The Bucks may have won an NBA title in 2021, but that doesn’t mean the team isn’t under pressure to win again. Just ask star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Everyone, especially Antetokounmpo, understands the situation in which Milwaukee finds itself heading into the 2024-25 season.
In an interview with The Athletic‘s Sam Amick, the 29-year-old Greek star addressed what he thinks could happen if the Bucks fall short of their ultimate goal.
“Yeah, if we don’t win a championship, I might get traded,” Antetokounmpo acknowledged. “Yeah, this is the job we live. This is the world we’re living in. It’s everybody.”
Milwaukee has made the playoffs in each of the last eight seasons, but that has resulted in just the one championship. Outside of that, the Bucks have four first-round exits, two losses in the conference semifinals and one loss in the conference finals.
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The past two years especially hurt, as the the Bucks have lost in the first round in back-to-back years despite being the higher seed both times. Another disappointing seasons could mean big changes are coming, an idea that Antetokounmpo fully understands.
“It’s the profession that we’re in. At any given moment, if you don’t succeed, that might be it for us,” he told Amick. “It was the same way with the previous coaching staff, and the year before, the players before. … If you don’t do a good enough job, you’re out.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo contract
| Year | Cap hit (according to Spotrac) |
| 2024-25 | $48.8 million |
| 2025-26 | $54.1 million |
| 2026-27 | $58.5 million |
| 2027-28 | $62.8 million |
Antetokounmpo signed a three-year, $186 million extension last October, a contract that kicks in after this season. Therefore, this year he is still playing under his previous contract, which averaged under $50 million a year. Additionally, the final year of that three-year extension is a player option, which gives Antetokounmpo leverage over the Bucks or any team that wants to trade for him.
If Antetokounmpo decides he wants to be traded, or the Bucks decide they want to rebuild, any team that acquires the superstar has to take on his large contract extension.
