NBA Insiders Reportedly 'Fairly Confident' Giannis Opens Season With Bucks Amid Rumors

Amid a fresh round of rumors about Giannis Antetokounmpo's future, the expectation remains that the two-time NBA MVP will be with the Milwaukee Bucks when the 2025-26 season begins.

Per The Athletic's James L. Edwards III, the feeling among people within the league is they are "fairly confident" Antetokounmpo will stay with the Bucks at least to start the regular season.

This comes after ESPN's Shams Charania said on Monday that "there's nothing set in stone" about where Antetokounmpo will play when the season tips off.

The Bucks seemingly responded to Charania's nugget in a post on X with a yawning emoji.

Milwaukee's front office, led by general manager Jon Horst, has spoken throughout the offseason as if they are anticipating Antetokounmpo still being on the roster.

During Myles Turner's introductory press conference on July 11 after signing a four-year, $107 million deal in free agency, Horst spoke about how having another big on the floor allows the Bucks to utilize Antetokounmpo in different ways:

"You looked at ways in which we could potentially get to that and truly take our team, retool it, rethink it, modernize our style of play, impact Giannis and his development, and his growth as a playmaker with that position at the end of the season in the playoffs, and it just was a perfect fit. So, those are big decisions with big financial ramifications, big roster ramifications. But you get comfortable with it because you get a chance to sit this guy and put him on your team and watch those two play together with the rest of our core group that's built to fit Giannis and maximize his skill set."

There's no indication that Antetokounmpo gave the Bucks any assurance he would remain with the club if they signed Turner, but he hasn't done anything to suggest a change is coming.

In fact, Antetokounmpo said on a YouTube live stream with IShowSpeed on July 10 that he will "probably" stay with the Bucks and he loves Milwaukee.

It's not unheard of for a star talent to get traded late in the offseason, though it's fairly uncommon. The most recent example of a blockbuster trade late in the offseason was two years ago involving the Bucks when they acquired Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers one week before clubs opened training camp.

There are still plenty of teams in position to trade for Antetokounmpo if he decides now is the right time to separate from Milwaukee, but there has been nothing from his camp thus far to suggest a trade request is coming.

Given how wide open things look in the Eastern Conference right now with Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss all of next season recovering from Achilles injuries, the Bucks could emerge as a Finals contender by virtue of having the best player in the conference on their roster.

Antetokounmpo finished third in MVP voting last season after averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in 67 starts. He has averaged at least 30 points, 11.0 rebounds and five assists in each of the last three seasons.