RealGM Basketball Wiretap

22 February 2025

• Giannis Antetokounmpo Showing No Signs Of 'Unrest' With Bucks

  The future of Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Milwaukee Bucks was discussed earlier in the season when they started the season slowly. While the Bucks have largely recovered and are playing competitive basketball, they are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference and closer to the Play-In than they are to the top-3.

  "Everyone knows Giannis loves the Bucks, but I'm here to tell you he loves winning more," said Shams Charania on Thursday's episode of Get Up. "That's why everyone within that Bucks' organization, they know what's at stake this season. They know the pressure and every summer when Giannis looks around and he looks at the Bucks' current roster, he looks at sustained long-term winning. Where will he be able to find that?

  "He has said publicly, on the record, if he feels like that's not attainable anymore in Milwaukee, he will look elsewhere. But of course he has tried always to make everything work in Milwaukee."

  Milwaukee has yet to return to the Conference Finals since they won the championship in 2021 though an injury to Khris Milddleton hurt their chance in 2022 followed by Antetokounmpo's injuries in 2023 and 2024.

  "They've gotten bounced early in the playoffs and so they need to they do need to get back to that level to show Giannis that they're building something sustainable. Building something long-term," added Charania.

  "When you talk to people around the Bucks, there's no sense that Giannis has unrest," said Brian Windhorst. "He is 100 percent focused every day on this team. He has shown no signs of being anything but trying to pour everything into it. And I think other than that, you're making a projection."

  Antetokounmpo, who has a player option for 27-28 and is represented by Alex Saratsis and Jeff Austin, signed his most recent extension in October 2023 following the Bucks' trade for Damian Lillard.

• Bobby Portis Jr. Suspended 25 Games For Taking Banned Substance

  Bobby Portis Jr. has been suspended for 25 games by the NBA for taking a banned substance.

  Portis has appeared in 46 games with the Milwaukee Bucks this season and is averaging 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25.2 minutes.

  The Bucks currently have a 29-24 record and have 29 games remaining in the regular season.

  Mark Bartelstein, agent for Portis, released the following statement to ESPN:

  "I am devastated for Bobby right now because he made an honest mistake and the
  ramifications of it are incredibly significant.

  "Bobby unintentionally took a pain medication called Tramadol, thinking he was taking a pain medication called Toradol. Toradol is an approved pain medication that he has used previously and that teams and players use for pain and inflammation at times. Tramadol, however, is not an approved pain medication and was just recently added to the banned substance list this past spring. The Tramadol pill he took came from an assistant of his, with a valid prescription for the painkiller, which he mistakenly told Bobby was Toradol. This was, again, an honest mistake that was made because of the similarity in the names of the drugs and the fact they both serve a very similar purpose. Bobby was using this anti-inflammatory pain-reducing medication to deal with an elbow injury he had this past fall and believed he was taking Toradol to alleviate some pain in preparation for that night's game.

  "Bobby is a great person, teammate and professional, and has a wonderful reputation in our league, his communities, and his team. There are no bigger fans of the NBA than Bobby and I, and we are grateful to have closely and collaboratively worked with the NBA on countless occasions. We support the league's anti-drug policy and its purpose in having a fair, competitive, healthy landscape for our athletes as it relates to drugs of abuse, performance enhancing issues, etc. Bobby Portis is absolutely not a drug abuser. Bobby works tirelessly on increasing his performance in all natural, legal, healthy ways, but he made a mistake and took a pill that unknowingly he should not have. Today, in this instance, I am so deeply disappointed that the NBA chooses to interpret its policy so strictly, and that the policy does not allow for a different result for an honest mistake with pure intentions.

  "Bobby loves being a part of the NBA and he loves being a role model and a true ambassador for the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee. This has been incredibly difficult for him, but he will accept this penalty with grace and turn this into a great opportunity to improve and further build his reputation and performance in every way, both on and off the court."

• Giannis Antetokounmpo Plans To Play In EuroBasket If Healthy

  Giannis Antetokounmpo is planning to play for Greece at this summer's EuroBasket tournament. Antetokounmpo did caution that his health will be the determining factor.

  "If I am healthy, I will be there," Antetokounmpo said about this summer.

  The Milwaukee Bucks star also emphasized that he likes Greece's chances to win EuroBasket.

  "I thought we could have won a medal two years ago in the EuroBasket but we got to play Germany twice which is a great team," Antetokounmpo said.

  EuroBasket 2025 will take place from August 27 through September 14. The event will be cohosted by Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland.

• Celtics-Knicks From Saturday Averages 2.42M Viewers

  Last Saturday's game between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks averaged 2.42 million viewers on ABC.

  That figure is down 6% from last season's Suns-Warriors matchup.

  Sunday's game between the Sixers and Bucks averaged 1.58 million viewers, down 26% from last year's Celtics-Heat game. That matchup was also the final broadcast of Hubie Brown's career.

• Jon Horst Says Khris Middleton Trade Was About Depth, Not Injuries

  Milwaukee Bucks GM Jon Horst said the decisions to trade Khris Middleton was "the hardest transaction" he's made. But Horst was clear that he felt the moves to add Kyle Kuzma, along with Jericho Sims and Kevin Porter, were necessary to improve his team.

  "Collectively, I think we're deeper in the spots we needed to be deeper," Horst said. "This gave us an opportunity to diversify a little bit, to kind of put money and talent and roster spots in other places where I thought we needed help."

  Horst said that Middleton's availability due to injuries wasn't much of a factor in the deal. The Bucks GM also said that getting under the second apron wasn't the goal of the deal, but that it's an additional benefit.

  "We believe that this gives us a better chance to win this year," Horst said. "It happens to also put us under the second apron, which gives us some benefits going forward. There's no question. And we'll hopefully maximize those benefits. But that wasn't the intent."

• Giannis Antetokounmpo Out Through All-Star Break With Calf Strain

  Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will be out through the All-Star break due to a mild calf strain. Antetokounmpo will miss the All-Star Game, but it expected to return to the lineup shortly after the All-Star break.

  Antetokounmpo has missed the Bucks last three games with the injuries. The star forward will also miss homes games on Sunday and Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors, as well as a road game at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

  Adam Silver will select a replacement for Antetokounmpo for next week's All-Star Game. That replacement will come from the Eastern Conference, even though the players have been divided into rosters for a mini-tournament to be played in place of the All-Star Game.

• Bucks Acquire Kevin Porter Jr. From Clippers For MarJon Beauchamp

  The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to trade Kevin Porter Jr. to the Milwaukee Bucks for MarJon Beauchamp.

  Beauchamp was expected to be traded by the Bucks for several months as he wasn't in their plans. Beauchamp appeared in 26 games for the Bucks and averaged 2.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 4.7 minutes.

  Porter appeared in 45 games with the Clippers and averaged 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 19.5 minutes.

• Bucks Trade Patrick Baldwin Jr., Cash To Spurs

  The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to trade Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash to the San Antonio Spurs. Baldwin was acquired by the Bucks from the Washington Wizards on Wednesday as part of the Khris Middleton and Kyle Kuzma trade.

  Baldwin, who was originally drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the 28th pick in 2022, will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025. Baldwin averaged 2.1 points and 1.0 rebound in 4.6 minutes across 22 games with the Wizards.

• Knicks Trade Jericho Sims To Bucks For Delon Wright, Cash

  The New York Knicks have agreed to trade Jericho Sims to the Milwaukee Bucks for Delon Wright and cash as part of a larger Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma trade with the Washington Wizards.

  The Bucks agreed to acquire Kuzma from the Wizards earlier on Wednesday.

  Sims has been expected to be traded by the Knicks ahead of the deadline.

• Wizards Likely To Wait Until Offseason To Explore Khris Middleton Trade

  The Washington Wizards are expected to wait until the offseason to try to trade Khris Middleton, sources tell Marc Stein and Jake Fischer. Middleton has a $34 million player option for the 25-26 season.

  The Wizards acquired Middleton from the Milwaukee Bucks in a package for Kyle Kuzma.

  Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly offered the Bucks his support internally on a trade of Middleton before the moved forward with it due to their close friendship over the years.