary, making sense that Giannis hasn’t officially done it yet, but the clock asks every moment.
“I’m not going to speculate on his personal thoughts, but my guess is that if he asks for a deal, he’ll do it directly,” Windhorst continued. “So I don’t think trade demands are coming in the near future in the short term.”
Giannis spends his summer in Greece preparing for the Eurobasket, and the Bucks can stay on track unless he returns to Wisconsin soon.
At absolute maximums, the Bucks were able to open about $141.5 million in cap space this summer. That’s not the most realistic number, but it’s $41.6 million.
With that money, the Bucks were able to add players like Luke Kennard, Tim Hardaway Jr., Malcolm Brogdon and even Miles Turner, and they were able to build a competitive roster around Giannis in the hopes of returning to full strength at some point.
Depending on how the Bucks attacked the offseason, they were able to invite them to stay and compete in Giannis. With the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and perhaps the New York Knicks poised to return for next season, Milwaukee has taken advantage of the weaker Eastern Conference, causing a stir before Lillard’s contract finally leaves the book, allowing him to remodel antetokounmpo again with Enteto Compo.