Giannis Antetokounmpo may be an unrestricted free agent after the 2020-21 season, at which point the Knicks – and any other team with the cap gap – would fall on their own trying to sign him.
But is Giannis ready to commit to the Bucks for the rest of his career, potentially killing any other team’s dream of signing him?
“As long as everyone is on the same page and as long as everyone is fighting for the same thing, they are fighting for the same thing every single day, which is to be a champion, I don’t see why not to be in Milwaukee for the next 15 years,” he said on Friday, according to. Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
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Antetokounmpo, who just secured his second consecutive MVP award, may be saying positive things about the Bucks in public, but reports in early September linked him to the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors.
With Giannis at its peak, the Bucks have been eliminated in the playoffs of the past two seasons – losing to the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018-19 and falling to Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2019-20 in the bubble.
Whether or not the Knicks have a chance to lure Giannis if he hits free agency remains to be seen, and the Bucks don’t have a lot of time when it comes to locking him up before he’s able to flirt with other teams.