NEWSLETTER
The name “Antetokounmpo” could appear on the back of a Bulls jersey this season. But it might not belong to the player you think.
A little over one week after Giannis Antetokounmpo expressed some unexpected interest in playing for the Chicago Bulls in the future, his brother has reportedly caught the franchise’s attention (Michael: perhaps that wasn’t such an accident…). According to the Greek Publication SDNA, Arturas Karnisovas has considered adding the 24-year-old big man to the roster.
Here are a few direct quotes from the story that have been translated from Greek to English via Google Translate:
Thus, according to what SDNA reports, the Bulls, about whom Giannis was asked about, expressed a strong interest in Kostas.
This interest was expressed by an old acquaintance of ours, the former Olympiakos player, Artouras Karnisovas, who is the boss in the basketball part of the legendary Chicago team.
Christos Tsaltas, who is reporting the information for SDNA, also took to Twitter to state that the Bulls have already spoken with the forward.
Now, to be absolutely clear, we should take this news with a grain of salt. While I’m not trying to discredit the reporting of Tsaltas or his publication, we all know things can get lost in translation. Not to mention, we’re talking about a story that is currently being reported over 5,000 miles away. The fact of the matter is we should wait for information from a more familiar NBA source before actually considering this a possibility. Let alone what it means for the future.
With that said, the Bulls’ interest in the famous brother could at least make some sense. Kostas has played for both the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers over his three-year NBA career. This included winning a championship ring with LA back in 2019-20 (where he appeared in just five games). He’s most recently played overseas for LDLC ASVEL, which is a French basketball team that also competes in the EuroLeague.
While he’s struggled to make much of a statistical dent in his pro career, he is still an athletic six-foot-ten power forward who can run the floor and play physical defense. Considering the Bulls’ need for bodies at the position, taking a chance on Kostas could be the kind of cheap move they are looking for before training camp starts up (and, by the way, the Bulls’ 15-man roster is currently full … so I’m assuming any interest would be for a training camp deal or possibly the team’s last remaining two-way slot).
But, again, I wouldn’t read too much into this story for now. Even if the Bulls did end up bringing in Kostas for a closer look, the chance of him having any kind of legitimate impact is extremely thin. That is, of course, unless he convinces Giannis to demand a trade to Chicago … then put his jersey in the freakin’ rafters!
