The Milwaukee Bucks finished the 2025-26 season with a 32-50 record, missing the playoffs entirely for the first time in nearly a decade, and the inevitable conversation about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future has now resurfaced.
The Bucks have made their position clear: either he signs the four-year, $273.3 million extension available to him this October, or he gets traded. What is becoming clearer by the day is where Antetokounmpo actually wants to end up.
Is Giannis Antetokounmpo Leaving Bucks?
The Athletic’s Sam Amick has now put specifics around something that has been circulating in league circles for months, and the details point squarely toward the East.
“He is believed to be interested in joining a true title-contender. The Trail Blazers, even with him, would likely struggle to reach that tier,” Amick wrote.
“As these playoffs have shown so far, joining a top-tier team in the East would be the wiser way to reach that goal. That sentiment comes up frequently in leaguewide discussions about what Antetokounmpo might want, as it’s widely believed he’d prefer to play for an Eastern Conference team,” Amick added.
Per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the Atlanta Hawks are also not expected to engage, and there is little to no indication that the Houston Rockets will enter the picture either. That narrows the realistic pool considerably, and the team that keeps emerging at the top of every credible report is the New York Knicks.
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Antetokounmpo’s interest in the Knicks has been described by Fischer as genuine and ongoing, not a baseless rumor.
The Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam added urgency to the situation this week, telling reporters that he expects clarity on the two-time MVP’s future before the NBA Draft on June 23, which is a notably aggressive timeline given that Antetokounmpo cannot officially sign the extension until October.
The cap mechanics of a Knicks trade are complicated. Antetokounmpo is owed $54.1 million next season, meaning New York would need to send out a matching salary.
Karl-Anthony Towns at $53.1 million plus a small contract gets them there on paper. The Knicks are already above the first apron and just below the second, limiting their flexibility with draft picks, but the package of KAT and available swap rights has been discussed as a realistic foundation.
The Knicks traded five of their own first-round picks in the Mikal Bridges deal, which complicates their ability to include additional pick sweeteners, but Antetokounmpo’s preference for the destination could give the Knicks leverage that raw asset value alone cannot buy.
The timing creates its own dynamic. The Knicks are currently the favorites to come out of the East after dispatching the 76ers. They are currently leading Joel Embiid and Co. 3-0, and look to be the favorites to complete an impressive sweep.
