A move that felt inevitable has finally happened: Thanasis Antetokounmpo will be back with the Milwaukee Bucks. The announcement originally came from Thanasis’ social media in the form of a picture of him and Giannis with the caption “I’m back”, leaving fans in a fluster trying to interpret exactly what it meant. Within half an hour, though, ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed a one-year, $2.9m veteran’s minimum signing (his cap hit will be $2.3m—the rest is reimbursed by the league) for the fan favorite.
Thanasis was last on the Bucks in 2023–24, and has been playing for Greece’s national team in the EuroCup after returning from his injury.
This move creates some interesting roster implications. Assuming his contract is guaranteed (seems like a given), Thanasis will make the final 15-man squad, which means Milwaukee must make a cut to open up a spot for him. Andre Jackson Jr. is by far the likeliest candidate, as his contract is only partially guaranteed for $800k. His full 2025–26 salary won’t become fully guaranteed until Opening Night, so if the Bucks waived him and he goes unclaimed, they’d only incur $800k in dead salary on their books the rest of the year. Chris Livingston is also an option, though his deal is fully guaranteed and was just signed in July.
Amir Coffey, who is currently on an Exhibit 9 training camp deal, now has a slighter chance of earning a standard agreement, but perhaps Jackson Jr. and Livingston will both be gone, opening up another spot. A trade to move off of one of those youngsters to free up a spot may be in the works, but the recent saga of former first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Propser suggests Jackson Jr. and Livingston wouldn’t have much value on the open market.
In the offseason, NBA teams can carry up to 21 players on their roster, three of which can be two way contracts. Milwaukee currently has those three spots filled, plus 15 guaranteed contracts, one partially guaranteed contract (Ajax), and one non-guaranteed training camp contract (Coffey). That’s 20, so they presently have only one roster vacancy. By Opening Night, they’ll need to whittle their standard roster down to 15 players, plus the three two-ways.
Hilariously, this is the move that convinced Shams to believe what we knew months ago: Giannis will be staying on the Bucks for the upcoming season. Sometimes, all you can do is laugh at the B.S.
Welcome back, Thanasty.
