With the Milwaukee Bucks suffering yet another disastrous first-round playoff exit, franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo has naturally begun to pop up in trade rumors.
The two-time MVP hasn’t at all indicated that he wants to leave Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo signed a three-year extension worth $186 million in October 2023, but he’s only under team control for two more years before he can opt out and hit free agency in 2027.
Since winning the NBA championship in 2021, the Bucks have won just a single playoff series (the first round in 2022 against the Chicago Bulls). They’ve been eliminated in the first round in three consecutive years, inexplicably winning just four combined playoff games in that period.
If the Bucks decide to rebuild, they’d get a monster return for Giannis Antetokounmpo and fellow future Hall of Famer Damian Lillard. Any team with the cap space and necessary trade assets would have to inquire about Giannis’ availability.
The Athletic had asked some of their NBA writers to suggest blockbuster trade ideas involving Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Raptors reporter Eric Koreen proposed a deal that would see Toronto land Antetokounmpo and Kyle Kuzkma in exchange for franchise star Scottie Barnes, R.J. Barrett, Gradey Dick, top-one protected first-round picks in 2027, 2029 and 2031 plus pick swaps in 2028 and 2030:
“Raptors president Masai Ujiri has wanted Antetokounmpo since before he came into the league. In Barnes, the Bucks get a foundational player defensively and a playmaker in the style of Antetokounmpo.
They also get off Kuzma and, essentially, get as many picks as the Raptors can give them. It might not be enough for the Bucks, but save for getting the Raptors’ lottery pick this year — and if Toronto doesn’t win the lottery, it could be on the table — it is a haul.
The trick is that the Raptors would have to think this makes them a contender, while the Bucks would have to see some hope for their trade partners to struggle. How does a core of Antetokounmpo, Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl sound?”
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Giannis Antetokounmpo this season:
— RaptorsMuse 🦖 (@RaptorsMuseOk) May 1, 2025
30.4 PPG
11.9 RPG
6.5 APG
0.9 SPG
1.2 BPG
60.1/22.2/61.7
He has recently been linked to trade rumors recently, would you trade for him? What would you give up for him? #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/CgCrwwF20s
The Raptors have won just a single playoff series since capturing their first NBA championship in 2019. They haven’t had a bonafide superstar since Kawhi Leonard left that summer for the Toronto Raptors, so adding Giannis Antetokounmpo would rejuvenate a franchise that has just one winning season since 2021.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Should Definitely Consider Requesting A Trade
Though they finally won it all in 2021, the fact remains that Milwaukee has wasted too much of Giannis’ prime. The Lillard trade hasn’t netted the results that the Bucks envisioned, and it’s clear Milwaukee is way behind the top Eastern Conference clubs (Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and even the Pacers at this rate).
Giannis is too great to spend the rest of his career on an above-average team that isn’t close to contention. If he asks for a trade, nobody should fault him.
