We now know that the next seven weeks will be a critical time in the Milwaukee Bucks organization.
It also seems like a critical time for the Bucks to create clear and open lines of communication, moving forward, if they want Giannis Antetokounmpo to remain in Milwaukee.
And if Antetokounmpo himself still wants to stay.
Because we now have a countdown to some important dates coming up now that the Bucks have introduced their new head coach, Taylor Jenkins.
May 10: The draft order – and lottery picks – will be decided, when Milwaukee will know exactly what pick it gets.
June 23-24, the NBA draft, a crucial time for the Bucks (even though the last memorable Bucks draft pick with significant playing time was Donte DiVincenzo in 2018).
Oct. 1: Antetokounmpo is under contract for another year, but the first chance the Milwaukee Bucks can offer a contract extension to Antetokounmpo isn’t until Oct. 1.
The Bucks made it clear they have no interest in waiting until October to settle anything.
One of the Milwaukee Bucks owners, Jimmy Haslam, said the team will make an outright decision about Antetokounmpo by the NBA draft – just seven weeks from now.
As this news was revealed by Halsam during the introductory press conference for Jenkins at the beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum, there were a handful of Milwaukee Bucks in attendance – Myles Turner, Bobby Portis and A.J. Green among them.
Antetokounmpo was not there, so we do not yet know how he feels about this new deadline on his future. Instead, Antetokounmpo was posting social media stories on Instagram of himself shooting hoops in what looked like a personal gym, with the captions that said:
“Let peace lead the way”
and “In my quiet place.”
Antetokounmpo had posted scenes from Greece a week earlier. It’s not at all unusual for him to be away from Milwaukee in the offseason.
But Haslam insisted that the lines of communication have been good with the star.
“I would say this: that communications are complicated at times because you have agents involved, you have you all – the press – involved. You have the player involved,” said Haslam.
“We never had any problem communicating directly with Giannis. At all. And always knew where he stood, and I think he always knew where we stood.
“We’ve had those kind of conversations since the season was over.”
Haslam then flatly stated the Bucks, along with the other main owner Wes Edens, and general manager Jon Horst and Jenkins, will decide either to trade Antetokounmpo or try to build the team around him by the NBA draft.
“The draft is … June 23; sometime, over all these 6 or 7 weeks, we’ll decide whether Giannis is going to sign the max contract and stay with us, or he’s going to play somewhere else,” said Haslam.
“Jon and Taylor, along with Wes and myself, will make that call and we understand the gravity of that call.”
Antetokounmpo has often stated how important communication is to him and he was not happy with Bucks leadership as of late.
He was increasingly disappointed at the end of the 2025-’26 season when the Bucks kept him from returning from injury and playing in games. The Bucks were barely in contention for a play-in spot for the playoffs. And the Bucks said Antetokounmpo was not cleared medically.
Antetokounmpo said he was healthy enough and this dispute prompted an NBA investigation. We are still awaiting results from that.
But another real issue was before that, when Edens told ESPN, “Either (Giannis) will be extended or he’ll be traded.”
“The likelihood you’ll let him just kind of play out the last year, we can’t afford that. It’s not consistent with what’s good for the organization. That’s not a Giannis issue. That’s any player that’s in their last year,” said Edens.
The timing of this comment from the Milwaukee Bucks owner and governor Edens – March 20 – caught Antetokounmpo off guard. He found it insulting because it seemed to question his loyalty to the Bucks.
When pressed further, Antetokounmpo did his best to recall his interactions with his bosses over the season. The communication was sparse – less than a handful of times all season long – despite the constant speculation over Antetokounmpo’s future from national media markets and social media influencers.
But Haslam’s point of view was very different.
“I just want to stress that our relationship with him – despite what is reported by certain ESPN writers – is very positive,” Haslam told a small group of reporters on Wednesday.
But Antetokounmpo talked about this in lengthy interviews here in April.
Antetokounmpo is the face of the franchise and majority record holder, and he had to find out the sign-early-or-be-traded stance from the ownership group through the media, and not from Edens himself.
“It says a lot …” Antetokounmpo said.
“Especially as somebody that has been this loyal, and I’ve showed appreciation, to the team, to the community, to the fans, to everybody that I’ve worked with, you know?” Antetokounmpo said.
“And that’s almost, like, a slap in my face.”
“But again, I have declared that [I’m a Buck] many times.”
Antetokounmpo was asked in April who he felt comfortable talking to in the front office or in leadership – not just about contracts, but about the team or basketball or performance or anything and everything related to the Bucks.
“Nobody,” he said. “I don’t feel comfortable talking to nobody.”
“I tried this whole year to stay to myself, and also this past summer,” Antetokounmpo said. “I was more closed off to myself. I don’t know if that’s because I don’t feel comfortable opening up enough. Or if it’s just, I just don’t want to open up at this point.
“It’s definitely not like before.”
Edens, we were told, could not attend the news conference Wednesday because he was in Europe.
But let’s hope the new coach spurs new momentum within this team. The Bucks have been in need of good leadership to see this dilemma through.
Wednesday was a breakthrough moment for the Bucks. They got their man with Taylor Jenkins at coach.
Will they now prioritize communication with their star to move on from the terrible season?
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nickel: Here’s hoping communication is better between Bucks, Giannis
Reporting by Lori Nickel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
