Giannis Antetokounmpo is trying to keep his Bucks teammates focused amid swirling trade rumors around the NBA superstar.
Antetokounmpo reportedly met with several teammates to address the chatter about his future and encouraged them to keep the focus on basketball, though it didn’t seem like he did much to suggest that he would be remaining in Milwaukee.
“With rumors swirling rampant right now on Giannis Antetokounmpo and his future, sources have relayed to me that Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed some of his teammates recently to stress the importance of focusing on basketball,” NBA insider Chris Haynes reported on NBA TV on Tuesday. “And not to allow outside distractions to interfere with the process at hand. I was told that his point was that he’s here at the time being wanting to get better. Wanting to make sure he gets his game back on point, make sure he gets back from this injury, but he understood, and he relayed the message that he can’t control what goes on or what even happens to him.
“Obviously, things are getting loud to a certain point where he had to address some of his teammates. We shall see what happens from here on out.”
The Bucks star is currently out with a calf strain, with a timeline anticipating a 2-4 week window before returning to the court for a team sitting at 10-15. He last played on Dec. 3 against the Pistons. Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.9 points and 10.1 rebounds over 17 games.
Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, have had conversations with the Bucks front office about Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee, and trade rumors have continued to swirl.
The Knicks have long been linked to Antetokounmpo, with The Post confirming two months ago that he viewed the Knicks as one of the teams that he would consider a trade to over the summer.
However, talks never progressed far between the Knicks and Bucks.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick painted the Heat as a potentially good fit for Antetokounmpo when he appeared on “Run It Back” on Tuesday.
A resolution is expected in the coming weeks and that would put the noise to bed.
But until then, the rumor mill is churning as all eyes are on Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to see what the future holds for both parties.
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