Giannis Antetokounmpo will ‘focus on basketball’ rather than contract with Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks desperately want to sign superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to a supermax contract. In doing so, they would secure the two-time NBA MVP’s future with the team.

However, Giannis Antetokounmpo may have other plans. He’s going to take his time to think about his future in the league and whether it includes the Bucks. Although he’s eligible to sign a massive deal with the team before the upcoming season, he’s elected to focus on basketball, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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“I trust my agent, I trust Jon Horst and the ownership and they’re taking care of those discussions,” he said. “I’m just going to focus on basketball. I know this is really, really big for the city of the Milwaukee and for the NBA world and the media world and all that, but I’ve been a private person. Whenever… I decide something or I sign a contract you guys probably gonna know before I know. So, yeah, I’ll appreciate that from now on we try not to talk as much about that and just focus on basketball. Because the answer is still going to be the same.”

The Bucks made one significant move in order to convince Antetokounmpo to stay with the team long-term. Milwaukee made a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. As a result they arguably gained the best defensive-minded guard in the league in Jrue Holiday.

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That was a big move that probably moved the needle for Giannis, but failing to acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic in a sign-and-trade might have been a move in the wrong direction.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Antetokounmpo, but one thing is for certain, it is not set in gold.