Bucks Near Tuesday 8 PM Draft Decision on 31-Year-Old Giannis Antetokounmpo
Updated
Updated · Marc Stein | Substack · Jun 22
Bucks Near Tuesday 8 PM Draft Decision on 31-Year-Old Giannis Antetokounmpo
3 articles · Updated · Marc Stein | Substack · Jun 22
Summary
Tuesday night’s NBA Draft is now viewed around the league as the point by which Milwaukee must either trade Giannis Antetokounmpo or recommit to building around him.
The urgency comes from a saga that has stretched roughly 13 months and from Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam publicly calling the draft the team’s “natural time” to choose a direction.
Haslam said a trade would need to bring back “a lot of assets” for general manager Jon Horst, while keeping Antetokounmpo would require constructing the roster differently.
The 31-year-old cannot sign a third contract extension with Milwaukee before Oct. 1 under league rules, leaving the draft as the clearest near-term decision point.