Giannis Antetokounmpo just signed a three-year extension with the Milwaukee Bucks, which was a surprise. If you believe him, he had no idea how much the deal was worth.
During his time in the NBA, Antetokounmpo said, “It was the first time I didn’t know the number of my contract.” “I just signed it because I wanted to be here.”
So, the extension lasted three years and cost $186 million. Giannis’ current deal ends in two seasons, with salaries of $45.6M and $48.8M. Then, in 2025–26, he will start an extension that pays him an average of $62M annually until 2027–28. The players can choose to play in the final season if they want to.
It was a surprise that Giannis signed this deal since he said he had no reason to do so before next summer. That would have been true financially if he had asked for a four-year deal, but this is a shorter one. In 2027 he can sign with anyone, and in 2026, he can sign another contract.
A cynic might say that Giannis is just aligning himself with Damian Lillard’s four guaranteed years left on his contract since he has two more years on his current deal and two guaranteed years on his next one. Giannis is also committed to Milwaukee for all time.
But there’s no doubt that this takes a huge load off the Bucks’ shoulders since Giannis had been very vocal about wanting to leave before the Lillard move. The Bucks should think about moving Giannis because I didn’t know they had what it takes to get Lillard, and they don’t have any young players to replace their older ones.
But they got Lillard in the end. Now they have a deal with Giannis that guarantees him four more years. That doesn’t mean he will stay for sure. If you remember, Lillard had four years left on his deal when he was moved. A star leaves when he wants to. Giannis might want to change the tune.
But there aren’t any signs right now that he will. Thanks for the guy. He told the Bucks that he wanted to stay with them as long as they built a title-caliber team around him. They’ve done that twice now: first by trading for Jrue Holiday, which led to a title, and now by trading for Lillard, which they hope will lead to another.
