The Cleveland Cavs Reportedly Not on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Preferred Teams List

The Bucks superstar may not be super interested in joining the Cavs.

Apr 10, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo looks on during warmups prior to the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Cavaliers are in a tough spot where they have gone all in on the current team, but failed to reach their ultimate goal of winning it all. It’s not uncommon in the NBA, and as Cleveland moves forward, there have been many ideas about what the next step is for the league's most expensive team.

There has been the hope that LeBron James will make the second trip back home, as he enters the offseason as an unrestricted free agent. The Northeast Ohio golf may not compare well to California golf, but another possibility being floated out in the NBA world is Cleveland landing superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

The former MVP has been in trade talks for quite some time now, and as Milwaukee has taken a step back, the rumours have started to fly. But Cleveland might not be as deep in the sweepstakes as they think, as NBA Insider Chris Haynes reports.

Haynes said that he has not heard of the Cavs as one of Giannis’s preferred destinations on NBA TV, noting that Cleveland could have the assets with a trade centered around Evan Mobley to make the deal, though.

Giannis also only has one year remaining left on his contract with Milwaukee, so for the Bucks, they want a commitment from him that he will re-sign; if not, they would like to get assets from him. This has been the limbo that we have heard for a good amount of time now.

Now, just because Haynes has not heard directly that Cleveland is on Giannis’s short list of teams does not mean that the possibility of the trade is completely gone. If you travel back to when Donovan Mitchell was traded to Cleveland, there had been no buzz beforehand that Mitchell was planning on going to the Cavs, but he still did.

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics have also been connected to Giannis, as Boston checked in with Milwaukee ahead of the February trade deadline. Miami has also been deep in talks for the Bucks star, making an offer a week ago that boasts Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, and three first-round picks.

With that offer on the table, it could be hard for Cleveland to top it, but Mobley is the centerpiece who could sway Milwaukee into doing a deal. For Giannis, the appeal of playing with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden may top Miami’s younger core.