Teams across the league already have their dream packages lined up, each one hoping to snag the Bucks’ marquee star. With the chatter spinning faster than ever, you can imagine the Milwaukee locker room: side-eyes, whispers, everyone wondering what their own future looks like. Giannis Antetokounmpo walked into that tension head-on and cleared the air, reminding the group to keep their heads locked on the court instead of the noise outside. NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that he made it clear: basketball first, everything else can wait.

As soon as the report claimed Giannis met his fellow Bucks players to calm the trade noise, his teammates shot it down. “I don’t really remember a time he met with us. He didn’t sit us down like The Apprentice. It didn’t go down like that,” said Kyle Kuzma, shrugging it off.

Kevin Porter Jr. backed him with even sharper words, calling the whole thing misinformation: “Did that actually happen? Are you asking me? I mean, no. This is the last thing I’m gonna say about anything regarding false information. At the end of the day, everyone needs to wait until Giannis says something….”

The word “some” in the report raised questions right away. If Giannis really tried to calm the locker room, why skip two players who play major minutes?

Meanwhile, Chris Haynes added another layer, saying Giannis’ message, to whoever he actually spoke with, was straightforward: he wants to get healthy and find his rhythm again. “Wanting to make sure he gets his game back on point and 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.”

And that’s the backdrop to all the noise: a superstar averaging 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on 63.9% shooting, stuck on the sidelines while the rumors grow louder.

But with his teammates denying the reports, it’s clear Giannis has stayed quiet through all of it. And with his calf strain keeping him out for two straight games and Doc Rivers hinting he could miss up to a month, Milwaukee hasn’t handled his absence well. They’re 10–15, sitting 10th in the East, and sliding on a two-game losing streak, which only adds more fuel to the fire.

Are the Knicks even built to pull off a Giannis trade?

The Knicks spent the entire summer dreaming up ways to land Giannis, but the path to actually getting him keeps getting messier. For starters, any real offer would have to start with Karl-Anthony Towns, and even that wouldn’t be enough. They’d still need extra players or picks just to get close to Giannis’ $54 million salary.

Mikal Bridges can’t be moved until late January, and OG Anunoby is someone the Knicks don’t want to give up. Moving both Towns and Anunoby creates $92.5 million in outgoing salary, which complicates things even more.

Other names have floated around: Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner, maybe even Bobby Portis to balance the money, but once you add in the young talent and draft picks the Bucks would want, the whole thing starts feeling like a jigsaw puzzle. And to top it off, Giannis himself hasn’t made things easier. A Twitch moment with IShowSpeed reminded everyone that he’s not exactly eager to play in a high-tax market like New York.

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However, Giannis quietly dropped over $14 million on an eight-story, 28-unit building at 111 Clarkson Avenue in Brooklyn, The Lawrence, officially sealing the deal on November 18th. Suddenly everyone wondered: is this just business or a hint?

Maybe it means nothing. Maybe it means everything. But for now, it’s clear the Bucks locker room is as clueless as we are.