Evidently the team’s acquisition of Damian Lillard was enough of a show of faith from the front office for Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign on the dotted line.
Following a summer where Giannis implored the team to demonstrate their commitment to competing for championships, the Greek Freak has now agreed to a 3 year / $186M contract extension. The deal, which features a player option for 2027-28, now ties Giannis to Milwaukee for the duration of Lillard’s contract. Effectively establishing the current roster’s “window to compete”.
With an 11:59pm ET deadline looming on Monday, Bucks GM Jon Horst travelled to Chicago to ramp up negotiations with Antetokounmpo’s representatives. The 2x league MVP could have become a free agent following the 2025 campaign, but will instead now remain with the Bucks through 2028. The $62M AAV of the contract also represents a significant bump in base salary from the $45M Giannis is set to make this season.
Since being selected 15th overall back in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Athens native has established himself as one of the premier players in the league, and already sits amongst the historical greats of the game at only 28 years old. Giannis is one of only 3 players in NBA history to have a Finals MVP, MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year award on his resume joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon in that exclusive group.
Across 63 games in 2022-23, Giannis averaged a career best 31.1pts per game, while adding 11.8reb/5.7ast/0.8blk/0.8stl across 32.1 minutes per night. With 7x NBA All-Star appearances, 7x All-NBA, and 4x NBA All-Defensive 1st team selections to his name, it’s highly likely Antetokounmpo would be a Hall of Famer already if he were to retire today.
With his contract extension now out of the way, Bucks fans can breathe a sigh of relief after a summer filled with cryptic comments from their franchise icon regarding his future with the club. Instead, they can now focus on their season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers with their new look roster. Milwaukee kicks off their 2023-24 campaign on Thursday October 26th at 7:30pm ET.
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.