Milwaukee Bucks: What’s next for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

After a sixth season which saw him post eye-popping, MVP-caliber numbers for the Milwaukee Bucks, what can Giannis Antetokounmpo do to return an even better player in 2019-20?

The Milwaukee Bucks‘ season has been over for more than two weeks. Since losing four straight games to the Toronto Raptors after taking a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, news coming out of Fiserv Forum has been fairly quiet. Despite a promising season for the Bucks, everyone is now in offseason mode.

Entering what will go down as one of the most important offseasons in franchise history, a lot of pressure to get Milwaukee over the hump and into the NBA Finals falls on Giannis Antetokounmpo. The sixth-year veteran led his team to its first 60-win season since 1981. Winning 10 of their first 11 games this postseason, the Bucks appeared to be a force to be reckoned with. A large chunk of that credit goes to Antetokounmpo.

With that being said, the Greek Freak has some work to do if he wants to reach the Finals. Despite posting some gaudy numbers this season and putting himself in position to contend for his first MVP award, his lack of ability when it came to spacing the floor ended up hurting Milwaukee against Toronto. A consensus top-10 player in the league (and top-five by most accounts), what’s next for Antetokounmpo?

Where Giannis can hang his hat

First and foremost, Antetokounmpo doesn’t have many holes in his game. He’s elite in many areas and excels at anything non-shooting related. He’s one of the best players in the league for a reason.

Averaging 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, he finished third in the NBA in scoring, sixth in rebounding and just inside the top 30 in assists this year, Giannis is a tantalizing offensive talent. Converting on 57.8 percent of his field goal attempts, this type of efficiency is unparalleled for a non-center. The addition of head coach Mike Budenholzer unlocked the key to an even better Antetokounmpo: placing shooters and floor-spacers around him on offense.

In addition to being an elite offensive player, one could make an argument for Antetokoumpo being the best defender in the NBA. Recording 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game this season, he was always an active part of Milwaukee’s defensive efforts.

Advanced stats echo that sentiment. ESPN‘s Defensive Real Plus-Minus ranked Antetokounmpo 12th among all players — and fourth among power forwards. NBA.com’s Defensive Rating had him in a first-place tie with Utah’s Joe Ingles among starters who played at least half a season’s worth of games. In terms of Defensive Win Shares, Antetokounmpo paced the league by a comfortable margin.

Areas for improvement

At this point in his still young career, there aren’t too many areas in which the Greek Freak struggles. The only glaring weakness is his shooting from deep. After making 30.7 percent of his attempts from 3-point land a year ago, that number dropped to 25.6 percent in 2018-19. In order to unlock the next level of his game and truly cement himself as one of the top three or so players in the league, Antetokounmpo will need to display some consistency from beyond the arc.

This will come with experience and age (he’s is still just 24 years old, believe it or not), but becoming a smarter ball-handler and facilitator will help him in tough situations. Once the Raptors changed their defensive game plan and made a concerted effort to make the superstar uncomfortable, he missed some opportunities and made a few costly turnovers.

Other than that, there isn’t too much you can point out and call for Antetokounmpo to improve upon. Traditional numbers will likely rise as his career trajectory does, but overall, 3-point shooting and decision-making are about the only two weaknesses he has. The latter may not even be considered a weakness.

In summary

Whether it was his 44 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in December or his nine-point, 3-for-12 shooting effort just two nights later, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a historic 2018-19 season. As the only player in NBA history to post a season averaging at least 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists per game while shooting at least 57 percent from the field, he was exemplary.

The positives more than outweighed the negatives. If Antetokounmpo can improve his long range shot, he’ll be virtually unstoppable on offense. Double-teaming him may not work as he gains experience, and sagging off him could also end up costing defenses should his shot become reliable.

If Antetokounmpo didn’t work on a single thing this offseason and returned the same exact player in October, he’d still put up video game numbers. With a strong work ethic and a good head on his shoulders, to assume stagnation would be extremely risky (to say the least).

Here’s to a new-and-improved version of Giannis Antetokoumpo taking the NBA by storm next season.