Several NBA teams are plotting to convince young star Giannis Antetokounmpo to leave the Milwaukee Bucks in the near future. In an interview with Russillo Show, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said that there will come a time that Antetokounmpo will look around and question “where is this organization and what are they doing here?” Wojnarowski also suggested that Antetokounmpo is already aware of the ongoing rift between controlling owners and might not want to stay long-term with the team.
Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that the Bucks’ three controlling owners -- New York hedge fund managers Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan --- were divided on who to hire as general manager between Justin Zanik and Jon Horst.
Lasry and Dinan wanted to hire Zanik but Edens refused, leading to the hiring of Horst, who replaced John Hammond -- the man behind the drafting of Antetokounmpo and Malcolm Brogdon. The Bucks made the playoffs last season, and Antetokounmpo and Brogdon were selected as Most Improved Player and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
Antetokounmpo has three years left in his contract
Antetokounmpo is in the second year of a four-year, $100 million extension that he signed with the Bucks last season. The contract has no player or team option, allowing him to leave after three years. However, teams might try to work out a trade with the Bucks for him in the near future. Last season, the 22-year-old Antetokounmpo registered a career-high 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.6 steals per game.
It will be interesting to see how this develops, and if any deals are struck.
Bucks acquired the draft rights to Sterling Brown
The Bucks recently acquired the draft rights to guard Sterling Brown from the Philadelphia 76ers for cash considerations. The 6-foot-6 Brown, picked 46th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, was known as a three-point shooter during his college days at SMU.
Brown played four seasons with the Mustangs, suiting up for 136 games, with 106 starts. In his senior year, he averaged 13.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, making 44.9 percent of his attempts from 3-point range.
In his junior season, Brown shot an SMU-record 53.6 percent from 3-point range and averaged 10.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Brown is the brother of Shannon Brown, who spent nine seasons in the NBA from 2006-2015. He is currently playing in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
