Bucks 2026 NBA trade deadline grade after retaining Giannis Antetokounmpo

The trade deadline has come and gone and Giannis Antetokounmpo is still a member of the Milwaukee Bucks after much consternation. It looked like Antetokounmpo’s eyes were wandering, and for the first time ever, a trade from Cream City looked more realistic than ever. But in the end, the Bucks didn’t pull the trigger — a rejection that echoed loudly throughout the association.

The The Bucks organization is in decline over the past few years, and their big offseason move reeked of desperation. Instead of taking 2026 as a gap year, they decided to waive and extend Damian Lillard’s contract in the middle of his recovery from a ruptured Achilles just so they could bring in Myles Turner. Suffice it to say, bringing in Turner wasn’t nearly enough to make Milwaukee a playoff team, let alone an underdog in the Conference.

Now, the Bucks are in a tough position moving forward, though they can always revisit trade talks with Antetokounmpo come the offseason. Their long-term outlook hasn’t changed, although it’s still up for debate whether they did the right thing by taking these trade talks into the offseason instead of cashing in before the deadline.

The Bucks didn’t receive enough trade offers for Giannis Antetokounmpo

The The Antetokounmpo trade saga became the most anticipated announcement of the season ahead of schedule. Every NBA fan has been refreshing their social media feeds, waiting for the next tweet from renowned NBA insider Shams Charania and eagerly anticipating the next update regarding trade talks involving the Bucks.

In the end, all Charania did was constantly tease fans with breadcrumbs and non-updates until he reported that the Bucks would indeed be keeping Antetokounmpo instead, dragging out trade talks until the offseason.

It’s never going to be easy to part ways with a franchise cornerstone, especially one who has done as much for the Bucks as Antetokounmpo. The city of Milwaukee has also embraced Antetokounmpo as one of its own; he has been there since 2013 and has developed into one of the biggest superstars the league has ever seen under their watch.

So try as the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat or Golden State Warriors might have done, it always took a godfather offer for the Bucks to even consider trading the greatest player in franchise history. Antetokounmpo may have said it’s hard not to look around him given how the team around him has fallen apart, but did not expressly mandate that he demands to be sold.

With Antetokounmpo not really pressing the issue, it’s hard to criticize the Bucks for not trading Giannis yet. Giannis has long expressed his desire to be a one-team player for the rest of his career, but he also wants to compete for the championship. There may be a chance, no matter how slim, that a fighting team still blossoms in Milwaukee while he’s still in his prime.

But in all likelihood, The Bucks will continue to fight for the next few seasons, and if Antetokounmpo’s desire to win another championship takes precedence over his desire to stay in Milwaukee, then the team has no choice but to trade him in the final year of his contract.

You could argue that even if Antetokounmpo had raised the issue of a potential trade, the Bucks would have been best off doing what they did and waiting out the offseason. The The Warriors picks looked very temptingbut taking a high-return gamble in exchange for the greatest player in franchise history is a risky game.

The Heat have no blue-chip prospects to add to future first-round picks to trade; it’s possible that any realistic Heat offer for Giannis revolves around Bam Adebayo, and trading Adebayo away for Antetokounmpo instead of pairing them together seems counterintuitive for a team with championship aspirations.

As for the Timberwolvestry as they might, they just couldn’t raise enough capital to convince the Bucks to trade Antetokounmpo to the northernmost part of the United States. Minnesota may have been willing to trade Jaden McDaniels away, but they failed to acquire enough first-round picks for some of their key players, including Julius Randle, to make the deal go through.

Limiting suitors before the deadline does not serve the Bucks in any way; they should receive similar offers in the offseason, although the offseason opens up more opportunities for other bidders to join the Giannis sweepstakes, which should then benefit Milwaukee in the long run.

At the end of the day, the Bucks must prioritize getting the best package available in any potential Giannis trade.

Maybe it is The Houston Rockets are getting more open to trade someone like Alperen Sengun or Amen Thompson if they fall early in the playoffs. Maybe the Oklahoma City Thunder put Jaylen Williams on the table if they don’t repeat as champions. Or maybe the Spurs are revisiting a potential pursuit of Giannis to try to overcome the problem if they fall short of the postseason.

At least the Bucks have the luxury of waiting, although they don’t have much time given Giannis will hit open market in 2027 as things stand.

Milwaukee makes several moves to buy low

The Bucks settled for a couple of low-cost moves before the deadline, bringing in former Thunder prospect Usman Dieng and giving Cam Thomas a shot after he was released by the Brooklyn Nets.

Thomas is still only 24 years old and he’s a certified big man, so there may still be some untapped potential there. Meanwhile, Dieng is showing tremendous two-way potential, as evidenced by his 19-point, 11-rebound, four-block night against the Thunder in their final game before the All-Star break.

For a team as severely underfunded as the Bucks, this is the smart thing to do: take chances on players who have lost their luster but may still have untapped potential.

Bucks trade deadline grade: B