The Milwaukee Bucks have been reeling so far on the young season leading up to Sunday's home matchup vs the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics. The Bucks currently sit at 2-7 following Friday evening's loss to the New York Knicks on the road, and murmurs have grown louder that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo could eventually opt to request a trade if the team's struggles continue.
Now, NBA insider Marc Stein is clarifying those rumors, per his account on Substack.
“No rival team expects the Bucks, even amid a 2-7 start, to show any willingness to discuss Giannis Antetokounmpo trades at this early juncture of the season,” reported Stein. “It is understood quite clearly in 29 other front offices that Antetokounmpo is only ever going to be made available for trade if he pushes for it.”
However, Stein noted that that hasn't stopped some teams from preparing for such an event to possibly occur.
“But a handful of teams out there have certainly begun planning for such an eventuality — and, in some cases, have already let the Bucks know that they will be ready to talk trade if team officials ever reach that point — even if Milwaukee has zero interest in such discussions as we speak,” reported Stein.
Will Antetokounmpo request a trade?
Antetokounmpo hasn't given any public signals that he would demand a trade from the organization that selected him in the first round in 2013, but as he is now less than a month away from turning 30 years old, it's certainly a possibility that he could want to maximize the remaining years of his prime with a team better suited to compete for a championship now.
Although Damian Lillard has provided plenty of firepower to the Bucks' offense since their trade for him last offseason, the pick and roll partnership between he and Antetokounmpo, which was projected by some to be a diet version of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, has not remotely lived up to that standard, and the Bucks now sit well below the .500 mark since Doc Rivers took over for Adrian Griffin as head coach last summer.
If Antetokounmpo were to demand a trade, he would obviously have plenty of suitors around the league, from both teams in title contention now to those looking to usher in their next era.
In any case, the Bucks and Celtics are slated to kick off at 3:30 PM ET on Sunday.
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