Bucks coach Doc Rivers disputes report that Antetokounmpo is talking with team about his future

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday there have been no talks between team officials and Giannis Antetokounmpo regarding the two-time MVP’s potential exit from Milwaukee.

Rivers' comments before the Bucks' game against Detroit came following an ESPN report that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had started speaking with the Bucks about the superstar’s future and whether he’s best suited to stay in Milwaukee or play elsewhere. Rivers said "there's been no conversations” in that regard.

“Giannis has never asked to be traded — ever,” Rivers said. “I can’t make that more clear.”

Antetokounmpo’s future has been the subject of much speculation around the NBA ever since the Bucks made a third consecutive first-round playoff exit last season.

ESPN reported before the season that the Bucks and New York Knicks engaged in trade talks regarding Antetokounmpo in August but never gained traction on a potential deal. According to ESPN, Antetokounmpo had indicated New York was the only place he wanted to play outside of Milwaukee.

After that report, Antetokounmpo expressed confidence in what the Bucks could accomplish this season and said he was “locked in,” but he also acknowledged the possibility he could change his mind depending on how things developed over the next several months.

“I believe in this team,” Antetokounmpo said at the time. “I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to whatever we can go. It’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day by day, but I’m here. All the added extra stuff, that doesn’t matter. I think I’ve communicated with my teammates, communicated with the people that I respect and love, that the moment that I step in on this court, in this facility, I wear this jersey. The rest does not matter. I’m locked into whatever I have I front of me.

“Now if in six, seven months I change my mind, that’s human, too. You’re allowed to make any decision you want. But I’m locked in. I’m locked into this team. I’m locked into these guys, this group, and to my coaching staff and to myself.

Since then, the Bucks have struggled.

The Bucks entered Wednesday 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 9-13 record after dropping eight of their last nine games. That includes a seven-game skid in which Antetokounmpo missed four games with a left adductor strain.

“Let’s just call a spade a spade,” Rivers said. “We’re not playing well. We had a tough loss (at Washington) the other night, and so now, this is the subject matter. It’s no more true than it was this summer. Does it affect our team and our players? I hope not. I can tell you after listening to our guys talk today, it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean it won’t. I can’t answer that.”

Rivers then reiterated his belief that Antetokounmpo has no interest in leaving.

“The thing I keep saying is I go to the source,” Rivers said. “I talk to the source every single day – every single day – and he loves Milwaukee and he loves the Bucks.”

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first title in half a century in 2021, scoring 50 points in the Game 6 clincher against the Phoenix Suns. But the Bucks have won just one playoff series since and have lost in the first round of the postseason each of the last three years.

The Bucks have made plenty of blockbuster moves the last few years while trying to win another title. Antetokounmpo repeatedly has said he would like to stay in Milwaukee but prioritizes playing for a team committed to contending for championships.

Milwaukee acquired seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard to team up with Antetokounmpo shortly before the 2023-24 season, but injuries caused them to play just two playoff games together from start to finish.

After Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in the 2025 playoffs – knocking him out for the 2025-26 season – the Bucks took another big swing by waiving him and stretching the rest of his salary for the next five years to create the cap room to sign former Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner. The Bucks hoped they had built an ideal supporting cast for Antetokounmpo by getting younger and more athletic.

During the Bucks’ m edia day event before training camp, owner Wes Edens said he’d had a “great conversation” with Antetokounmpo in June and that the nine-time all-NBA selection had “made it clear that he was very committed to Milwaukee.”

Antetokounmpo was asked about that conversation later during that event and he said he couldn’t recall that meeting.

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