The clock is ticking, and the Bucks keep answering the phone.
Appearing on SportsCenter Monday night, ESPN’s Shams Charania said Milwaukee has now received formal offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Warriors, Heat, Timberwolves, and Knicks.
And they’re not just listening. They’re countering.
“My understanding is the Warriors have made a pick-heavy offer, Minnesota is more of a player-centric offer, and Miami is somewhere in the middle,” Charania said.
“The Bucks are going to have to choose: Do we take one of these offers and continue to negotiate? Or do we wait until the offseason?”
What Milwaukee wants hasn’t changed. Charania reiterated the Bucks are prioritizing “young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of first-round draft picks.” That’s the bar. Everything else is noise.
The Knicks, meanwhile, appear to be more present than aggressive. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said earlier Monday that New York isn’t acting like a team ready to go all-in.
“I just don’t think that is something that is really hot right now,” Windhorst said. “They have talked to the Bucks… but I don’t think it’s something they’re aggressively pursuing. And that kind of makes sense — they’re playing some of their best basketball right now.”
Minnesota may be the wild card. Windhorst called the Wolves a long shot, but not a passive one.
“They are in the game for Giannis,” he said. “They are out there recruiting third and fourth teams to try to improve their offer.”
If that fails, Windhorst added, Minnesota could pivot quickly to a guard upgrade.
Miami’s package, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, is expected to be heavy. It could include Kel’el Ware, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier’s expiring deal, additional young pieces, two first-rounders, and multiple swaps. The Heat may also be open to more maneuvering if needed.
As Marc Stein of The Stein Line put it on SiriusXM NBA radio, “It’s really hard to call.”
But the concept of an Antetokounmpo trade isn’t theoretical. It’s active. And it’s real.
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