When Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the customer’s locker room at Crypto.com Enviornment in Los Angeles on Jan. 9, he beamed at what he noticed ready for him: a signed purple No. 23 LeBron James jersey.
“Oh s—,” Antetokounmpo stated, holding it within the air.
He put the jersey on and flexed.
“Oh yeah,” stated Kevin Porter Jr., stopping in the midst of his postgame interview. “That is a pleasant one.”
Kyle Kuzma shook his head at Antetokounmpo’s antics from throughout the room.
“That is greatness,” Antetokounmpo stated.
He turned to his longtime teammate Bobby Portis. “One of the best half,” he advised him, “Look in my brother’s locker.” Inside Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s locker was a signed purple No. 9 jersey from Bronny James, matching the one Giannis obtained from the youthful James final 12 months.
It was a lightweight second for a Bucks staff attempting to salvage what has usually been a morose season.
“We can’t be snug. We will not be complacent proper now,” Antetokounmpo stated after the sport. “We obtained to maintain on pushing, pushing [the] envelope, put our foot on the pedal and carry on transferring ahead. We’ve not achieved something, proper? So, that is the time earlier than the break, in January, that you simply obtained to fill up wins.”
Lower than every week later, again dwelling in Milwaukee, the locker room was noticeably extra somber.
The Bucks had adopted up a motivational win at Los Angeles with losses in back-to-back video games, together with an embarrassing 33-point defeat to a Minnesota Timberwolves staff with out Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert on Tuesday night time.
The Bucks’ effort was so uninspiring that their dwelling followers booed as they walked off the ground, trailing 76-45 on the break. Antetokounmpo took it personally. Within the third quarter, he responded in form, booing his dwelling followers again after changing an and-1 and heading to the road.
It was maybe the obvious signal of a rising disconnect between the most effective participant in franchise historical past and the one staff he has identified — as reviews proceed to swirl about his long-term future in Milwaukee.
By the point Antetokounmpo walked into the locker room after a postgame carry and a go to with the staff’s athletic trainers, solely Portis and infrequently used reserve Andre Jackson Jr. remained.
Then the two-time MVP spoke once more.
“Possibly my voice is only a damaged document and guys are drained [of hearing it],” he stated. “Guys may are inclined to do what they need to do. I do not know, however as a pacesetter, it would not matter. Being a pacesetter is like the identical factor as being a dad.
“After I was 15 and my dad was telling me stuff, I did not understand what he was speaking about till I used to be like 21, 22. And then you definately return and also you’re ‘Oh, that is what he meant.’ However we do not have seven years.”
For weeks, Antetokounmpo has been publicly and privately emphasizing the necessity for urgency.
Since Antetokounmpo returned from damage Dec. 27, the Bucks are 5-5, within the midst of a three-game dropping streak and caught in eleventh place within the East at 17-24.
“This isn’t what we deliberate on,” Rivers advised ESPN. “However groups undergo stuff. We had accidents. Denver’s going via accidents proper now. Oklahoma’s went 6-6 within the final 12 video games. It is a lengthy season. Everyone overreacts exterior the staff. No person inside overreacts.”
Nonetheless, regardless of Rivers’ protestation, the exterior noise has continued to develop across the league, with groups questioning how far the Bucks should fall earlier than they attain a breaking level. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in December that if the Bucks proceed to slip, discussions between Antetokounmpo’s illustration and the franchise might escalate.
The Bucks have held agency on their stance that Antetokounmpo is not going to be made accessible earlier than the deadline, and staff sources advised ESPN they’re scouring the marketplace for an affect participant to pair with their famous person.
“We all the time handle to tug one thing off,” a staff supply advised ESPN.
However the stakes are rising with every sport they fail to make any upward motion within the standings. Milwaukee is dealing with one of the essential transaction intervals in franchise historical past, with an opportunity to both salvage a disappointing season or pivot into a completely new period.
With three weeks to go earlier than the commerce deadline, Giannis’ future stays in flux. Listed below are 4 potential methods this deadline might go for the Bucks and their star.
Stand pat and play out the 2025-26 season
Milwaukee crafted a staff that was designed to maximise the strengths of their 31-year-old famous person, spreading the ground with 3-point taking pictures (the Bucks are second within the NBA in 3-point proportion) with a rim-protecting, stretch middle to reap the benefits of Antetokounmpo’s dominance contained in the paint.
With Antetokounmpo within the lineup, the Bucks are 14-13, a .518 successful proportion that may bump them as much as eighth within the East.
So, it was no shock to Rivers that they gained 4 of their first 5 video games following his return.
“Properly yeah, Giannis is again,” Rivers stated. “We’re beginning to run our stuff higher. Guys are understanding their roles higher.”
The Bucks have leaned on their optimistic document with Antetokounmpo and the truth that Porter Jr. missed 18 video games after getting injured through the first quarter on opening night time as causes for his or her continued optimism. Porter Jr. has been inconsistent since his return, averaging 18.0 factors and seven.7 assists on 45% on the season however with 3.4 turnovers. He is been one of many least environment friendly gamers in isolation all season, taking pictures 18.5% on isolation performs, which is seventh worst amongst certified gamers.
However the two have performed effectively collectively. Going into Thursday’s sport at San Antonio, in 273 minutes with each on the ground this season, the staff has a internet score of plus-20, the seventh-best score of any two-man combo within the league with at the least 250 minutes performed.
General, the Bucks nonetheless soar with Antetokounmpo on the courtroom. Going into Thursday, they had been scoring 125.9 factors per 100 possessions with Antetokounmpo on the ground, which might be the most effective offensive score within the league. Defensively, they’re giving up 116.4 factors per 100 possessions with the previous Defensive Participant of the 12 months, nearly the identical as their 116.2 mark this season that ranks twentieth within the league.
It lends credence to the imaginative and prescient Bucks normal supervisor Jon Horst laid out throughout a gathering over the summer time in Greece with Antetokounmpo and his representatives. The architect of the 2021 NBA championship expressed confidence within the roster he constructed, surrounding the nine-time All-Star with taking pictures, area and a extra switchable, versatile protection.
“We’re extra in our place for the staff to be essentially the most profitable,” guard Ryan Rollins stated final week. “The extra we play in these [roles] and in these conditions, these lineups, the higher we’re … simply enjoying round Giannis and conditions like that.”
Improve on the margins
Bucks executives watched carefully as Atlanta shipped Trae Younger to Washington final week in a deal that didn’t embody any decide swaps.
One among Milwaukee’s largest property this commerce season is its monetary flexibility; the Bucks should not within the tax for the primary time for the reason that 2019-20 season and never onerous capped at both apron, placing them in place to amass a participant with a number of years remaining on his contract.
It is the place rival executives see the most important probability for alternative in Milwaukee. The Bucks can settle for a bigger contract with a number of years past this season that an opposing staff could be attempting to get out from below, comparable to Miami’s Andrew Wiggins, who owns a $30 million participant possibility for subsequent season, or Charlotte’s Miles Bridges, who will make $22.8 million within the 2026-27 season, staff and league sources advised ESPN.
ESPN additionally reported final month a number of the gamers the Bucks have mentioned who might match this course, together with Sacramento’s Zach LaVine and Malik Monk in addition to Portland’s Jerami Grant.
Milwaukee is trying to handle its largest difficulty all season: It’s a catastrophe every time Antetokounmpo isn’t on the courtroom. Sunday is a chief instance, because the Bucks misplaced 108-104 in Denver to a frisky Nuggets staff lacking its famous person, Nikola Jokic.
Milwaukee outscored Denver by 16 factors within the 33 minutes with Antetokounmpo on the ground. The Bucks had been outscored by 20 within the quarter-hour with their famous person on the bench.
“Why ought to we all the time be enjoying from behind? Why?” Antetokounmpo requested as he assessed the staff’s struggles when he sat. “And when now we have a lead, why will we all the time have to present it up? We obtained to have the ability to be mature, get the correct shot, do not be snug with any lead that we get and perceive how we obtained to play.”
They’re 3-11 with out Antetokounmpo within the lineup this season. Their offensive effectivity drops to 107.6 with out their star participant, which might be the worst mark within the NBA. Their protection will get solely barely worse, giving up 118.7 factors per 100 possessions, however that may be one of many five-worst marks within the league.
A number of staff sources have emphasised to ESPN that the Bucks have been aggressive on the commerce market, looking for a possible improve to their roster now and keep away from losing a 12 months of Antetokounmpo’s prime.
Nonetheless, the Bucks have restricted assets accessible to tug off even the smallest transfer. They’ve 11 gamers making between $2.2 million and $5.1 million and their three largest tradeable contracts — Myles Turner ($25.3 million, however within the first 12 months of a four-year contract), Bobby Portis ($13.5 million with a participant possibility in 2028) and Kyle Kuzma ($21.8 million subsequent season) — are key members of an already skinny rotation.
Create an even bigger shake-up
Rivers supplied a proof for why his staff was drubbed by a short-handed Minnesota staff this week. It was the staff’s first contest following a four-game, eight-day West Coast highway journey and the one dwelling sport earlier than they left for the highway once more Thursday. Rivers believed the staff was affected by lifeless legs.
His star participant rejected the excuse and identified what he noticed because the hole between the Bucks and the groups close to the highest of the standings.
“Taking part in onerous. Taking part in the correct means. Taking part in selfless basketball, which we do not,” Antetokounmpo stated. “These three issues are necessary. I do know they’re necessary so that you can win, however proper now, there’s so many issues that we are able to do higher.
“However let’s simply begin by … can we simply play more durable? Can we simply play the correct means? Can we create [an] benefit for the following participant? Can we simply play for our teammates, play for the staff, play for ourselves? Let’s begin with that. And I feel the whole lot else will observe.”
Following Milwaukee’s championship in 2021, Horst has been unafraid of constructing important shake-ups over the previous few seasons whereas attempting to get essentially the most out of the staff round Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer after dropping within the first spherical within the 2023 playoffs. Horst acquired Damian Lillard days earlier than coaching camp within the 2023-24 season however waived him in July, months after he suffered a torn Achilles. It allowed the Bucks to signal Turner this summer time. And maybe his most daring transfer got here in January 2024, when regardless of a 30-13 document, a Bucks staff with championship aspirations fired coach Adrian Griffin.
They turned to Rivers, a coach with a championship, who was identified for his expertise managing stars. Nonetheless, the Rivers period in Milwaukee has been a large disappointment. In three seasons heading into Thursday, the staff is 82-76 (.519 successful proportion) with a pair of first-round exits. And the Bucks haven’t got many life like avenues to dramatically alter their roster to pair Antetokounmpo with one other star participant.
Along with their monetary flexibility, the Bucks have one first-round draft decide accessible to commerce, in both 2031 or 2032. They’ve been cautious in current commerce discussions of constructing that decide accessible, and rival executives advised ESPN they consider the Bucks will solely accomplish that to amass a star. However no clear goal has emerged for Milwaukee, and it is unclear if any participant of that magnitude will probably be moved subsequent month.
“We’re searching for the following man,” a staff supply advised ESPN.
The Bucks can even be higher positioned to make a serious acquisition this summer time. On draft night time, they may have as many as three tradeable first-round picks accessible in 2026, 2031 and 2033.
“Sooner or later, you are simply digging deeper and deeper,” an Japanese Convention government stated. “There may not be gentle on the finish of the tunnel. It’d simply be a gap.”
Commerce Giannis … and launch right into a full rebuild
Essentially the most excessive possibility on the desk, buying and selling Antetokounmpo, is one Bucks executives have proven no indication of entertaining.
“A commerce like this normally takes greater than three weeks to construct,” an Japanese Convention government stated.
On prime of the complexity of a potential commerce, the market, even for a participant of Antetokounmpo’s caliber, has cooled this season with former All-Star Trae Younger being dealt for Corey Kispert and guard CJ McCollum.
“I am simply undecided who the staff is that may be keen to go all-in proper now for him,” an East scout stated. “Groups need to maintain onto their playing cards till the summer time.”
However this season’s actuality may power their arms. The Bucks thought they’d ascend when Antetokounmpo returned, however as a substitute they’ve stagnated. Milwaukee nonetheless hasn’t recorded a three-game successful streak this season, one in all solely six groups (Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz) to fail to take action. And in consequence, the Bucks have not made up any floor within the Japanese Convention.
They’re nearer to the Hornets at No. 12 than they’re of the No. 8-seeded Miami Warmth (4 video games again) — removed from the championship normal Antetokounmpo has set for the staff and for what he desires for the rest of his profession.
League sources have advised ESPN they consider Antetokounmpo must put important stress on the Bucks to power a commerce. Nonetheless, as a league supply reiterated to ESPN, Antetokounmpo values his standing in Milwaukee and would not need to alienate the fan base by requesting to go away.
Nonetheless, when requested about his future, Antetokounmpo has repeatedly confirmed his dedication to the Bucks. However he is additionally repeatedly left himself an out — giving himself the chance to vary his thoughts, and the Bucks’ future with it.
