Milwaukee Bucks: Why Giannis Antetokounmpo Signals a Rebuild
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the type of prospect draftnicks and talking heads alike always seem to drool over. The 6’9″ 19-year-old from Greece absolutely oozes with potential. He has dominated inferior competition with a 7’3″ wingspan that enables him to defend four positions at a high level and his ball-handling and playmaking skills are absolutely incredible for a player his size. Some have compared him favorably to guys such as Trady McGrady, Nicolas Batum and even (gulp) Kevin Durant. Antetokounmpo may be a scout’s dream, but for the Milwaukee Bucks it signals a change of plans. And for a front office deciding on a roster full of players in flux, the decision to draft the Greek phenom may be the start of a complete rebuild in Milwaukee.
The worst place to be in the NBA for a franchise is right smack-dab in the middle and after sneaking as an eighth seed into the Eastern Conference playoffs and basically being relegated to cannon fodder for the world champion Miami Heat, it became abundantly clear that the Bucks weren’t good enough to contend and weren’t bad enough to get a high-end lottery talent in the NBA Draft. Brandon Jennings enters this offseason as a restricted free agent looking for a big deal. Monta Ellis, his backcourt mate, is unrestricted and already turned down a deal that would pay him in the $10 million per season range. Milwaukee made a trade during the regular season to acquire J.J. Redick, but his impending free agency looms as well. The only real building blocks on the Milwaukee roster are shot blocker Larry Sanders (who has Defensive Player of the Year potential) and sweet-shooting forward Ersan Ilyasova (Dirk Nowitzki Lite).
Giannis Antetokounmpo, despite all the potential and all the physical gifts he possesses, isn’t ready. He doesn’t have the build to endure the punishment of an 82-game NBA season and no one knows exactly how he’d fare against elite competition. Giannis looks great on tape, but he spent last season in the basketball equivalent of Class-A ball. A team looking to take another step forward in the postseason and make some type of leap into contention can’t afford to draft a player who will not contribute immediately and Antetokounmpo is years away from making any real impact at the NBA level. What does it all mean? Milwaukee may be ready to part ways with all its major free agents and allow them to sign elsewhere, freeing up cap space and building around a talented, young and uniquely skilled frontcourt.
Sometimes you just need to concede defeat in a plan and take a step back before you can make a leap forward. By drafting Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee has done just that, essentially waving the white flag on a Brandon Jennings/Monta Ellis core. The youth movement starts now and there’s hope for a much brighter future in Milwaukee. Until then, expect a return to the lottery for a team that has consistently had trouble signing free agents and hasn’t been bad enough to land a true, franchise talent in the NBA draft since Ray Allen. With some serious talent coming out of the NCAA in 2014, the Bucks may be aligning themselves to do just that.