Thanasis Antetokounmpo is officially returning to the NBA. The 31-year-old forward missed the entire 2024-25 season due to a torn Achilles, and now he confirmed his availability on Tuesday. He is all fit and ready to resume his basketball journey.

Cleared to return after a year-long Achilles injury, the former Bucks forward is ready for an NBA comeback in the 2025–26 season.

In return, Brooklyn has a healthy list of first-round draft picks, including four in June (Nos. 8, 19, 26 and 27) and plenty in the future from teams like the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and all of its own. The Nets can almost compete with the Thunder in draft compensation, but no one else has the salary flexibility like Brooklyn.

The NBA will unveil this season’s Most Valuable Player on Wednesday night. The winner will be Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The 2024-25 NBA MVP award will be announced on May 21 at 4 p.m. MST on TNT, the NBA announced. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets big Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo are the three finalists.

Despite another first-round exit, the Eastern Conference playoffs as a whole have proven the Bucks are not far away from getting back into contention.

SportsLine's model simulated New York vs. Indiana 10,000 times and revealed its NBA picks for Wednesday's 2025 Eastern Conference finals matchup

He did so by being the quintessential lead man of the Showtime Lakers' fast break, which is considered the greatest of all time. He pushed the ball upcourt with reckless abandon, but he also used his 6-foot-9 frame to his advantage in the paint, especially when the game slowed down.