Giannis Antetokounmpo has been Bucks through-and-through since he was drafted there in 2013 but his loyalty seems to be wavering.
Last week, The Greek Freak shocked the world when he told The New York Times if he doesn’t feel like “everybody’s going for a championship” then he won’t re-sign with the franchise next summer.
If the two-time MVP was to become a free agent, he would no doubt become the hottest commodity on the market.
The Lakers and the Knicks are two teams that Giannis would be interested in, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
“The Lakers and the Knicks are already being mentioned as franchises presumed to interest Antetokounmpo down the road if he does decide to move on from Milwaukee, which just made a slew of moves (re-signing Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and replacing Mike Budenholzer as coach with Adrian Griffin) to try to appease its face of the franchise,” Stein wrote.
“You can be certain, if nothing else, that The Giannis Watch is back on and, like it or not, will thrust his future back to the forefront of the NBA discourse after just three seasons of relative quiet that must have elapsed awfully quickly for Bucks fans.”
The Lakers are an interesting one because if LeBron James was to retire or switch teams to play with his son Bronny, Giannis could act as his replacement.
You can’t really get a better replacement than that, right?
Of course, Antetokounmpo didn’t come out and say that he will definitely leave Milwaukee but explained his feelings on the matter in detail.
“The real question’s not going to be this year — numbers-wise it doesn’t make sense,” Antetokounmpo told The New York Times. “But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties. Even then, I don’t know… I would not be the best version of myself if I don’t know that everybody’s (Bucks) on the same page, everybody’s going for a championship, everybody’s going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don’t feel that, I’m not signing.”