Bucks open to trade offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of NBA draft: report

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on May 11, 2026

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The Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes is back on.

The Milwaukee Bucks are ready to receive trade offers for the two-time NBA MVP with the draft less than two months away, according to ESPN.

The development comes less than a week after Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said the team intended to make a decision on Antetokounmpo’s future ahead of the draft, which begins June 23.

“Sometime over the next six or seven weeks we’ll decide whether Giannis is going to sign a max contract and stay with us or he’s going to play somewhere else,” Haslam told reporters last Wednesday.

Antetokounmpo, who has spent his entire 13-year NBA career with the Bucks, has never publicly requested a trade, but reports earlier this year stated the 6-11 forward was ready for a change of scenery.

Despite widespread speculation, the Bucks kept Antetokounmpo through the February trade deadline, with the attention then shifting to the offseason.

Interest in trading for Antetokounmpo is said to be robust, according to ESPN, with the Bucks reportedly seeking premium young talent or a draft haul in return.

Antetokounmpo, 31, averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game this season, but injuries limited him to just 36 games.

Adding to the drama was that Antetokounmpo wanted to return late in the season after suffering a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise in March, but the Bucks did not medically clear him.

When speaking publicly, Antetokounmpo has been non-committal about what he wants, though he has consistently expressed frustration with the Bucks’ losing.

Since they won the NBA Finals in 2021, the Bucks have won only one playoff series, and none in the past four years. This season, Milwaukee finished 32-50 and missed the postseason.

Asked after the season finale if he had played his final game for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo said, “That’s a very good question.”

“I don’t know,” Antetokounmpo said, per ESPN. “It’s not up to me. We’ll see.”

Antetokounmpo reportedly eyed the New York Knicks as a potential trade destination last offseason, and they were among the teams — along with the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves — linked to him leading up to the Feb. 5 deadline.

That was before the Knicks surged to the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row.

Next month’s draft is considered historically deep, with BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer among the top prospects.

The Washington Wizards hold the No. 1 pick, followed by the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers.

The Brooklyn Nets are set to pick No. 6.

Antetokounmpo becomes eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million contract extension with the Bucks on Oct. 1, but he could make his intentions clear before the draft.

“Somebody has to offer you that, for you to sign,” Antetokounmpo said last month. “I haven’t been offered an extension. So, if that is on the table, then I will try to make the best decision for me and my family.

“But if it’s not on the table, then I have to focus on how can I improve my worth and get on the floor and do what I do.”

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