Giannis on Bucks Future: If There's a Better Chance to Win Title, I Have to Take It

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo just got real about his NBA future and is leaving the door open for a move to another franchise down the road.

Speaking on the 48 Minutes podcast this week, Antetokounmpo said that if there's "a better situation for me to win the Larry O'Brien I have to take that better situation" because he wants to keep winning.

Antetokounmpo's contract with the Bucks runs through the 2024-25 season and he has a player option worth nearly $52 million for the 2025-26 campaign.

Speaking with Tania Ganguli of the New York Times last month, Antetokounmpo also said that he wanted to see how the team plays under new head coach Adrian Griffin before making any decisions about his next contract.

"You've got to see the dynamics," Antetokounmpo said. "How the coach is going to be, how we're going to be together. At the end of the day, I feel like all my teammates know and the organization knows that I want to win a championship. As long as we're on the same page with that and you show me and we go together to win a championship, I'm all for it."

The Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer in May after the team fell to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 playoffs and replaced him with Griffin, who had served as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors from 2018-23.

Antetokounmpo had long been believed to be on the same path as the likes of Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant in only playing for one NBA franchise in his career, but his recent comments make it clear that he'll consider leaving Milwaukee if it can't field a true contender.

The two-time MVP led the Bucks to an NBA title during the 2020-21 season, but Milwaukee hasn't made a deep playoff run since. The team fell to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals during the 2021-22 campaign before its first-round loss to Miami last season.

The Bucks have a solid roster entering the 2023-24 season and they should make the playoffs, but only time will tell if Antetokounmpo is comfortable staying in Milwaukee.