Giannis Antetokounmpo stood along the sidelines at Barclays Center Tuesday night, dressed in a cream-colored sweater to watch his Cream City Bucks lose to the Brooklyn Nets. It may very well be one of the last few times he’ll represent Milwaukee in any form if the latest rumors are true.
Those latest rumors, amplified by ESPN’s Shams Charania online and on television, are that the 6’11” 32-year-old is ready to move on from an increasingly dysfunctional locker room presided over by a coach who looks
like a lame duck unable to rally his players. So, the Greek Freakout is upon us, it seems, with Shams predicting that a miniumum of 10 teams will take a look, make a call … and Brian Lewis predicting that Brooklyn will be among them.
“They’ll make calls,” a source told The Post, Lewis reported Wednesday morning. “They’ve made calls in the past.”
Indeed, maybe more than once. Giannis has been a Nets target in the past. How seriously is another question, but as Sean Marks said last year, part of the Nets rebuild will be determining whether a superstar acquisition is worth it.
“If you’re going after max-level talent, they have to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team,” Marks said. “This can’t be like, ‘Let’s go get this [guy] and lock ourselves into being a six or seven seed.’ When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”
Beyond that, various pundits, including Lewis, have reported that the Nets are moving from their 20 or so win rebuild to something more akin to a build, using whoever they get in the 2026 draft lottery as a lure for stars and superstars. Whether the Greek Freak is still the latter is still to be determined.
When healthy, he certainly qualifies as a top 5 player in the league, but he’ll soon be 32 years old, has only played 36 games this season and has been dealing with leg injuries all season long, the worrisome kind, and will want a contract worth more than a quarter billion dollars, including $70+ billion in the final and fourth year …. when he’ll be 36. Then, there’s the troublesome question of his relationship with the only team he’s ever played for.
But it shouldn’t be surprising that the Nets would pick up the phone. They had hoped Mikal Bridges and to a lesser degree Cam Johnson would get him interested. Didn’t happen. It’s not often players of his caliber become available. However, as Lewis points out, he wants to play for a winner and the Nets are far from that. Also, the Nets would no doubt have to give up a lot to get him. Shams reports that the Bucks turned down a package from the Heat that included young center Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, other players and multiple draft picks and pick swaps. It didn’t stop there, noted Shams.
Milwaukee wanted Evan Mobley from the Cleveland Cavaliers and VJ Edgecombe from the Philadelphia 76ers, in addition to other assets from both teams, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported March 20.
After back-and-forth discussions — including a meeting in Antetokounmpo’s native Greece in late July after which the New York Knicks became the only team he’d play for other than Milwaukee — and the Bucks refusing to move him, Antetokounmpo agreed to give the new roster a chance to grow. His pledge didn’t last long, however.
The reality, Lewis admits, is that the chances of Giannis-to-Brooklyn are small.
To be clear, with teams like the Heat, Warriors and Knicks perceived as likelier landing spots, it’s a long shot Antetokounmpo will end up in Brooklyn.
The odds are just better than the microscopic near-zero they were in February.
So as Jim Carrey once said, so you’re telling him there’s a chance? That’s why you pick up the phone.
