Thursday morning, Lou Canellis of Fox 32 News reported that the Chicago Bulls turned down any Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks. According to his interview with 670 The Score, Chicago was one of the first calls made by Antetokounmpo's camp, but was met with instant rejection from Arturas Karnisovas's group. He relayed that the Bulls preferred to stick with their current plan, gamble on their current core and assets, and were uninterested in any deals involving the Bucks' superstar. Later that afternoon, various reports surfaced claiming that the Bulls were not rejecting talks for the former NBA Finals MVP, and that his camp would continue to monitor the situation. Before Friday night's game, head coach Billy Donovan put an end to all the rumors and provided clarity on the issue.
Chicago Was Never Contacted About The Greek Freak
In his pregame press conference last night, Donovan was directly asked about the recently circulating rumors regarding Antetokounmpo and the Chicago Bulls. According to Chicago's head coach, he is at least informed about any incoming trades or transactions. In this case, he stated that he was never told about anything related to the two-time NBA MVP, and that Karnisovas and his team never approached him regarding a potential deal. Assuming Donovan is being truthful, which he's never given a reason to believe otherwise, the reports yesterday were purely blowing smoke.
Billy Donovan commented on report the Bulls weren’t interested in Giannis Antetokounmpo by saying the front office “always” comes to him with trade conversations/offers when they’re “real.”
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) December 5, 2025
The front office never communicated anything one way or the other about Antetokounmpo. pic.twitter.com/BXgPPBzSuB
This isn't a major surprise, as alluded to earlier, while Canellis is a Chicago sports anchor, he is not directly related to the Chicago Bulls. It's more standard that the closest reporters within the Chicago Bulls organization would have released something regarding Antetokounmpo if that initial report carried any weight. Since no one outside of Canellis has released any information, and Donovan is directly contradicting his findings, the assumption must be that none of it has happened. Do the Bulls still stand a chance at The Greek Freak?
Can't Hold This Against AK Yet
With the information Donovan provided, Bulls fans can now reset their perspective on the Antetokounmpo trade talks and no longer despise Arturas Karnisovas for passing up this offer. Don't be confused, there is still a long list of things that Karnisovas has dropped the ball on, and plenty of fireable offenses executed on his behalf, but passing on Milwaukee's superstar is no longer one of them. Many thought that rejecting any trades up front was typical for the front office leader, and that may still be true. Still, as it currently stands, Chicago has not been contacted regarding the acquisition of one of the league's top talents.
Artūras Karnišovas speaks to Bulls fans after the trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/USl3q1XOdN
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) February 6, 2025
For saying that the franchise is not pleased with being in the middle, they've done it quite a bit. The Chicago Bulls have one playoff victory during the Karnisovas regime, and have a record of 204-217.
How much more mediocre basketball will it take for AK and his leadership group to be shown the door?
