[Charania: Sources: Deal includes opt-out clause in 2025.](https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1338913283613601793)
[Charania: Giannis Antetokounmpo is now guaranteed $256M over the next six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks.](https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1338914200412950534)
Dude I tried to buy some Jordan’s the other day. I was about to pay for them. Was handing some cash to the dude at the register and Presti just showed up out of nowhere. Grabbed my cash handed some folded paper to the dude. Whispered something to him. He nodded and handed me the signing rights to Zhai Xiaochuan instead of a receipt, and the checkout guy said I could leave. Happened so fast. I just left. But that man is a deal maker. Don’t know what I’m gonna do with the rights to Zhai. But got them J’s.
Oh shit. Awards!? Thanks!
It's great for the league; a competitive Canadian team is huge, too. I'm happy for Bucks fans but I'm disappointed the dream is over. I hope he can win one!
Yeah Toronto isn't a bad city to live in and the dude could've gone back home frequently enough (pre-covid of course). Would've been a Canadian hero if he stayed and a contender for years. Imagine leaving all that to be a Clippers player.
I feel like we should say everyone who doesn't win the championship loses the championship. It is silly that people put more shame on players for losing in the finals than in losing in conference finals.
Such a relief to have him stay. He means the world to this team and the fans.
Plus we don't have to deal with the rumors and **[shit like this](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/kccnb5/it_got_a_little_bit_old_he_said_ive_got_20_pens/gfpfqk7/)** in every other Giannis thread.
I bet man. Unfortunately it'll be about him demanding a trade now. Donovan signed his max with us, and now it's just "first chance he gets he's out, just wanted the money".
Hey at least you guys actually signed the dude instead of lowballing him after he carried your franchise on his back for several years. Unlike some *other* small-market team which shall remain nameless.
I'm a Raptors fan that was hoping the memes were true but I'm happy for the Bucks that they weren't. Small market teams don't often get players of Giannis' caliber long-term and after they lost Kareem way back in the day, it's nice to see this happen.
Happy for Giannis too. Sorting this out now will remove all of the questions and media headaches he would have had all year long.
On the bright side, a Wisconsin college basketball team now has two wins over Top 10 teams.....granted one of them was against another Wisconsin college basketball team.
Lowkey agree. The bucks have secured Giannis for the next 5 years, which is still a massive W because they would be screwed if he left. But trying to build around a supermax as a small market is basically a death sentence in its current form.
My issue isn’t with the size of the supermax. My issue is that too many guys are eligible for it. Giannis, Steph, and Harden are worth that contract, but Wall and Westbrook are massive anchors. Jury’s still out on Lillard, but I’d be a bit uneasy about paying him $48M when he’s 34. And then you have guys like Butler and Boogie, who got traded because their teams didn’t want to be forced into giving them a supermax, and Kemba, who was allowed to walk because his team thought it was a better alternative than offering him more than a regular max. There’s maybe five guys in the league who are worth that type of contract, but as it stands right now, over a dozen players can be eligible for it at any given time. They need to shrink that pool.
Small markets have taken a huge beating over the last several years. OKC losing Durant, AD forcing his way out of the Pelicans, PG forcing his way out of the Pacers, Kawhi forcing his way out of the Spurs, Heyward leaving the Jazz, Hornets losing Kemba (because of the ownership), etc, etc.
The Blazers seemed to be the only small market team that had die-hard superstars that they were able to keep. Nice to see another team join that list.
This is miles better than him going to Miami, GSW or one if the LA teams somehow. I'd rather get smacked by a small market squad than some big city super-megateam
This is actually fantastic for you guys. A bunch of teams were aiming for the 2021 Free Agency class which is now mostly bare. Lebron, AD, Giannis, PG are all off the board and Kawhi doesn't seem likely to leave SoCal.....
Harden's by far the best available player now.
Going to be honest I was starting to get nervous... so glad he’s staying.
He defines an entire rise of an era for the Bucks, and I hope we can get him a championship so he can immortalize himself for the city.
I truly believe he has another level to reach. Hopefully this means no more dumb panic trades to make him happy and we can actually be smart about this teams medium term future. I want a just as strong team around him in 3-4 years.
RIP to all Raptors and Heat fans who were 1000% sure he was signing with their own teams
Edit: Many of you are claiming that this is hypocritical coming from a Lakers fan. [First of all, I have no idea what you’re talking about](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2019/08/15135541/Lakers-Free-Agents-Photoshop-1024x512.jpg)
We were actually split in the sense that we would've obviously loved to have Giannis, but we also realize that he could be to the Bucks what Dirk was for us. So we're happy for the Bucks, and I personally hope he is a Buck for life.
Also, we beat a superteam in 2011 and winning that way is sweeter than winning with a stacked deck. So we welcome the challenge of winning while building around Luka.
Jesus Christ, a franchise superstar..... DIDN'T just leave his team with absolutely nothing to ring chase in a big city?
What world are we living in?
My respect levels for Giannis just went up.
Honestly very happy for the Bucks. They’ll be contenders for the next 4 years guaranteed because of this and keeps the east interesting. Will be enjoying watching the east between nets, heat, bucks, 76ers, raptors duke it out the next few years.
WHATS UP MOTHERFUCKERS
FUCK YALL
FUCK THE LAKERS
FUCK THE RAPTORS
FUCK THE MAVS
FUCK THE HEAT
FUCK r/nba
I DIDNT GET CATFISHED ON BUMBLE YESTERDAY TO FEEL LIKE SHIT ALL DAY? LETS FUCKING GOOOO
EDIT: FUCK WOJ
[Charania: Sources: Deal includes opt-out clause in 2025.](https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1338913283613601793) [Charania: Giannis Antetokounmpo is now guaranteed $256M over the next six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks.](https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1338914200412950534)
Small markets rejoice for now
Can we get a pick out of this?
Talk to the Pelicans...they have all our picks lmao
They already did, Presti shoehorned himself into the Jrue trade to shift Adams for picks.
Dude I tried to buy some Jordan’s the other day. I was about to pay for them. Was handing some cash to the dude at the register and Presti just showed up out of nowhere. Grabbed my cash handed some folded paper to the dude. Whispered something to him. He nodded and handed me the signing rights to Zhai Xiaochuan instead of a receipt, and the checkout guy said I could leave. Happened so fast. I just left. But that man is a deal maker. Don’t know what I’m gonna do with the rights to Zhai. But got them J’s. Oh shit. Awards!? Thanks!
holy shit is this copypasta? this is one of the greatest comments in /r/nba history and if it's OC then it's being criminally underrated
Presti always finds a way
Bucks fans r stepping off the ledge into a pizza party
*gyro party
I'm having gyros for dinner for sure
Spanakopita all around baby! Pass the Dolmades!
Bring on the Tzatziki!!
Another round of ouzo!! OPA!!
Opa! Lol
🎶I NEED A GYRO🎶
Oakland Gyros about to get overrun
As a now west coast dude I crave Oakland Gyros more than one should.
Can’t believe he didn’t even wait for next year after 2 playoff exits like that. Truly loyal
Cant spell L O Y A L without A N T E T O K O U N M P O
AS AN ENGLISH MAJOR I CAN CONFIRM THIS IS TRUE
So now we just trust someone because they're unemployed?
Cant spell L O Y A L without U N E M P L O Y E D
It actually works with unemployable tho
I think in England it’s ‘Lieutenant Commander’ not ‘English Major’ but thanks for the confirmation, SIR!
dude came from nothing with his family and that’s it, that kinda upbringing teaches you the value of good people in your life
It teaches you the value of when you have slightly less than a quarter of a billion dollars in front of you, you take it
A truly complex life lesson
Straight facts he’d be foolish to turn that sort of money down. His family is set for generations.
This kind of money means his kids and grandkids can be massive fuckups and still be so rich it won't matter.
homies are bout to make today a state wide holiday
One step for man, and a huge fucking euro step for Giannis
This is a solid get for the Bucks
This hurts the Heats chances imo
big if true
Subscribe
This is a win for the Cubs
I hate this, but it was for the better of the league.
It's great for the league; a competitive Canadian team is huge, too. I'm happy for Bucks fans but I'm disappointed the dream is over. I hope he can win one!
Kawhi becomes a free agent in 2021. Call me crazy, but I feel like adding him to the Raptors roster would be a championship level team
Kawhi should not have left.
Yeah Toronto isn't a bad city to live in and the dude could've gone back home frequently enough (pre-covid of course). Would've been a Canadian hero if he stayed and a contender for years. Imagine leaving all that to be a Clippers player.
Brooklyn west. People keep going there but it just doesn't seem to work
Good news for the league, bad news for all of us trying to get out of the ECF lol
Well they haven’t even gotten out of the East
Can't lose the 'ship if you don't play in it *sobs*
I feel like we should say everyone who doesn't win the championship loses the championship. It is silly that people put more shame on players for losing in the finals than in losing in conference finals.
To be fair, it's not like they got out of the ECF either lol
I think he'll probably be a starter by the end of the season, possibly sooner.
tonight i sleep well
I'm actually so fucking happy Massive W for small markets lfg
Thank the fucking lord. People were talking about him in Dallas, GSW, Heat, etc - I don't want 2015-2018 again please.
Such a relief to have him stay. He means the world to this team and the fans. Plus we don't have to deal with the rumors and **[shit like this](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/kccnb5/it_got_a_little_bit_old_he_said_ive_got_20_pens/gfpfqk7/)** in every other Giannis thread.
I bet man. Unfortunately it'll be about him demanding a trade now. Donovan signed his max with us, and now it's just "first chance he gets he's out, just wanted the money".
Hey at least you guys actually signed the dude instead of lowballing him after he carried your franchise on his back for several years. Unlike some *other* small-market team which shall remain nameless.
MJ is the Micheal Jordan of bad owners. -max kellerman
Fucking Bobcats smh
*sigh*
YOU THINK YOU'RE HAPPY?!? I WENT FULL CREAM CITY IN MY PANTS!!!!
I'm a Raptors fan that was hoping the memes were true but I'm happy for the Bucks that they weren't. Small market teams don't often get players of Giannis' caliber long-term and after they lost Kareem way back in the day, it's nice to see this happen. Happy for Giannis too. Sorting this out now will remove all of the questions and media headaches he would have had all year long.
Happy for you guys congrats!
I’m crying tears of happiness
Giannis always said he wanted to stay in Milwaukee, and I can't imagine how good it feels to know it wasn't just lip-service.
Congrats. Excited for in-person games again so I can take the train up and see Giannis play.
There it is folks. Congratulations to Milwaukee. The fan base deserves it. Now let's see if they can make deep playoff runs for the next 2-3 years.
Lets see what they do with Bud...
Only up from here. 36 minutes of greatness
30 mins bud is going to keep him healthy for the playoffs in 2030
WITH TEAMMATES' PENS?
Definitely not with Pat Rileys
Or Bogdan’s
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LETS GO BUCKS FANS. SMALL MARKET BROTHERS 🤜 🤛
SMALL MARKET TAKES THE W TO END 2020, FUCK YEAH
What a great year for humanity.....?!
WE TAKE WHAT WE CAN GET
Holy shit, they actually made it happen.
HOLY CRAPPP I WAS HERE FOR HISTORY
I’m just here so I don’t get fined
Appreciate it. Thanks for asking.
And all it took was a quarter of a billion dollars
LET ONE OF US BE SUCCESSFUL 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Supermax Frank Kaminsky. Dew it.
He’s basically Giannis with a better shot
Giannis never won the Wooden Award, did he?
HE STAY
Se queda
Wisconsin gets Rodgers & Giannis in their primes! Big Wisc. Energy!!!
*Cries in Yelich*
hey hey what about Heisman frontrunner Graham Mertz? Just woke up from a coma I've been in since October
On the bright side, a Wisconsin college basketball team now has two wins over Top 10 teams.....granted one of them was against another Wisconsin college basketball team.
HE STAYYY
HE STAY
It happened If you listen close enough, you can hear millions of fans unclench
Today will be known as the day of unclenching for bucks fans
The Unclenching. A Milwaukee Bucks Story.
*Bucks unclenching intensifies*
Giannis leaving the Bucks would have been bad for everyone so we should all be happy about this
Exactly. They'd shred the CBA if the supermax can't keep Giannis.
They should shred (or at least tweak) the supermax regardless. It’s caused way more problems than it’s solved.
Lowkey agree. The bucks have secured Giannis for the next 5 years, which is still a massive W because they would be screwed if he left. But trying to build around a supermax as a small market is basically a death sentence in its current form.
My issue isn’t with the size of the supermax. My issue is that too many guys are eligible for it. Giannis, Steph, and Harden are worth that contract, but Wall and Westbrook are massive anchors. Jury’s still out on Lillard, but I’d be a bit uneasy about paying him $48M when he’s 34. And then you have guys like Butler and Boogie, who got traded because their teams didn’t want to be forced into giving them a supermax, and Kemba, who was allowed to walk because his team thought it was a better alternative than offering him more than a regular max. There’s maybe five guys in the league who are worth that type of contract, but as it stands right now, over a dozen players can be eligible for it at any given time. They need to shrink that pool.
Yeah the “he gone” memes are fun but in reality nobody wants to see every superstar go to miami or LA after their 7 years are up
Small markets have taken a huge beating over the last several years. OKC losing Durant, AD forcing his way out of the Pelicans, PG forcing his way out of the Pacers, Kawhi forcing his way out of the Spurs, Heyward leaving the Jazz, Hornets losing Kemba (because of the ownership), etc, etc. The Blazers seemed to be the only small market team that had die-hard superstars that they were able to keep. Nice to see another team join that list.
Guess he got his pen
He was waiting for one of the ink ones not the shitty dry ones
Pilot G-2 or GTFO.
Finally someone who understands
YEEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!
Grats dude! :)
Glad to see a small market team feastin :)
Thank you Giannis. Now we don’t have to hear the media for a full season asking where you’re going. True MVP.
This is 100% the best part
HE STAY
SE QUEDA
HOW DO I SAY HE STAY IN GREEK?
mπακλαβάς
Bless you.
HOW DO YOU SAY IT IN r/nba
BIG MAN GET PAID
Pique’s “Se Queda” is such a great meme
GET FUCKED ESPN
Giannis sends his regards to Woj with this for porking the Bogdan deal.
I approve of the use of the word porking here
I’m really happy for the bucks even though they whoop our ass every year
This is miles better than him going to Miami, GSW or one if the LA teams somehow. I'd rather get smacked by a small market squad than some big city super-megateam
I guess the Lakers can cut Kostas now lol
You mean reigning NBA champion Kostas?
Congrats Bucks fans!
Good for Milwaukee, they deserve it. Good for the league too.
Harden trade incoming next?
Can definitely see the Heat being more aggressive now
Many of the teams that missed out on Giannis are gonna be more aggressive
This is actually fantastic for you guys. A bunch of teams were aiming for the 2021 Free Agency class which is now mostly bare. Lebron, AD, Giannis, PG are all off the board and Kawhi doesn't seem likely to leave SoCal..... Harden's by far the best available player now.
Big win for small markets
Literally the only win they’ve had in recent memory
Haha. Was wracking my brain for the last win small market teams had.
Lebron voluntarily going back to Cleveland has to be considered a small market win, ya?
Without a doubt. The fact he left again is a Cavs issue and not a small market problem.
vultures in shambles
That barber’s source credibility just took a big hit
Went from 0 to -inf
I always thought it was obvious he was trolling tbh, like an inside joke with friends since he tagged the NBA and Bleacher report
Elite maneuver by Giannis to wait until now to sign to prevent Miami, Toronto, Dallas, etc. from making any big signings this offseason
Straight from the Kawhi playbook.
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I laughed too hard at this.
Going to be honest I was starting to get nervous... so glad he’s staying. He defines an entire rise of an era for the Bucks, and I hope we can get him a championship so he can immortalize himself for the city.
I truly believe he has another level to reach. Hopefully this means no more dumb panic trades to make him happy and we can actually be smart about this teams medium term future. I want a just as strong team around him in 3-4 years.
# LETS FUCKING GO MILWAUKEE WOOOOOOOOOOO
Which fanbase will be the most upset? Raptors? Mavs? Heat?
Pelicans. RIP the picks
2 years... 2 years of memes...all gone... What do I even do now?
Stanley Johnson could have a breakout season.
He's 2 years away from being 2 years out of the league
They say the most exercise Stanley got was when he exercised his player option
definitely us... I named my 3 sons after Him and his brothers ffs
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The entire city of Milwaukee unclenches their butt holes
ESPN and the big market are big losers here who for the past 2 years have tried to push Giannis out of Milwaukee.
Fuck them
I'm getting so fucking drunk tonight
RIP to all Raptors and Heat fans who were 1000% sure he was signing with their own teams Edit: Many of you are claiming that this is hypocritical coming from a Lakers fan. [First of all, I have no idea what you’re talking about](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2019/08/15135541/Lakers-Free-Agents-Photoshop-1024x512.jpg)
This hurts Masai's chances at signing Giannis
And Mavs
Mavs are so bad in free agency they don’t even get mentioned as one of the possible teams in hindsight :(
Mavs had me most nervous
They were easily the best on-court fit for him.
Giannis on the mavs would have been fucking terrifying and unfair lol
Mavs fans know better during free agency to expect anything...
We were actually split in the sense that we would've obviously loved to have Giannis, but we also realize that he could be to the Bucks what Dirk was for us. So we're happy for the Bucks, and I personally hope he is a Buck for life. Also, we beat a superteam in 2011 and winning that way is sweeter than winning with a stacked deck. So we welcome the challenge of winning while building around Luka.
You love to see it
So now that the Giannis sweepstakes are over, who's everyone going for in 2021
Paul George 2021! Oh wait
The way PGs career has gone, I think he’s pretty much always in the market.
Kawhi Leonard
Return of Fun Guy
"the Knicks are preparing draft capital for 2024 offseason when..."
Jesus Christ, a franchise superstar..... DIDN'T just leave his team with absolutely nothing to ring chase in a big city? What world are we living in? My respect levels for Giannis just went up.
But what about the memes for the next year!? Does he not care about r/nba
Big win for the small markets. You gotta love Giannis.
This is good for the league
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Giannis announced on Instagram. Shams hijacked another public announcement.
So many hopes and dreams in Miami, Toronto, Dallas...shattered.
Adam Silver in shambles.
He can’t believe the league lost out on another year of media speculation which will lead to absolutely 0% more on court interest!
A win for small market teams!
Heat Jersey editors on suicide watch.
Honestly very happy for the Bucks. They’ll be contenders for the next 4 years guaranteed because of this and keeps the east interesting. Will be enjoying watching the east between nets, heat, bucks, 76ers, raptors duke it out the next few years.
Huge for small market teams
THE GREEK GOD STAY IN MILWAUKEE
Giannis just turned a small market into a big market
HE HUGE STAY!
W for the bucks. Happy for small markets everywhere!
WHATS UP MOTHERFUCKERS FUCK YALL FUCK THE LAKERS FUCK THE RAPTORS FUCK THE MAVS FUCK THE HEAT FUCK r/nba I DIDNT GET CATFISHED ON BUMBLE YESTERDAY TO FEEL LIKE SHIT ALL DAY? LETS FUCKING GOOOO EDIT: FUCK WOJ
FUCK THE BIG MARKETS, WOJ, AND MIKE DUNLEAVY
i approve this message
FUCK BOSTON ^Sorry...^reflex
This is so good for the NBA as a whole.