Giannis Antetokounmpo, agent to discuss immediate future with Bucks

Alex Saratsis, the co-managing director of basketball for Octagon Sports and the U.S.-based agent for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Milwaukee Bucks superstar have decided to once again engage the organization in discussions about his immediate and long-term future.

It is a unique circumstance in that it is a public declaration in the middle of a season – the Bucks are preparing to play the Detroit Pistons at Fiserv Forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3. Conversations such as these happen annually in the offseason and did again before the start of this campaign.

ESPN, which initially reported their decision, said the agent and player expect a resolution in the “coming weeks.”

The announcement is a pivot from Antetokounmpo’s public declaration in training camp on Oct. 8 that, “I'm locked in. I'm locked into this team. I'm locked into these guys, to this group and to my coaching staff and to myself.”

But, it is just the latest step in a display of dissatisfaction with the direction of the team.

Antetokounmpo scrubbed his social media accounts of everything Milwaukee and Bucks related while the team was mired in a seven-game losing streak in late November. He missed 4½ of those games after being injured Nov. 17.

He then elected not to speak to a small group of reporters in Washington after a disappointing loss to the Wizards on Dec. 1, instead sitting quietly for some time in his locker.

Milwaukee has lost eight of its last nine games and 10 of its last 13 to fall to 9-13. They are 11th in the Eastern Conference, two games behind Chicago in the loss column for the final play-in spot and four games behind Cleveland in the loss column for the sixth and final playoff spot.

Antetokounmpo is earning $54 million this season and is under team control for $58.4 million for 2026-27. He holds a $62.7 million player option for 2027-28, but those are usually not picked up by star players.

Antetokounmpo is eligible for another maximum, four-year, $275 milliion contract extension in October. In order to retain that right with another team, he must be traded.

During the offseason, Antetokounmpo and Bucks coach Doc Rivers acknowledged that the Bucks and New York Knicks had an August conversation about trading the two-time MVP to the Knicks. Two team sources with intimate knowledge of the situation told the Journal Sentinel in the summer that Antetokounmpo never formally asked for a trade in the offseason.

The day after ESPN broke that news, Antetokounmpo said, “First of all, I haven't read that story," Antetokounmpo began. "When the season starts, I try to get off social media and I try to focus on my craft and the team. But yeah, I've said this many times, I want to be in a situation that I can win and now I'm here. I believe in this team. I believe in my teammates. I'm here to lead this team to wherever we can go and it's definitely going to be hard. We're going to take it day-by-day, but I'm here. So, all the other extra stuff does not matter.

"I think I've communicated with my teammates, communicated with the people I respect and love that the moment I step on this court or in this facility, I wear this jersey, the rest does not matter. I'm locked into whatever I have in front of me. Now, if in six, seven months, I change my mind, I think that's human too, you're allowed to make any decision you want.”

Antetokounmpo added that he hoped the Oct. 8 interview would “end it,” regarding the reporting around his offseason activities. He addressed the trade report again when the Knicks came to Milwaukee a couple of weeks later and said, “I didn’t read that article. I try to stay away from all that rumors, how do you call it, speculations and trade and all this. That doesn’t concern me one bit. I try to involve myself and try to help my team win games."

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He then joked that he doesn’t have time for such things to be a distraction to him.

Check back as this story develops

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giannis Antetokounmpo, agent to discuss immediate future with Bucks