He won’t be going to Los Angeles, Miami or Golden State like many speculated. Instead, the NBA’s resident back-to-back MVP will be staying in Milwaukee.
On Tuesday, league megastar Giannis Antetokounmpo announced that he was re-signing with the Milwaukee Bucks on a five year, $228 million supermax deal, the richest contract in league history. There is a player option for the fourth year of the deal. In his first MVP season two seasons ago, the 26-year old averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. This past season, he averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists.
“This is my home. This is my city. I’m blessed to be able to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks for the next five years”, Antetokounmpo tweeted at 1:23 pm.
Personally, I had thought that if Antetokounmpo were to leave, Golden State, Toronto and Miami would be the biggest players going after him. However, staying in Milwaukee is a refreshing thing to see in this era of what seems like constant player movement. Giannis’ re-upping in a cold, northern city reminds me of what Kevin Garnett did with Minnesota when he signed a 6-year, $126 million extension with the franchise in 1997, and then again in October of 2003 when he signed a 5-year, $100 million extension.
Garnett long maintained that he wanted to win a title in Minnesota, and got them as far as the Western Conference Finals in 2004, ultimately losing to the Lakers 4 games to 2. Antetokounmpo obviously has that same mindset of wanting to build a winner where he started.
It would not only be great for the NBA, but great for the Bucks, too, if Antetokounmpo was able to bring a championship to the Cream City. If he does, it would be the first for the franchise since 1971, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson spearheaded a 66-win team to a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the Finals. Since, the furthest the Bucks have reached is the Conference Finals, of which they have lost six times dating back to the '71-'72 season, the latest of which was the '18-'19 season when they lost in six to Toronto.
The Bucks roster is retooled for this season, with Jrue Holiday, one of the league's best defensive guards, bolstering their starting five, and Bryn Forbes, Bobby Portis, and DJ Augustin boosting their bench. Coming into the season, they and the Brooklyn Nets appear to be, on paper at least, the cream of the crop in the eastern conference.
The Bucks' road to a title will be even tougher now in a ramped up, competitive east, but at least their chances of winning increased in a major way with them keeping Antetokoumpo in town.
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