Milwaukee Bucks: Are we reading too much into Giannis’ odd statement?
Is Giannis Antetokounmpo setting the stage to leave the Milwaukee Bucks?
After the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Miami Heat in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, many were quick to jump to the conclusion that it was a foregone conclusion that Giannis Antetokounmpo would either ask for a trade during the offseason (after refusing to sign a super-max extension offer from the Bucks) or outright leave during free agency during the 2021 offseason.
Shortly after the Bucks were eliminated, Giannis did what he could to put that narrative to rest in his postgame comments.
"[via Yahoo]"
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"Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said he will not request a trade after his team crashed out of the NBA playoffs in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.“Some see a wall and go in [another direction]. I plow through it. We just have to get better as a team, individually and get right back at it next season.”"
Giannis would then meet with members of Bucks ownership and all seemed right. Reports emerged (subscription required) that the meeting went good and that Milwaukee felt confident that Giannis was in for the long haul with the Bucks.
However, a couple of weeks later, after Giannis was named NBA MVP for the second-straight season, he had one interesting comment that raised some eyebrows.
"[via NBC Sports]I have two great agents that help with that, and I know they’re going to put me in the best situation to be successful with the team or another team."
The key part of this comment is the end of it – “or another team.” Before we begin reading too much into it, it should be stated that he would go on to say that as long as Milwaukee is trying to compete for a championship, he doesn’t see why he wouldn’t be with the team for the next 15 years.
He also said after the meeting with Bucks ownership, it appeared that they were both on the same page. Still, this was an interesting comment that Giannis had to have known what he was doing with it.
Could this have been him just leaving a tiny bit of pressure on management, in a public forum, to make sure his point of adding pieces during the offseason is hammered home? It could’ve been as innocent as that, or even just a misstep from Giannis altogether. Though, I’m not sold on that. Giannis knows every word he says will be magnified by the media.
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Maybe we’re reading way too much into this one-off comment, but we’ve seen how this often plays out time and time again before. And it generally doesn’t work out of the small market teams. Hopefully, for the sake of Bucks fans, this time is different for Milwaukee. For better or worse, this should be an exciting offseason for both Giannis and the Bucks.