The chain of events that led to Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving Milwaukee might have started with a very different kind of phone call.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Bucks explored a trade with the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball before they ultimately moved Antetokounmpo to Miami. Fischer reported on X that Milwaukee’s interest in Ball was real enough that front office executives looked into adding him alongside the Greek Freak, not as a replacement for him.
Ball’s Name Keeps Coming Up
The timing is wild. Just hours before Fischer’s report, ESPN’s Shams Charania dropped the news that multiple teams were “strongly pursuing” Ball in trade talks. Charania’s report felt like it came out of nowhere because Charlotte just had its best season in a decade — a 44-38 record that pushed them to within one win of ending a nine-year playoff drought.
Ball played 72 games this season, the second-most of his injury-plagued career. The 24-year-old averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds while shooting efficiently enough to make the Hornets look dangerous for the first time in years.
But apparently, that success hasn’t stopped teams from calling. And it didn’t stop Milwaukee from calling earlier, either.
The Milwaukee Timeline Makes Sense
Fischer’s report suggests the Bucks were trying to upgrade their backcourt while keeping Antetokounmpo happy. Ball’s passing and scoring would have fit well next to a dominant big man. But Milwaukee never got the deal done, and within months, the franchise was blowing things up entirely.
The Antetokounmpo trade — a package that sent the two-time MVP to Miami — was the biggest NBA story in years. Nobody expected Milwaukee to actually do it. But looking back, the front office’s willingness to kick the tires on a Ball trade shows they were already thinking about roster changes before they were forced into a rebuild.
Ball has three years left on his current contract. He’s also eligible to sign a two-year extension worth $119.2 million, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. That’s a lot of money for a guard who has never played a full season, but his production this year made the price tag look reasonable.
What happens next with Ball is anyone’s guess. The Hornets could keep him and build around their best player in years. Or they could take the calls seriously and start over. Milwaukee’s interest — even if it went nowhere — confirms that other teams see Ball as a franchise-level talent when he’s healthy.
More details are expected to surface as the trade market heats up.
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