Giannis Antetokounmpo says he didn't know value of new contract: 'I just signed it because I want to be here'

A little hard to believe, but Giannis nonetheless did Milwaukee a major solid

Giannis Antetokounmpo just signed a somewhat surprising three-year extension with the Bucks, and if you take him at his word, he literally didn't even know how much money the deal was worth. 

"It was the first time in my NBA career I didn't know the number of my contract," Antetokounmpo said on Tuesday. "I just signed it because I wanted to be here."

For the record, the extension was for three years and $186 million. Giannis will finish out his current contract over the next two seasons at $45.6M and $48.8M, respectively, before the extension starts in 2025-26 at an average annual salary of $62 million through 2027-28, with that final season being a player option. 

The reason it was somewhat surprising that Giannis signed this deal is he said there was no reason for him to do it before next summer. That was true, financially speaking, had he sought a four-year deal, but this is a shorter commitment. He can become a free agent in 2027, and he'll become eligible to sign another extension in 2026. 

A cynic could argue that Giannis -- with two more years on his current deal and two guarantee years on his next one -- is simply aligning himself with the four guaranteed years remaining on Damian Lillard's contract as much as he is committing to Milwaukee for now and ever. 

But there's no doubt this is a major weight off the shoulders of the Bucks' organization as Giannis had been plenty vocal about the possibility of his going elsewhere prior to the Lillard trade. I actually argued that the Bucks should consider trading Giannis because I didn't see them as having the parts to get into the Lillard sweepstakes and they're fresh out of assets to replace their aging supporting cast. 

But in the end, they got Lillard. And now they have Giannis under contract for four more guaranteed years. That doesn't guarantee he'll stay. Lillard just got traded with four years left on his deal. When a star wants out, he gets out. Giannis could start singing a different tune. 

But there aren't any immediate indications that he will. Give the guy credit. He said he wanted to be with the Bucks as long as they were committed to putting a title contending team around him, and they have done that on two different occasions now -- first by trading for Jrue Holiday, which resulted in one title, and now for Lillard, which they're hoping will result in another one.