MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� Giannis Antetokounmpo brought the Milwaukee Bucks the franchise its first title in half a century as the most impactful player in team history.
Now the Bucks face the onerous challenge of retooling without the player who carried the team on his broad shoulders for over a decade.
The Bucks agreed on the eve of Tuesday鈥檚 draft to send Antetokounmpo along with forward Bobby Portis in exchange for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel鈥檈l Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had yet to receive the required league approval.
Milwaukee also gets the No. 13 selection in Tuesday鈥檚 draft along with a first-round pick swap in 2030, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and a second-rounder in 2033, the person said.
The move leaves the Bucks without one of the most beloved figures in Wisconsin sports history. Milwaukee fans watched in awe as Antetokounmpo spent the last 13 seasons maturing from a skinny teenager into one of the top players on the planet.
Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins understood this was a possibility when he accepted the job in April following the
鈥淣aturally, we did talk about Giannis, the entire roster, developmental pathways for everyone you know, moving forward,鈥� Jenkins said during his last month. 鈥淏ecause from the coaching lens, I’ve got to start formulating that, what we鈥檙e going to do, not just this offseason, but when we hit the ground running, you know, at the start of training camp. So naturally, (we) talked about that. Had great dialogue, full transparency.鈥�
Replacing a beloved superstar
Antetokounmpo had spent his entire career with the Bucks, who selected the 18-year-old from Greece with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. The nine-time all-NBA forward leads the Bucks in virtually every career statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, games and minutes.
He won MVP awards in 2019 and 2020. Antetokounmpo came back from a knee hyperextension in the 2021 playoffs to earn while scoring 50 points in the title-clinching Game 6 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Antetokounmpo, 31, had signed multiple contract extensions to stay in Milwaukee and play in one of the NBA鈥檚 smallest markets. He was so appreciated for his loyalty that a 鈥� 53陆 feet high and 56陆 feet wide 鈥� appears on the side of a three-story building in downtown Milwaukee.
Plenty of fans stopped by that mural Tuesday to pay homage to Milwaukee鈥檚 departing superstar. Some left mementoes, including a Sports Illustrated commemorating the Bucks鈥� 2021 title that included this message: 鈥淭hanks for everything, big fella! 34 forever 鈥� Milwaukee.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 at a loss for words,鈥� said Danny Nelson of Delafield, Wisconsin. 鈥淚 still don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 real. He was everything to the city. It doesn鈥檛 feel real that he鈥檚 gone.鈥�
Those fans generally harbored no hard feelings toward Antetokounmpo regarding the trade. They instead wanted to offer thanks.
鈥淚 want what鈥檚 best for him,鈥� Isabelle Branger of Milwaukee said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 done a lot for us here.鈥�
Facing possibility of a long rebuild
The Bucks made plenty of high-risk, high-reward moves in an attempt to keep Antetokounmpo happy and remain in contention. But the Bucks never got beyond the second round of the playoffs after winning that 2021 title due in part to and key They’re coming off a that snapped a string of nine straight playoff appearances.
Those big swings they took to stay competitive with Antetokounmpo will make it tougher to rebuild without him.
Even after making this blockbuster deal to recoup draft capital, Milwaukee doesn鈥檛 have any first-round picks in 2027 or 2029.
The Bucks gave up multiple first-round picks in the 2020 trade that brought to Milwaukee and the 2023 deal in which they Holiday played a key role in the Bucks鈥� 2021 title before leaving Milwaukee in the Lillard trade. after in a 2025 first-round playoff loss to Indiana, a move that enabled the Bucks to sign former Pacers center
That makes it imperative that the Bucks find assets with their two lottery picks Tuesday, as they pick 10th and 13th. That No. 10 pick represents their earliest selection since 2016, when they also went 10th and took Thon Maker.
The Bucks have one potential building block in guard Ryan Rollins, who turns 24 next month. Perhaps a new staff gets more from Turner, whose production dipped his first year in Milwaukee.
This trade gives Milwaukee an infusion of youth as it begins a new chapter.
Herro is a Milwaukee-area native and 2025 All-Star who has scored at least 20 points per game each of the last four seasons, though injuries limited the 26-year-old to 33 games in 2025-26.
Jaquez, 25, scored 15.4 points per game in a bench role this season. Ware is a 22-year-old, 7-footer. Jakucionis, 20, was the 20th pick in last year鈥檚 draft.
But this still represents a major transition for a team that had considered itself a legitimate contender as long as it had a healthy Antetokounmpo, who finished fourth or higher in the MVP balloting every year from 2019-25 before injuries limited him to a career-low 36 games this season.
This franchise has been through lean years before. The Bucks reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2001 but didn鈥檛 win another playoff series until returning to the East finals in 2019.
Longtime Bucks fans know the challenges that come after a superstar鈥檚 departure.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to a 1971 title when he was known as Lew Alcindor and got them another conference championship in 1974 before requesting a trade. The Bucks sent Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 1975, and they wouldn鈥檛 get back to the NBA Finals until that 2021 championship season.
Now the guy most responsible for that also is leaving town.
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.
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