Giannis jokes he could be traded if Bucks struggle this season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Giannis Antetokounmpo-to-the-Warriors dream may not be dead yet.
After back-to-back disappointing campaigns, the Bucks superstar jokingly acknowledged that he could be traded if Milwaukee puts up another underwhelming effort during the 2024-25 NBA season.
In an exclusive from Sam Amick of The AthleticAntetokounmpo grabbed a Bucks staffer before asking the team employee a blunt question.
“If we don’t win this year, would you be fired?” Antetokounmpo asked the staffer. “Do you have it in the back of your mind, like, ‘(What) if this year doesn’t go well?’ Yeah, if we don’t win a championship, I might get traded. Yeah, this is the job we live in. It’s all of us.”
Antetokounmpo has long been linked to Golden State, with the speculation heightened further by the two-time MVP’s open admiration for Warriors superstar Steph Curry.
After winning the NBA Finals in 2021, Milwaukee has not fared well in the postseason, with the Bucks being eliminated in the first round in each of the last two seasons.
Milwaukee went through a lot of changes over the course of the couple of seasons, making a splash for All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard and bringing in a respected coach in Doc Rivers. However, the Bucks’ moves have done little to change their playoff fortunes, creating added pressure for Antetokounmpo and the only NBA team he’s ever known.
While it would take a monumental turn of events for Milwaukee to trade the two-time MVP, there may be a layer of truth — and an underlying concern — behind Antetokounmpothe statement of which appeared to be made in jest.
Could Golden State finally be the team that ends up with Antetokounmpo does business materialize? It wouldn’t be the first time the Warriors stunned the NBA world with a blockbuster hit from a former MVP.
