The Milwaukee Bucks have made some of the boldest moves of the 2025 NBA offseason, but rumors surrounding superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo remain the biggest topic surrounding the team this summer.
Speaking with The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, Bucks general manager Jon Horst said that the franchise is focused on “maximizing Giannis’ prime” rather than worrying about rumors and speculation of his future.
“Maximizing Giannis’ prime, our opportunities to win, I feel like that’s our responsibility always,” Horst said. “So it was really a now versus future decision.”
Milwaukee made the decision to waive nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard after he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in their first-round playoff matchup against the Indiana Pacers. With the resulting cap space, the Bucks signed free agent Myles Turner from Indiana after their NBA Finals run.
Giannis Is The Priority
At the start of the offseason, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that ‘for the first time in his career’, Antetokounmpo would seriously consider if staying with the Bucks would be the best for his career.
Following that report, multiple other insiders and analysts discussed the chances of Antetokounmpo leaving the team. However, news of the 2021 Finals MVP’s plan has somewhat quieted after ESPN’s Brian Windhorst stated that he has yet to formally request a trade.
Antetokounmpo was also reportedly ‘closely observing‘ the Bucks offseason and NBA Draft moves, but as of now, he looks to remain with the team going forward. He is also under contract for the next three seasons and has yet to comment publicly on the rumors and his future career plans.
Horst also explained how the team went about making the decisions both to waive Lillard and add Turner, in what have been their biggest moves of the offseason so far.
“We looked at the opportunity to acquire a highly productive, elite free agent, who is in the prime of his career, and who is an incredible fit next to Giannis, as an opportunity for these next two seasons in particular,” Horst said. “Instead of what would have been Dame on our books at a full salary, as really opportunistic, more than anything.”
Still No Concern in Milwaukee
So far this offseason, the Bucks also lost center Brook Lopez in free agency to the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite now being without one of their main contributors from their 2021 NBA championship run, franchise president Peter Feigin believes the superstar won’t be leaving anytime soon.
“We kind of laugh internally. It’s where we’ve been for ten years,” Feigin said on an NBATV Summer League broadcast. “Giannis loves Milwaukee, Milwaukee loves Giannis. We’re in a good place. We feel great about it. It’s business as usual.”
Horst also explained that he believes the team has done everything possible to put pieces around their superstar to maximize his potential.
“We’ve done everything, I’ve done everything within my human possible power this offseason,” Horst added. “We do everything we can to put the next version of this thing out there, to give Doc [Rivers] and Giannis and Bobby [Portis] and Scoot [Kevin Porter Jr.] and the guys on our team every chance that they can to win every night.”
Antetokounmpo has finished top-five in NBA MVP voting in each of the last seven seasons, winning the award twice in 2019 and 2020.
While the Bucks have lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past three years, team executives are confident that Antetokounmpo will stay with the team and that they have done everything to put pieces around him to get back to their winning ways going forward.
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