In case you had any doubts, the Milwaukee Bucks want to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo around. During a recent event, Bucks GM Jon Horst confirmed what everyone already assumed, which is that the Bucks are going to offer the reigning MVP a supermax extension next summer when he’s eligible for the huge deal. 

Horst’s response:

“First of all, the answer for now is that we can’t talk and negotiate anything. So Giannis, basically, a year from now will be eligible for a supermax extension. At that time, of course, he will be offered a supermax extension.”

That’s not all that interesting, though, considering everyone who’s ever watched the Greek Freak play knows they want to re-sign him — even if the price will be a staggering $247 million over five years. 

What is pretty interesting is that later in the interview, Horst went more in-depth into the Bucks’ goals as an organization. They want to build an environment in Milwaukee that players will want to be in — something that hasn’t always been the case in the past. So far, Horst feels confident their plan is working, saying he thinks Giannis will “be a Buck for a long time.”

“Bud and I talk about this all the time. It’s our responsibility to create an environment, a culture, a basketball organization where our players want to come to work everyday, players that they want to play with everyday, and they want to win at the highest level. And we’ve taken great steps towards that last year. We’ve continued to build on that. We’re going to continue to build on that. I think we all fully believe that if we continue to put the right things in place and give Giannis the right opportunities — he loves Milwaukee, he loves the state of Wisconsin — I think he’ll be a Buck for a long time.”

There’s still a long way to go until next summer, and Giannis has made it clear that above all else, he wants to win. Following their exit from the Eastern Conference finals last season, there was even a report that his future with the Bucks hinges on a Finals run in 2020. 

We’ll obviously have to wait to see what happens this season to see if that’s the case or not, but until then, it’s clear the Bucks are doing everything possible to put themselves in position to re-sign Giannis, both on and off the court.