The future of Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Milwaukee Bucks is one of the NBA’s most pressing questions as he continues to play at an MVP level, but the roster around him has regressed since they won the title in 2021.
“Giannis has been just awesome this season,” said Brian Windhorst on Wednesday’s Hoop Collective Podcast. “He’s clearly understood that they’re challenged. And he has cut the BS out of his game and cut the fat out of his game and tried doing everything he can to carry this team. And they’re just not good enough. And what is he supposed to do? This is the elephant in the room in the league right now. This team is losing tens of millions of dollars.”
Further complicating the Bucks’ ability to remake the roster around him is the pending free agency of Brook Lopez and ongoing second apron concerns.
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks most recently signed a three-year, $186 million extension in October 2023 following their trade for Damian Lillard. Antetokounmpo has a player option for the 2027 offseason. Antetokounmpo also signed his supermax during the 2020 offseason after the Bucks acquired Jrue Holiday and they went on to win a title.
“And the other thing I’ll say is from talking to people in and around Milwaukee, Giannis has given no indication throughout this entire season that he is not 100% focused on maximizing what the Bucks have,” added Windhorst. “This is people in the league looking at the lay of the land, not anything that Giannis has said to anybody.”
The Bucks attempted to get younger at the trade deadline by trading Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma. However, Kuzma has struggled to make an impact on the Bucks.