OCTOBER 24: The Bucks have officially announced Antetokounmpo’s extension.
“Milwaukee is where I started my career, it’s our home, it’s where we’re raising our family, and it’s where I’m going to continue to work hard every day to make Bucks fans proud,” Giannis said in a statement. “I want to thank Bucks owners Wes (Edens), Jamie (Dinan), Jimmy (Haslam) and Dee (Haslam) for their continuous support of me and my family, and I want to express my appreciation to (general manager) Jon Horst for being a trusted partner who has been with me since the day I arrived in Milwaukee 10 years ago.
“To my teammates and coaches, I will always be grateful to you for inspiring me to be my best every day. Together, we are committed to winning and bringing another championship to our city. And to Bucks fans, let’s get it!”
OCTOBER 23: Giannis Antetokounmpo is signing a three-year, maximum-salary extension with the Bucks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The contract will include a player option for the 2027/28 season, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Antetokounmpo was signed through the 2025/26 on his current contract, though he had a $51,935,268 option for the final season of that deal. That ’25/26 option will be eliminated and replaced with the first year of the new contract.
While Wojnarowski pegs the value of the three-year extension at $186MM, that’s just an estimate for now. It’s only possible if the salary cap increases by the maximum amount (10%) in 2024 and 2025. Otherwise, the contract figures would come in a little lower.
Assuming annual 10% increases in each of the next two years, the extension would break down as follows, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets: $57,604,893 for the 2025/26 season; $62,213,285 the following season; and a $66,821,676 player option in 2027/28. The total value would be $186,639,853.
The terms of the deal are identical to the three-year extension Anthony Davis signed with the Lakers in August.
Antetokounmpo’s agreement with the Bucks comes as somewhat of a surprise, since he indicated in a New York Times interview this summer that he wouldn’t sign an extension.
“The real question’s not going to be this year — numbers-wise it doesn’t make sense,” Giannis said in August. “But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties.”
While Antetokounmpo could have waited until next offseason and theoretically received more money, he ultimately decided to make an early commitment. Certainly, the Bucks’ acquisition of another superstar, Damian Lillard, played into his thinking.
The New York Times interview – in which Antetokounmpo stated he wouldn’t sign long-term with Milwaukee unless he was confident the team is as committed to chasing more titles as he is – sparked widespread speculation that he would eventually ask for a trade or go into the free agent market. However, his decision to sign on Monday should quiet that speculation, at least in the short term.
The two-time Most Valuable Player award winner is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-best 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Still only 28 years old, he’s entering his 11th NBA season.
Monday was the last day the Bucks superstar could have signed an extension prior to next July, as we outlined earlier today.
Yes! To Bucks fans, there is no Bucks without Giannis.
Giannis Antetokounmpo signed a 3 year $186 million extension with the Milwaukee Bucks!!!!!!!! They locked him up with Damian Lillard. Great move!!!! Milwaukee Bucks should be able to compete for championships for the next four seasons.
You should write for Trade Rumors. The whole article in 3 sentences, oh the time you could save me.
Ahahaha
Those wonderful salaries…
Seems like an over pay, what has this guy done to warrant this kind of salary figure?
Sarcasm
I suggest that you Google his accomplishments. He has many.
never heard of him
I hear he makes good gyros
The gyro we deserve
When does he find the time with all that Chik-fil-A?
Giannis Antetokounmpo needs to be the best player in the NBA again. They can win every year but the pressure isn’t on him it’s on Damian Lillard.
Giannis Antetokounmpo winning that one championship for the Milwaukee Bucks got him in the Hall of Fame and one of the best Power Forwards in the history of the NBA.
Man you sound stupid!!!! Ain’t no way you can put Greek Freak and over pay in the same sentence.
You’re missing the obvious sarcasm, champ.
Giannis doesn’t need to be the best player in the NBA again. He already is. Jokic is great and he’s the best player on the reigning, defending, world champions but Giannis has been the best basketball player in the world for about half a decade.
Buying all those vowels is not cheap…
Surprising! Bucks are going to suck in a couple of years. Middleton and Lopez will be mid 30s, Lilllard 33, and they have no young guys coming up behind them or any assets to trade.
Honestly, I think a good chance they disappoint even before that. I guess Giannis lied about competing for a championship is more important than the money security.
They’ll be competing for a championship for at least the next 3-4 years. Giannis could’ve waited a year and gotten something like 4 years and $234m. He’s already set up his family for generations, he wants to be in Milwaukee. LA and NY can now shut it about getting the Greek Freak.
Cause no nba superstar has ever demanded a trade while under contract…
Just take the L here. Giannis will be a Buck for a long time.
Joining your favorite team definitely didn’t give him a better chance to compete for championships anymore then my clippers didn’t give him a better chance to compete for a title then bucks
As long as G is elite they will thrive
Managments gone above and beyond to make sure of this, the names might change but the Wins will continue to pile up
I guess 1 of these posts was in store no matter
Lmao, this clown thinks that in two years, when GIANNIS IS STILL ON THE TEAM and IN HIS PRIME, they will suck.
Tell me you don’t understand basketball without telling me you don’t understand basketball.
Giannis is a top 20ish player of all time. As long as he’s healthy, any team he’s on will be a title contender until he’s like 35. That team is gonna be the Bucks.
Sorry your [insert big market/glamor team here] is gonna miss out on him. Again. Like they did the last time when he extended.
He’s honestly too good for that kind of thing.
Good for him, great for the Bucks and NBA as a whole.
It never made a lick of sense for him to leave bucks and join YOUR TEAM
The Lillard trade was worth it now.
GA was never leaving either way. My guess is he weighed the value of the additional money he might get by signing next year vs the value of not having to answer inane questions from reporters about his not having extended yet, and decided the latter was greater.
I understand that many fans are nostalgic relative to the era when superstars (i.e., in their prime) changed teams in free agency. They need to accept it’s over, at least as long as the term of the current CBA.
That’s why I hated all that talk about where is he going to go, where is he going to play in 2 years from now when he’s a free agent. So premature and here we go, he re-signs.
Hey, he likes it in Milwaukee and they picked up some guys so they’re going to be great. Should be consistent finals threats for the next few years.
I say good so now I will not hear his name in trade rumors from the Lakers claiming he wants to play with Lebron.
Yeah those Giannis to LAL will always come in. If he ever wants to win a championship again he has to go to LAL because they are the only team that gives a player a chance to win. Sure, they have only been better than a 7 seed 1 time in the last 12 years but still only team that Giannis should want to play for.
Where do you guys hear these things, serious Q…I’m on a couple Lakers boards and haven’t heard G’ name in years and they get 4x the traffic daily as here
No Laker fans propagate that on here, so I ask again what outlets/people are saying that?
There was a couple articles here in hoops rumors about his pending free agency in 2 years and I think they were written by different beat reporters on slow days. Then of course we all jump in and guess about his destination and all that. Miami, new york, either Los Angeles team, the Warriors.
I don’t have the names for you because I would have to go back and search Hoops rumors Bucks articles for that. But there were a few items this summer.
Bucks are the only serious contender to Denver/Phoenix out West.
A healthy Middleton and the offensive upgrade gained from Lillard over Holiday is gonna be really tough to stop. Bobby Portis adds the toughness edge the team needs. He also makes Brook Lopez non-essential.
how is brooks lopez non essential? He is one of the best defensive players in the league.
losing jru makes lopez more essential.
Portis can’t defend the rim worth a lick and Lopez is maybe the league’s best rim protector. Everything before you said that is correct. How do you get that wrong?
Lopez is in the top 3 as far rim protectors go and he is essential to the Bucks but Lopez’s teammates Giannis is the best rim protector today. Lopez is essential because he makes it easier for Giannis to do everything else Giannis does.
Where are the “He is going to leave for Miami or LA” people now?
He was never going to go that is not his mindset. He did put some pressure for a big move, but I don’t think he would have left. Jrue was always going to get moved this season, Dame was the best return.
Does anyone pay attention to nba stars demanding trades??? Not saying he will but signing this extension in no way guarantees he will be there for the life of the contract. Bucks fans of all people should know this lol.
Again, just take the L. He’s not coming to your team.
Why do people automatically assume this 100% means that The Greek Freak is a Buck for the entirety of his contract.
Yes, it may be a sign of good faith by GA right now, but in a year or two people act like he can’t just demand a trade out of there.
That is not how Giannis operates. You have to see how he is in the city. He loves it here. You don’t see foreign players ask to be traded. They have a different set of values.
Not exactly a different set of values. They’re just far away from their country, and so foreign nba players would probably hate having to start over again in a new city.
And Dame was never going to leave Portland
Take the L
Agreed, but this contract today is still a BIG winner for MIL and its fans.
Gives the front office a greater latitude as well on the direction they are steering the plane that given year and the following years
They still get ALL the assets back if the time comes he does want to bounce
62 & 63 mil in 26-27 is still alot.
that’s 125 mil for just giannis & dame. salary cap that season be like 260 ya think?
That is going to buy a whole lot of Bently’s and Mansions — 3 year 186m – sounds absolutely wild and ridiculous amount of bucks to pay. I know you don’t spell bucks without Giannis
But I thought he was going to NY..LA, Golden State. We in Milwaukee knew. Everything he said he has always said. He loves Milwaukee. Does so much for the community. Owns part of the Brewers. Open a clothing store here.
So it’ll be Saturday when the ‘Giannis wants out’ talk starts again.
So let’s recap… Beal nope. Dame nope. Giannis nope. Who does Miami target now? This is the last year they’ll be able to make a deal with this core (Bam, Jimmy, Herro). No cap space til 26-27. Gotta move Lowry for someone on a multi yr deal or with bird rights.
Miami and Philly are in a similar boat with both teams expecting to trade for or sign an elite FA, but all the best options are staying put or getting sent elsewhere.
Harden for Herro and Lowry
That’s the price of maintaining that beloved “Heat Culture”.
Along with Knicks the Heat will turn their attention towards Embiid while carefully monitoring the K.A.T. situation in Minnesota.
As we’ve learned, a long term contract offers almost zero impediment to a player asking to be dealt.
Just take the L. He’s not coming to your team. If you didn’t get the picture in 2020 and can’t get it three years later… well, enjoy that fantasy world you live in.
Better put pen to paper now just in case they don’t win – and everyone sees that just because they have 2 alltime greats/future HOFs doesn’t mean they’ll win a championship.
Yes Giannis to the Knicks ……
Embiid to the Knicks ……
Mitchell to the Knicks ……
Who else to the Knicks …….