Milwaukee Bucks to decide Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future by NBA draft

Yahoo Sports1h ago18 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

The Milwaukee Bucks will determine Giannis Antetokounmpo's future by the NBA draft on June 23-24, with options to trade him or build around him. Co-owner Jimmy Haslam emphasized the importance of this decision for the franchise's direction.

Key points

Milwaukee Bucks will decide Giannis Antetokounmpo's future by NBA draft
Decision may involve trading Giannis or building around him
NBA draft scheduled for June 23-24
Taylor Jenkins introduced as new head coach
Jimmy Haslam emphasizes positive relationship with Giannis

Mentioned in this story

Milwaukee BucksGiannis AntetokounmpoJimmy HaslamTaylor Jenkins

In his first press conference to discuss on-court basketball matters with the Milwaukee Bucks, one in which the organization introduced Taylor Jenkins as its new head coach on May 6, co-owner Jimmy Haslam didn’t waste any time in providing a bit of clarity with the direction of the franchise the Haslam Sports Group bought into in 2023.

Haslam, who said he anticipates being around the Bucks more often going forward, flatly stated the team will decide either trade superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo or continue to build the team around him by the NBA draft, which will be held June 23-24.

It was a stark departure from the last calendar year, when the organization and locker room navigated through a consistent barrage of trade speculation about the two-time Most Valuable Player.

“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we ought to get a lot of assets,” Haslam said. “And that’s [general manager] Jon [Horst’s] job to do. And if he’s here, you build the team differently.”

Haslam then took a beat to add, without a prompt, “I just want to stress though, that our relationship with him – despite what is reported by certain ESPN writers – is very positive.”