Bucks set a deadline on Giannis: decision coming before the NBA Draft

For 13 years, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been the Milwaukee Bucks. On Wednesday, Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam put a clock on it.

Speaking alongside GM Jon Horst at Taylor Jenkins' introductory press conference as Milwaukee's new head coach, Haslam laid out a hard timeline: "Sometime over the next six or seven weeks, we'll decide whether Giannis is going to sign a max contract and stay with us, or he's going to play somewhere else." His reasoning was the tell — "Because if Giannis does play somewhere else, we've got to have a lot of assets." Translation: if he's leaving, Milwaukee needs picks and prospects in hand by draft night.

The NBA Draft is the deadline. Haslam insisted the relationship is intact: "We never had any problem communicating directly with Giannis — at all — and always knew where he stood. I think he always knew where we stood." Coming off an injury-marred season and a first-round playoff exit, the two-time MVP turned 31 in December. Every front office in the league just got told when the dominoes might fall.