The Bucks’ 2025–26 season has not gone the way they wanted, especially in a year where they are trying to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo—eligible for an extension next fall—to stay around long term. They sit in the Eastern Conference’s 10th seed, Giannis himself is weeks away from returning as he recovers from a calf strain, and they just suffered a 45-point loss to the now 7-18 Brooklyn Nets where they scored just 82 points. Amid speculation and rumors about whether Giannis wants to stay, the Bucks appear
to be looking to make another move to convince him. Per both Marc Stein and Eric Nehm, Milwaukee is keeping itself in the market to make another significant move to add around Giannis and contend this season. Stein had this to say on his Substack, The Stein Line, yesterday:
“Interested teams continue to wait for the Bucks to signal that they’ve made Giannis Antetokounmpo available. To date Milwaukee has not and has even countered with whispered messaging that it remains in the market for roster upgrades to help Antetokounmpo”
Nehm backed up that reporting from Stein on The Athletic today, saying the following about the type of player the Bucks are looking to add next to Giannis:
“Five months after the Bucks’ stunning decision to waive Damian Lillard en route to adding big man Myles Turner on a four-year, $107 million deal, it appears they aren’t waving the white flag on Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee just yet. Instead, league sources said they’re considering making yet another significant addition that might aid their chances of convincing him to stay.”
Both reporters made it clear that the Bucks are not currently looking to trade the two-time MVP anytime soon. According to Stein, while other teams believe that the Bucks will be fielding offers for Giannis before the trade deadline, he believes that it won’t happen until Giannis himself requests a trade:
“I have spoken to some teams who continue to express the belief that the Bucks will indeed ultimately opt to field pitches for Antetokounmpo at some point in January ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. The belief here at Stein Line HQ remains that it won’t happen until Giannis himself clearly directs the Bucks to do so.“
Looking at who the Bucks could potentially add, they seemingly already have a list of players they’ve been looking at well before today. As we’ve written about before, the Bucks have done background work on Sacramento Kings wing Zach LaVine and have kept tabs on Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons since the offseason. Sam Amick of The Athletic confirmed Milwaukee’s due diligence on LaVine on Friday.
This also isn’t the first time the Bucks were interested in adding LaVine via trade. At last season’s trade deadline, the Bucks were looking to add him in a potential three-team trade between them, the Bulls, and the Phoenix Suns as part of a potential Jimmy Butler trade. The deal was effectively killed by Bradley Beal, who refused to waive his no-trade clause to be sent to Chicago, making the money work.
They were also named as suitors for Chris Paul amid his feud with the Clippers, leading to him being sent home by the team. A deal for Paul seems unlikely, considering the long-standing beef between Giannis and CP3 and the 40-year-old point guard’s unwillingness to leave the West Coast during his final season in the NBA.
Several Bucks became trade-eligible today, including Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Cole Anthony, and Amir Coffey, among others. If the Bucks were to add LaVine at his high-priced $47.5m salary, they would need to not only include Kyle Kuzma’s $22.4m, but Portis’ $13.4m, and a minimum contract player like Anthony or Taurean Prince. The Bucks also have their 2031 and 2032 first-round picks available to trade, but considering the financial cost of a player like LaVine, under contract through summer 2027 at $49m, they would likely only have to part with one of those picks with heavy protections.
Let us know what you think of a talent upgrade via trade below. Also, make sure to head over to The Feed to submit your trade ideas for a chance to be featured in a future article.
