Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason dominated the rumor mill in the past days, and for good reasons. First, the NBA superstar's team is out of the running for the championship, which should be frustrating for him. Then Antetokounmpo went on an unfollowing spree on Instagram.
The act saw the 25-year-old unfollowing most of his IG contacts but most notably, the power forward unfollowed all his Bucks teammates. Unsurprisingly, Antetokounmpo sent out the signal, perhaps unintentionally, that he is cutting ties with Milwaukee to look for a new team where he could be in a better position to win NBA titles.
NBA observers making such an assumption is nothing new. After all, the Greek Freak looking for a new outfit to fulfill his dream of owning NBA titles has been a conversation going around for months now. And after the Bucks failed again to qualify for the NBA Finals, the narrative only gained further steam.
However, if Antetokounmpo's IG unfollowing spree is to be used as a hint of his imminent plans, it would be difficult to arrive at a solid conclusion. As noted by Fadeaway World, the move resulted in the Bucks star having just nine contacts on his following list. So it's hard to extract what really is going on Antetokounmpo's mind just going by on his recent behavior on social media.
In any case, the latest development only highlighted the uneasiness that might be in effect now in Milwaukee. Immediately after the exit from the playoffs, Antetokounmpo made the assurance that he is staying and even looking forward to the Bucks returning next season as a stronger squad.
Still, analysts refused to hold back on their predictions that the young superstar will either reject the max extension that the Bucks, potentially forcing the hand of Milwaukee to trade their prized asset, or leave when he enters free agency in 2021.
If he leaves, Antetokounmpo's landing spot has been identified as the following: the Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, and Golden State Warriors. On this subject, NBA insider Tom Haberstroh made a gentle reminder that while Antetokounmpo is saying nice things about Milwaukee, he can still exit from the team in a huff.
"Do not shut the door on Giannis leaving Milwaukee," NBC Sports reported the league observer as saying, and his word seemed to ring some truth as the same report indicated that Antetokounmpo had a meeting with Bucks executives, purportedly to discuss his future.
It is not clear if the future talked about would still see the Bucks in the picture but according to Haberstroh, Antetokounmpo with the Warriors will not be taking form that easy. At best, the superstar joining up with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green was described by the analyst as "a long shot."
