Giannis Antetokounmpo addresses trade report, reaffirms commitment to Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed a trade report after practice on Oct. 8, during which he reaffirmed his commitment to team.
- Kevin Porter Jr. is expected to be the starting point guard for the Milwaukee Bucks in his eighth NBA season.
- The Bucks need Porter to play a more decisive role, focusing on creating shots for teammates rather than his individual creative style.
- Teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo has expressed confidence in Porter, calling him one of the team’s young leaders.
- Porter’s focus is on contributing to a winning team, believing that team success will lead to individual and financial rewards.
There might be no player with more interesting footwork on the Milwaukee Bucks than Kevin Porter Jr., particularly when it comes to shot creation. Throughout his pregame shooting routine, his toes will be pointed in any direction as he works around the basket. There might be a one-legged launch – or landing – point. A dancer at heart, he brought that improvisation to the court at an early age.
Porter’s pauses and accents with the dribble are a big part of why there is probably no more creative on-ball player on the team. But this season, for this version of the Bucks, Porter will be tasked with dancing a little less. The Bucks need him to be decisive, get into the paint and near the rim to create shots for teammates.
They need him to go.
And in a way, it’s an apt metaphor for how he’s approaching the start of his eighth NBA season. Still just 25 years old, he’s young. But after 271 games with four teams, he’s not.
“I came in here young, so it’s time,” he said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the preseason concluded. “It’s that next level. Gotta reach that next level.”
For the first time since the 2021-23 seasons when he was with Houston, Porter is in position to establish himself as a top-flight contributor on a team. But the differences between those Rockets teams and this Bucks team couldn’t be more stark. And, he’s a far different player, with different goals, from that 21-year-old vying to become the face of a franchise.
Those teams in Houston team went a combined 42-122, and Porter started 120 of those contests and played about 33 minutes per game while lifting 14.1 shots per game.
After spending the 2023-24 season out of the league while a criminal case for alleged domestic violence was being adjudicated, Porter returned to the NBA as a reserve with the Los Angeles Clippers through the first 45 games last season before being acquired by the Bucks at the trade deadline. He appeared in 28 of his 30 games off the bench. He played under 20 minutes per game, shooting fewer than 10 times per game.
But now, he’s considered the starting point guard on a team that, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, still has very high internal expectations.
There is no dancing around them for Porter.
“I mean, to sum it up, I want to be a guy that is highly contributing on a winning team,” he said matter-of-factly. “That’s all I want to be. My personal goal is just to have a great, solid year on and off the court. I worked hard this summer and all that work is going to show. All the accolades I’m supposed to win or supposed to have team or individually, it’ll come in my career. But I gotta take that next step and lead teams to wins.”
It’s an acknowledged responsibility, but Porter added he didn’t want to put extra pressure on himself as the season begins by assuming the starting point guard mantle. He feels the trust of his teammates to put them, and the team, in positions to succeed offensively
“I love it. I love the opportunity that I have,” he said. “At the same time, this opportunity that I feel we earned and that I gave Milwaukee enough to trust me with. So I’m feeling good about it.”
Antetokounmpo is feeling good about it also.
“He’s about to have an incredible season,” the Bucks star declared at the end of the team’s open practice Oct. 19. “He’s one of our leaders out there, he’s one of our young leaders out there, he’s very, very vocal. Me and him control the pace of the offense and we get the ball, the most (possessions), to create for our teammates or for ourselves. Since training camp he’s been incredible.”
The belief, of course, is that that hope will translate to results. And those results could lead to a more lucrative contract extension in the summer should Porter choose to decline the player option on his 2-year, $10.5 million deal signed this summer.
But he knows his value likely won’t come from per game averages but rather how he plays within the construct of a team built to play fast and win now.
“It’s easy to get caught up in who’s making what and all these things,” he admitted. “My career is kind of unique so I never really paid attention to those things. I’ve always tried to stay here (in the present) and stay in the league as long as I can. But, yeah, I just want to be the best version for this team. I feel the version I was for the Rockets, Cleveland, Clippers isn’t the version I need to be for the Milwaukee Bucks. If I score zero points, 20 points, five assists, zero assists, as long as I’m contributing to winning then – you know the saying – everyone gets paid.
“As long as we win, win, win and I contribute on a consistent basis then that side of things takes care of itself. And, on top of that, when we win, we’re all having fun. So it’s hard to complain when you’re having fun. So, that’s all I pay attention and focus to.”
