There is a perception that Giannis Antetokounmpo is open to possibly leaving the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2025 off-season. Shams Charania of ESPN stated two weeks ago that Giannis was considering joining a new team.
The two-time NBA MVP has not made any firm decisions on his Bucks future after the franchise’s third consecutive postseason exit in the first round, but, for the first time in his career, Antetokounmpo is open-minded about exploring whether his best long-term fit is remaining in Milwaukee or playing elsewhere, league sources told ESPN.
Why Doc’s Presence Means Giannis Is Staying With Milwaukee Bucks
However, there is a clear indication that the reports are premature, as Milwaukee and their head coach have not agreed to part ways. Doc Rivers has previously stated that he does not want to coach a rebuilding team anymore.
On September 28, 2013, Doc Rivers told Adrian Wojnarowski that coaching a rebuilding team was mentally draining for him due to the constant losing.
“The truth was this: I really didn’t want to go through a rebuild. I’ve been through three – when I first got to Orlando, and then when Grant Hill went down again. And I had been through one in Boston. It’s easy to say, ‘Just do it,’ but for a coach, it’s brutal. Showing up, getting your ass kicked, it’s brutal.”
Doc Rivers has been a man of his word. Since leaving Boston after the 2012-13 season, he has only coached teams with all-star/superstar players. He coached the L.A. Clippers for seven seasons, beginning with the 2013-14 campaign. Throughout his years with the Clippers, he had Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George.
After departing Los Angeles, Doc Rivers was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers before the 2020-21 season. He coached Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and James Harden in Philadelphia for three seasons.
After three seasons, he parted ways with Philadelphia. He was a media member for the first 46 games of the 2023-24 season before getting hired by the Bucks. During his season and a half in Milwaukee, he coached Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
The Blake Griffin trade
The Blake Griffin trade is the counterargument that will be used to debunk the theory that Doc Rivers does not want to coach a rebuilding team. In January 2018, the Clippers traded Griffin to the Detroit Pistons for a package centered around Tobias Harris.
Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams were the best players on the Clippers’ roster for the next season and a half. Over the next 18 months, the Clippers averaged 41 wins.
During this time frame, Doc Rivers was asked if his opinion on rebuilding had changed since leaving Boston. He responded that it was okay for Los Angeles to rebuild as they hadn’t won the title yet.
“The goal is to win, and once you win—if you ever do—then I don’t want to rebuild anymore. Then you go to the next one. That’s the way I look at it.”
On the surface, he appears to be open to coaching rebuilding teams. However, per The Athletic, Los Angeles traded Griffin because of a change in front-office leadership. Griffin re-signed with Los Angeles in June 2017. At the time, Rivers was the President of Basketball Operations, and he reportedly promised Griffin that the team would remain competitive.
However, about a month later, Rivers was demoted from the President of Basketball Operations to only head coach. The change in front office structure led leadership to reevaluate the team’s current state.
“Jerry West was brought on as a consultant a week before the Clippers re-signed Griffin. A little over a month later, Lawrence Frank was promoted to president of basketball operations as Doc Rivers was stripped of the title and returned to coaching-only duties. Three weeks later, the Clippers hired Michael Winger as general manager and Mark Hughes and Trent Redden as assistant general managers over a span of a few days.
The Clippers entered the 2017-18 season in evaluation mode, assessing the fit of everyone on the roster with its long-term vision. Part of their pitch to Griffin in free agency had been that they would remain competitive around him. That likely meant re-signing Jordan during the 2018 offseason and tying themselves to a Griffin-Jordan-Gallinari nucleus for at least two more seasons. The Clippers worried that it lowered their long-term ceiling, especially in an increasingly perimeter-oriented league, and would only delay the roster teardown they would eventually endure”.
Why a Departure Doesn’t Make Sense Right Now
Doc Rivers’ desire to coach teams that are competitive or viewed as championship contenders indicates that he would consider leaving the organization if a trade were to happen. Milwaukee would not fit the criteria without Antetokounmpo.
Furthermore, if Doc Rivers left the Milwaukee Bucks, he would have to return to the media, at least for the next season. Currently, the Phoenix Suns are the only team without a head coach. Unfortunately, Doc Rivers is unlikely to be an option for them as they are considering trading Kevin Durant.
If Phoenix trades Kevin, it would remove any hope of them being title contenders next season. On the other hand, if Doc Rivers decided to leave the organization, Milwaukee would have to deal with a diminished pool of coaching candidates during the potential interview process.
The Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and San Antonio Spurs have all promoted their top assistant to be the head coach for next season. Combining all these factors indicates that Antetokounmpo will stay with the organization to begin next season.
The trade rumors are another symptom of Antetokounmpo’s loss of power within the organization, which I spoke about earlier in the season. If Milwaukee allows him to have more input over the organization’s roster construction, there would be no trade rumors.
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