Do Bucks still want to win at highest level? Fans, Giannis wait to find out

PHOENIX - The Milwaukee Bucks are dragging their way to the conclusion of the least successful season the franchise has experienced in a decade, and naturally, losing brings about questions about the immediate future. How can they turn it around? Do they want to turn it around?

If so (or not), what does that look like? The center of the answers to such questions is Giannis Antetokounmpo , the team’s 31-year-old, two-time league Most Valuable Player who is eligible to sign a contract extension beyond the 2026-27 season on Oct. 1.

League rules prohibit the Bucks from offering up to a four-year, $275 million extension beforehand, and Antetokounmpo does not need to express intent to sign a theoretical offer before it is presented. Bucks co-owner and governor Wes Edens told ESPN that there is a two-outcome scenario regarding Antetokounmpo this offseason: He will sign another extension, or he will be traded. It is an inherently obvious statement, but what was left unsaid was whether Edens and co-owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam will present the maximum offer.

Because if they do, that means Antetokounmpo will be on the team when training camp opens. In the past, general manager Jon Horst has physically presented Antetokounmpo a contract as soon as the NBA allows it, wherever on the map Antetokounmpo has been. And they have been of the maximum variety.