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MILWAUKEE — The 2026 NBA trade deadline is set for 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 5. With one week remaining, all eyes are turned to Milwaukee to see what will happen with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is currently sidelined with a right calf strain that will keep him out until after the All-Star break.
As Brian Windhorst noted last week, “Giannis is the trade deadline. There is really not a lot of other players out there that can move the needle. There is very small to no market for Ja Morant or Anthony Davis. The entire league is watching Giannis.”
The two-time MVP has spent his entire career with the Bucks, but his time in Milwaukee appears to be nearing an end. Whether Giannis gets traded by Feb. 5 or in the summer, the move will have league-altering implications.
On Wednesday, ESPN reported that Antetokounmpo is “ready for a new home” and teams across the league have “received a sense that the Bucks are more open than ever to Antetokounmpo offers between now and the deadline.” That does not guarantee that the Greek Freak is dealt before Feb. 5. He is under contract through 2027, and there’s a good chance this saga stretches into the summer when the Bucks, and interested teams, have more flexibility. As Shams Charania also noted, the Bucks are “not in a rush to complete a move.”
Ahead of the deadline and what could be one of the biggest trades in NBA history, here’s a complete guide to the Antetokounmpo situation.
How did we get here?
In Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls in 2022, Khris Middleton stepped on a wet spot, took an awkward spill and sprained the MCL in his left knee. That injury derailed the Bucks’ title defense. They went on to lose in the second round that season to the Boston Celtics — and put Middleton on a downward health spiral that neither he nor the Bucks ever recovered from.
Middleton played just 33 games during the 2022-23 season, but the Bucks still earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Early in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat, Antetokounmpo suffered a back injury after a hard fall and did not return. He missed the next two games, and though he returned for Game 4, the Bucks suffered improbable collapses in that contest and Game 5 to become the fifth No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 seed in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bucks’ choke in 2023 led to drastic changes. Championship-winning coach Mike Budenholzer was fired and replaced by Adrian Griffin, and championship-winning point guard Jrue Holiday was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Damian Lillard. The stunning move to acquire Lillard also cost the Bucks their unprotected 2029 first-round pick and unprotected swap rights in 2028 and 2030. It did, however, help convince Antetokounmpo to sign an extension — the deal he is currently on, which will expire in 2027, assuming he does not pick up his player option for 2028.
There was plenty of excitement about Lillard’s arrival, but despite the Bucks’ strong start in his first season with the club, trouble was brewing. Notably, the veteran locker room quickly turned on Griffin, and the first-time head coach was fired in January of 2024 despite a 30-13 record. He was soon replaced by Doc Rivers, who struggled to match Griffin’s initial success. The Bucks went 17-19 to close Rivers’ first season, in part due to injuries to Middleton, Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Antetokounmpo did not play in the posteason due to a calf injury, while Lillard missed two games of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers due to an Achilles strain. The Bucks were bounced in the first round again.
Middleton was sidelined again to begin the 2024-25 campaign, and the Bucks got off to a 2-8 start. Though they eventually turned things around, it was clear that Middleton was no longer his old self and the team was not a serious title contender. They shipped Middleton to the Wizards at the deadline for Kyle Kuzma in an attempt to get younger and more athletic, while also creating some financial flexibility, which allowed them to add Kevin Porter Jr. and Jericho Sims as well. None of it mattered once Lillard was diagnosed with a blod clot in his calf in March. Lillard sat out the remainder of the regular season, but made a surprise return in the playoffs. He did not look like right, however, and tore his Achilles in Game 4 of the Bucks’ first-round series with the Pacers, which they eventually lost in five games.
The vultures started circling for a Giannis trade the second Lillard’s Achilles tear was confirmed, but the Bucks fended them off in the summer. They made a stunning decision to waive Lillard and stretch the remaining $103 million on his contract over the next five years, then used the cap space that freed up to sign Myles Turner. The desperate ploy to keep Antetokounmpo around worked — at least initially. After an exciting 4-1 start to this season, the Bucks have been one of the worst teams in the league, and the vibes have trended steadily downward. Antetokounmpo has been limited to 30 games, and they’ve had other injury problems, but the team has no hope of making any noise in the Eastern Conference. They’re in 11th place as the calendar flips to February.
You can take issue with the Bucks’ decisions, some of which were more desperate and short-sighted than others — trading five second-round picks for Jae Crowder in 2023 stands out as particularly foolish — but you can’t fault their effort. They did everything in their power to extend their window and keep Antetokounmpo in town for as long as possible, and dealt with some horrible luck along the way.
Now, with Antetokounmpo sidelined indefinitely and the final year of his contract approaching, the writing is on the wall.
What has Antetokounmpo said about a trade?
A lot. And some of it contradictory. Let’s run through some notable quotes from Giannis over the last four months.
Oct. 7, 2025: “I’ve said this many times: I want to be in a situation that I can win. I believe in this team. I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go. It’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day by day, but I’m here. So all the extra stuff does not matter.
“I’ve communicated with my teammates, communicated with the people I respect and love, that the moment I step on this court or in this facility, I wear this jersey, the rest does not matter. I’m locked into whatever I have in front of me. Now, if in six, seven months I change my mind, I think that’s human, too.”
Oct. 28, 2025: “Right now I’m here, representing my team and that’s it. We beat the Knicks. (The trade rumor) doesn’t really matter. What matters right now is we have a game in two days against Golden State, try to stay locked in and get two in a row. I didn’t read that article. Try to stay away from all that — rumors, speculation and trades and all this. It doesn’t concern me one bit.
Dec. 18, 2025: “If my agent is talking to the Bucks about (a trade), he’s his own person. He can have any conversation he wants. At the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks. I’m still locked in, locked in on my teammates, most importantly locked in on me getting back healthy.”
Jan. 8, 2026: “I am not (going anywhere). I am invested in this team. I want to turn this team around. I want to play good basketball. I want to be healthy. I want to help my teammates. I wanna win games. The last six games we’ve played, we’re 4-2. We have a lot of games in front of us. I’m locked the f— in. I’m locked in. My priority is just staying healthy.
“My plan is to be here for the rest of my career. If they don’t want me … I’m not the one in charge. I am an employee.
“There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment that I will come out and say, ‘I want a trade. That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”
Jan. 13, 2026: “I was definitely booing back. When I get booed, I boo back. I’ve been doing that all season. You guys haven’t been with me on the road. Whenever I get booed, I boo back.
“I play basketball for my teammates, I play basketball for myself and my family. When people don’t believe in me I don’t tend to be with them, I tend to be against them. I tend to do what I’m here to do, what I’m good at. I think I’m like a maverick. I’ve always been that way, so it won’t change now. It doesn’t matter if I’m at home or away. I’ve never been a part of something like that before and I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t. But everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do. I’m not gonna tell them what to do and how they should act when we don’t play hard or when we lose games or when we’re not where we’re supposed to be. And I don’t think anybody has the right to tell me what or how I should act on the basketball court after I’ve been here 13 years and I’m basically the all-time leader in everything.”
Jan. 19, 2026: “I don’t know (if I’ll finish the season with the Bucks). I take it day-by-day,”
Jan. 21, 2026: “I’m not the guy that will yell and cuss his teammates out and demand the ball. I’ve never done that in my career, but I feel like I’ve played with teammates that kinda understand the gravity that I can cause for our team and how I can create for my teammates or for myself and how I can help the team be more successful. But maybe for some reason — I don’t understand.
“Maybe because we’re young, maybe because we’re not playing well, maybe because guys think it’s their turn, they want to carry the team on their back and try to turn this around, but I really don’t get it. I really don’t It’s not like I’m not trying to be aggressive. I’m really trying to be aggressive. I have coaches, people that talk to me, they told me there’s this thing that’s called the white swan and the black swan. You gotta be the black swan and be more aggressive and demand the ball. It’s something I’ve never done in my whole career. Maybe I gotta do it more.
“We’re not playing hard. We’re not playing to win. We’re not playing together. Our chemistry is not there. Guys are being selfish. Guys will try to look for their own shot instead of looking for the right shot for the team.”
Where do trade talks stand?
It’s important to note that, according to Chris Haynes, Antetokounmpo still has not requested a trade.
“Nothing has changed on Giannis’ end. Nothing has changed there. The new news is the Bucks’ willingness to listen now. That is different,” Haynes reported Wednesday. “As far as Giannis is concerned, he had not requested a trade. I don’t foresee him ever requesting a trade.”
But while Antetokounmpo may never walk into Jon Horst’s office and demand to be traded, that doesn’t mean that he’s opposed to playing elsewhere. That’s been clear since the offseason, when Charania reported that Antetokounmpo had interest in playing for the Knicks, who engaged in trade talks with the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo is signed through 2027, with a player option for 2028 that he is assuredly going to decline to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027. The closer he gets to free agency, the more pressure that puts on the Bucks. They were able to convince him to sign an extension in 2023, and will be able to offer him another one in October if he’s still on the roster, but it seems unlikely that he’ll re-up this time around. As much as the Bucks clearly do not want to trade him, letting him walk for nothing in 2027 would be much worse than acquiring a number of draft picks and young players — especially when it’s clear this team is not a contender.
Thus, as Charania reported, the Bucks are now willing to take calls ahead of the deadline. At the very least, the next week will give Horst and Co. a look at the market and what they could possibly get for the 10-time All-Star. But because Antetokounmpo is signed until 2027, the Bucks have the ability to wait until the summer if they think there will be better deals available then.
It’s also worth noting that Antetokounmpo is making $54 million this season, and trading a player with that sort of salary mid-season is complicated due to the restrictions on teams that are above the luxury tax. The Bucks’ lack of future draft picks is another complicating matter. They do not control their own pick until 2031, which means they can’t just trade Antetokounmpo and tank for a few years. That will affect what they ask for in return for their superstar.
Which teams are in the mix?
It’s rare for players of Antetokounmpo’s caliber to become available, and plenty of teams will be interested. However, Antetokounmpo’s impending free agency status means that teams interested in trading for him will have to ask the same questions the Bucks have apparently answered for themselves: does he want to be here long-term, and will he sign an extension?
A team like the Portland Trail Blazers, which controls three of the Bucks’ future first-round picks (unprotected 2029 selection and unprotected 2028 and 2030 swap rights), could make arguably the best offer. But it’s unlikely Antetokounmpo would sign an extension in Portland, even with Holiday and Lillard in the mix.
To no surprise, then, the leading candidates to acquire Antetokounmpo are all either contenders or big market teams. According to both ESPN and The Athletic, the main suitors are the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks have already received “aggressive” offers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo trade landing spots: Three teams that work now and six more that could strike in summer
Sam Quinn
While Charania reported during the offseason that the Knicks were the only team that Antetokounmpo wanted to play for aside from the Bucks, Antetokounmpo’s thinking as since changed. Per ESPN, Antetokounmpo is “not expected to focus on one destination.”