NBA Insider Says Some Trades ‘On Hold’ Until Teams Are Sure Giannis Stays With Bucks

Brian Windhorst thinks the threat of a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade has put the trade market on hold.

Could Giannis Antetokounmpo still be on the move at the deadline? | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Giannis Antetokounmpo has spent his entire NBA career with the Bucks, but his name has been floated around the trade deadline for a few years now as Milwaukee has underperformed since its championship run in 2021.

This year, those rumblings got especially loud, with ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting in December that both Giannis and the Bucks were openly discussing the two-time MVP’s future with the franchise.

Since then, it felt as though the trade talks have quieted down a bit. Giannis returned from injury and helped the Bucks secure a few impressive wins, and last week issued his clearest statement yet regarding his feelings towards Milwaukee, saying “there will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment, that I will come out and say ‘I want a trade.’”

But despite that strong statement, the rest of the NBA apparently isn’t fully buying that Giannis is sticking with the Bucks just yet, and a few poor performances of late have only raised more doubts across the league, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst..

“I know what Giannis has said on the record, and I know that the Bucks have been out there trying to buy. But I’m telling you, when I talk to people in the league, they’re still holding, waiting to see,” Windhorst said on Friday. “There are deals that are on hold and talk progressions on hold because teams still aren’t 100% sure whether Giannis is going to be on the team the rest of the year.”

Windy:

"There are deals that are on hold and talk progressions on hold because teams still aren't 100% sure whether Giannis is gonna be on the team the rest of the year" pic.twitter.com/QtYO9THpd9

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) January 16, 2026

The market at the NBA trade deadline can move at an intense pace, and a domino of Giannis’s size isn’t moved that often—despite what last year’s Luka trade might have you believe. It makes sense that while teams would be lining deals up, they might not want to pull the trigger until they are 100% sure Giannis isn’t leaving Milwaukee. No one wants to find out one of the best players in the league is available to the highest bidder the day after they traded two first-round picks for a rotation guy.

As things stand, based on Antetokounmpo’s own words and his 14 seasons in Milwaukee, it feels like the most likely outcome here is Giannis remaining with the Bucks. But nothing is certain until the trade deadline passes on Feb. 5.

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