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It might be in the middle of a pandemic, but there are apparently different rules regarding travel when you’re the consecutive NBA MVP. Giannis Antetokounmpo has traveled all over Europe during the offseason and recently visited Sweden, as shown on his Instagram account.
During his stay, he gave an exclusive interview to Swedish store Aftonbladet, a Stockholm-based daily. Of course, he was asked about his future with the Milwaukee Bucks, and had this to say (Hat tip to Swedish journalist Alexander Nilsson):
Giannis: “There are a lot of rumors. Everyone has opinions. But at the end of the day, I’ll do what’s best for my family. I don’t see why I couldn’t be in Milwaukee for several years. As long as Milwaukee and I are on the same page when it comes to being one of the best teams in the league and winning championships, that’s good. When that changes, it won’t be good . It’s easy, I want to be a winner. I don’t care about the money. My family is fine and I can take care of my children and grandchildren so that is not the most important right now it’s winning. As long as we can win and create a winning culture, that will be good. “
Aftonbladet: So your plan is to stay in Milwaukee next year and maybe sign an extension?
Giannis: “I don’t know what the plan is. It depends on the decisions they make. If they make the right decision, I’ll be there for many years. If they don’t, we’ll see. The NBA is one case and take it from us day by day. Hope we can succeed together. “
In general, it’s the same thing we’ve been hearing from Giannis for a while now. He’s made it clear he won’t be asking the Bucks for a trade this offseason, and if he thinks they’re the best team to clinch a title for him, he’ll sign again. Otherwise, he will look elsewhere. What’s more interesting about this interview are his comments on money and the explicit demand that the Bucks make the right moves around him.
Giannis is eligible for a super-max extension this offseason, worth around $ 221 million over five years. If he refused that and left for a new free agency team next summer, the maximum he could sign would be $ 140 million over four years. That’s $ 80 million more in guaranteed money and almost $ 10 million more per year by the end of the deal.
The supermax was put together this way in order to help teams keep their stars, but it apparently doesn’t do much good for the Bucks. Now only Giannis knows if the extra money doesn’t really matter, or if he’s just trying to project a certain image for himself, but he wouldn’t be the first player to reject the supermax in favor of victory. From a broader perspective, it will be interesting to see if this issue will be addressed in the upcoming CBA negotiations.
Plus, that’s what Giannis made most explicit about wanting the Bucks to put the right pieces around him. He usually talked about improving as a team, building a winning culture, etc. And there have been reports of the Bucks promising him they would make the right moves. But these are rather things “read between the lines”, while this message is clear: do the right thing if you want me to stay.
After collapsing in the second round of the playoffs in the bubble, it’s clear that they need to make some changes in Milwaukee this offseason, and with no cap space, that means attacking the commercial market. Various reports indicate that they had discussions about Bogdan Bogdanovic, Victor Oladipo and Chris Paul as they tried to improve their game, although the latter seems unlikely.
We’ll obviously have to wait and see exactly what the Bucks are up to, but the pressure is now officially on, if it wasn’t already.
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