Bucks fined $50K for talk of extending Giannis

The Milwaukee Bucks have been fined $50,000 for violating league rules that prohibit teams from discussing future player contracts, the league announced Tuesday.

The fine is in response to comments that Bucks general manager Jon Horst made about Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s contract at a televised town hall on Sept. 12, when he said that the Bucks plan to offer Antetokounmpo a supermax contract worth $253.8 million, the largest in NBA history, next summer.

The collective bargaining agreement stipulates that team officials cannot commit to offer a player a supermax contract until he has played seven seasons. Antetokounmpo, who has played six seasons, will be eligible to sign a supermax contract in July 2020.

At the town hall, Horst initially said that he could not talk about Antetokounmpo’s contract situation.

“Giannis, a year from now, will be eligible for a supermax extension,” Horst said. “At that time of course he will be offered the supermax extension.” He went on to say that building a team culture where players want to show up and work hard is a priority for Milwaukee.

“We all fully believe that if we put the right things in place and give Giannis the right opportunities — he loves Milwaukee, he loves the state of Wisconsin and I think he will be a Buck a long time,” Horst said.

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