RealGM Basketball Wiretap

03 July 2026

• Celtics Negotiated With Giannis Antetokounmpo For Extension At Less Than Full Max

  The Boston Celtics were close enough to a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo where they held discussions with his camp on what his extension with the franchise would look like. While Antetokounmpo is eligible for an extension worth up to $275 million over four years, the Celtics hoped to sign him to a two-year extension at 30 percent of the cap. Antetokounmpo was seeking a three-year extension at 35 percent of the cap.

  Antetokounmpo was eventually traded by the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat instead of the Celtics. There have not been any indications on what type of contract extension he will ultimately sign with the Heat. Antetokounmpo will become eligible to officially sign an extension with the Heat in January.

  "The Giannis to Boston thing was closer than I think people realize," said Bill Simmons. "I still don't think Hugo [Gonzalez] was ever in the trade.

  "But I do think it got to the point that Bucks had an arrangement with Giannis that-they weren't going to trade him without him signing off on it. And he didn't sign off on the Miami trade for a couple days there. And they were talking about extensions with the Celtics. And it came down to two years and 30 percent of the cap, or three years for 35. The Celtics were pretty entrenched at two for 30. And Giannis wanted the three for 35 and they couldn't agree on it.

  "And that was when he green-lit the Miami trade and Miami threw in [Kasparas] Jakucionis. And that's when it happened."

• Ousmane Dieng, Bucks Agree To Three-Year, $17.5M Deal

  Ousmane Dieng and the Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a three-year, $17.5 million deal. The Bucks acquired Dieng from the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline.

  Dieng, who was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, averaged 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 26.8 minutes across 30 games for the Bucks. Dieng figures to continue to have a big role with the Bucks as they rebuild out of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era.

  Dieng is represented by Michael Tellem and Marius Rutkauskas.

• Bucks Decline $2.4M Option On Andre Jackson Jr.

  The Milwaukee Bucks have declined their $2.4 million team option on Andre Jackson Jr. for the 2026-27 season.

  Jackson averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.5 minutes across 48 games this past season.

  Jackson was the 36th overall pick out of UConn in the 2023 NBA draft.

• Bucks Told Teams At Deadline They Did Not Expect To Trade Giannis Antetokounmpo

  When the Milwaukee Bucks engaged in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks with rival teams leading to the trade deadline, sources with the team insist they were transparent that they were unlikely to move forward with a deal at that time unless they were blown away by an offer.

  The Bucks chose to wait until the offseason under the belief that more teams would enter the bidding and that offers would improve.

  While the Boston Celtics entered trade talks in the offseason, teams like the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets remained on the sidelines. The Bucks were ultimately left with a decision between the Celtics and Miami Heat, who had gained the most traction on a trade in February.

  Sources tell ESPN that the Heat improved their offer in June from where it was in June with the inclusion of the No. 13 overall pick in the draft.

  The Celtics, meanwhile, offered Jaylen Brown and two first round picks as their package for Antetokounmpo.

• Gary Trent Jr. To Decline $3.9M Option With Bucks

  Gary Trent Jr. plans on declining his $3.9 million player option with the Milwaukee Bucks to become a free agent.

  Trent figures to receive interest from a number of teams in free agency.

  Trent spent the past two seasons with the Bucks and averaged 8.1 points on 36.0 percent three-point shooting across 65 games last season.

  Trent is represented by Rich Paul and Lucas Newton.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo Ruled Out Extension With At Least Four Trade Suitors

  Giannis Antetokounmpo communicated through his camp that he would not sign an extension with at least four teams interested in acquiring him from the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

  Antetokounmpo can become a free agent in 2027, which gave him a considerable amount of leverage to dictate his trade destination.

  Antetokounmpo was willing to go to the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics or Minnesota Timberwolves.

  The Portland Trail Blazers are believed to be one of the teams that were rejected by Antetokounmpo as a potential destination.

  Antetokounmpo previously signed extensions with the Bucks in 2020 and 2023, but he communicated that he wouldn't do so again this time.

  When Damian Lillard was traded by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023, he attempted to direct himself to the Miami Heat, but he had four seasons remaining on his contract and lacked the leverage to get there and was eventually traded to the Bucks. Antetokounmpo, by contrast, was traded to the Heat as one of his preferred destinations.

• Kevin Porter Jr. Exercises $5.39M Option With Bucks

  Kevin Porter Jr. exercised with $5.39 million player option with the Milwaukee Bucks.

  Porter averaged 17.4 points and 7.4 assists last season.

  Jericho Sims also exercised his player option with the Bucks on Thursday.

• Jericho Sims Exercises $2.8M Option With Bucks

  Jericho Sims has exercised his $2.8 million contract for hte 2026-27 season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

  Sims appeared in 67 games with the Bucks last season, averaging 5.0 points and 5.5 rebounds.

  Sims, who was acquired by the Bucks at the 2025 trade deadline as part of the Khris Middleton deal, is represented by Jason Glushon and Josh Ketroser.

• Wolves Make Jaden McDaniels Off Limits In LaMelo Ball Trade Talks; Prefer To Keep Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid

  The Minnesota Timberwolves are "undeniably serious" in their pursuit of LaMelo Ball, sources told Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

  The Wolves have taken Jaden McDaniels off the table in any trade discussions.

  The team prefers to "do right" and keep Donte DiVincenzo, who suffered a torn Achilles in the playoffs last season.

  The Wolves also prefer to keep Naz Reid.

  With the Wolves' trade of Julius Randle unable to be finalized until July 6, that deal could be expanded to help complete other transactions.

  Ball was reportedly looking forward to playing this upcoming season with the Hornets.

  With the Raptors already mentioned as another team pursuing Ball, the Bucks have also registered interest in the point guard.

• Bucks Would Have Traded Giannis Antetokounmpo In 2025 If He Had Requested Exit

  The Milwaukee Bucks had the opportunity to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo during the 2025 offseason, a full year before they finally did, but ownership misread his growing frustration as the same offseason posturing he had displayed for years, according to a lengthy report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That miscalculation defined the final chapter of a 13-year partnership that ended with a trade to the Miami Heat this week.

  Following Milwaukee's second consecutive first-round playoff exit to the Indiana Pacers in May 2025, co-owners Wes Edens and Jimmy Haslam approached Antetokounmpo on the practice court. He told them he was committed for the upcoming season. What he did not say directly was that he had lost faith in head coach Doc Rivers and did not believe the organization was capable of returning to championship form.

  Bucks leadership interpreted his response the way they had absorbed similar signals in previous offseasons. ESPN began reporting, from anonymous sources, that Antetokounmpo wanted out, but it felt familiar to the front office.

  Rather than engage seriously on the trade market, the Bucks made sweeping roster changes without consulting their franchise player. They waived and stretched Damian Lillard, let Brook Lopez depart in free agency and signed Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner to the largest free agent contract in franchise history at $108 million. The series of moves stunned Antetokounmpo.

  "These moves looked solid on paper, but you don't really appreciate how much Khris, Brook, Jrue, Pat, the character, the high-level basketball character of those guys," a longtime team employee told the Journal Sentinel. "You don't appreciate it until you don't have them around."

  Antetokounmpo responded by sending a clear physical signal his mindset had shifted. He packed up his trophies from his suburban Milwaukee home and shipped them to Greece. His wife and children began the 2025-26 season there as well.

  "Because I didn't know how the season was going to unfold," Antetokounmpo told the Journal Sentinel. "There were a lot of rumors about me. There was a lot of uncertainty about me - from both sides."

  His representatives at Octagon did communicate some level of discontent to ownership. But because Antetokounmpo never expressed it directly himself, the Bucks processed it no differently than prior offseasons. Had he done so, sources told the Journal Sentinel, the organization would have approached the offseason in a fundamentally different way.

  The season deteriorated rapidly. Rivers lost the locker room, the roster lacked cohesion and Antetokounmpo's frustration spilled onto the court. He stopped shooting, openly criticized his coaches and teammates, and drew a public standoff with the organization in March 2026 over his playing status following a knee injury.

  Edens' public statement in March 2026 that Antetokounmpo would either sign an extension or be traded was the first time the organization formally put his future in doubt. Three months later, the Bucks traded him to Miami for a package that was considerably less than they likely would have received in 2025 and after making significant moves with long-term ramifications.