The Milwaukee Bucks have yet again been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Their playoff failure wasn’t entirely on them, as Damian Lillard’s ACL tear pretty much sealed their fate.
However, not advancing past the first round for the third straight year is not a good look and casts much doubt on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future with the team. ESPN’s Bobby Marks revealed what he believes is the Bucks’ next step with Antetokounmpo.
“The offseason, when you lose, is asking about hard questions,” Marks said on ESPN’s NBA Today. “And there’s two hard questions that Giannis and the Bucks are going to ask for Giannis. It’s how does this roster get better? And then, if it’s Milwaukee, do we need to pivot from Giannis?
On top of Damian Lillard’s injury, Marks explained why the Bucks are out of options and what he thinks that means for Antetokounmpo.
“They have one tradable first-round pick in 2031 or 2032, and then the third thing is their future free agents this offseason. They created financial flexibility… that flexibility is probably now earmarked towards Gary Trent Jr., Bobby Portis, Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince, Kevin Porter Jr., Pat Connaughton… and eventually, the cycle ends, and you run out of options. And unfortunately, I think the time has ended in Milwaukee here with Giannis on this roster.”
The Bucks would love to build a title contender around Antetokounmpo, but it’s hard to look at their situation and think of what can be done to vault them back to contention. At this point, trading Antetokounmpo might be their best option.
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Marks was once an NBA executive, having been as assistant general manager with the Brooklyn Nets before transitioning to ESPN in 2017.
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