Bucks reporter: Celtics-Giannis rumors aren’t being fueled by Milwaukee

Bucks beat reporter Jim Owczarski has heard the talk of the Celtics’ interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo. He just doesn’t know where it’s coming from.

But Owczarski, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, says he does know where it’s not coming from.

“Whatever is being reported is NOT coming out of Milwaukee,” Owczarski said during an appearance on CLNS with Bobby Manning.

According to Owczarski, secrecy has long been one of the Bucks’ strengths under general manager Jon Horst.

“Jon Horst does not leak; he’s got a very small front office and he does not discuss anything,” Owczarski said. “This may not be known to Celtics fans: The Damian Lillard trade, (Horst) literally created a bunker in the Bucks’ locker room in the offseason. There were people on his immediate staff that didn’t know what he was doing.”

If you remember, nearly every report at the time suggested Lillard was destined for Miami. Even Lillard’s agent insisted that was where he’d land.

Then Milwaukee swooped in and got the deal done. According to Owczarski, it wasn’t the first time.

“That’s one of three moves that Jon Horst has made where the players were blindsided, parts of the team were blindsided,” he said. “This was the acquisition of Jrue Holiday back in 2020, this was the acquisition of Dame in 2023, and it was the waive-and-stretch of Dame and the signing of Myles Turner in 2025.”

None of that means the Celtics won’t eventually emerge as a legitimate landing spot for Antetokounmpo.

Owczarski wasn’t arguing that. He was simply making another point.

“I can’t speak to the Celtics, I don’t cover them, I don’t know Brad Stevens at all, I don’t know this new ownership at all,” he said. “But it’s not the Bucks’ MO.”

In other words, if the Bucks are plotting something involving Giannis, history suggests they won’t be the ones telling everybody about it.

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