Since becoming NBA champions back in 2021, the Milwakuee Bucks have not come close to the mountaintop since then.
In the last three postseasons, the Bucks have failed to even reach the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2022, they lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics. In 2023, they were upset by the eighth seed Miami Heat in the first round. In 2024, they flamed out in the first round again, losing to the Indiana Pacers in six games.
Milwaukee has dealt with injuries in their last three playoff runs and that has to be taken into account, but not coming close to championship contention has made their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo restless. The All-NBA forward will reportedly start looking elsewhere if the Bucks continue on this path.
Giannis Antetokounmpo must demand a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks.
Antetokounmpo has made it clear that he does not want to end his career with one championship, and whenever he has seemed unhappy, the Bucks do something in order to make him happy. They traded Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard. They fired Adrian Griffin and brought in Doc Rivers. Yet none of that has worked.
The Bucks have one of the NBA’s oldest rosters, as they are the sixth-oldest team in the league this year. The problem with that is that they do not have ample depth or assets to trade in order to get younger or improve the depth around Antetokounmpo.
This season, Milwaukee only has a +1.4 net rating. That is good enough for 11th in the NBA, but when Antetokounmpo leaves the floor, the Bucks have a -3.5 net rating. Their offensive rating plummeted to 111.1, which would put them in the bottom ten of the NBA.
At least in their championship season in 2021, Milwaukee had an offensive rating of 115.8 with Antetokounmpo, compared to 117.5 with him. The depth has gotten markedly worse since then.
The Bucks simply don't have enough to win a championship and keep Giannis happy.
This season, the Bucks did trade Khris Middleton to get out of the second apron crunch they were in, but in order to do so, they acquired…Kyle Kuzma? Kuzma is a far cry from efficient offensive days with the Lakers and while he is younger than Middleton and allows for Milwaukee to be more athletic on the wing, is he really a championship-level third option?
The Bucks’ lack of competent wings on their roster is what has hurt them this season, as the guys outside of Taurean Prince are less than promising. Gary Trent Jr. has been a nice floor spacer for them but is not the defender he was in Portland, as Milwaukee has a defensive rating of 117.9 with him on the court.
Pat Connaughton is having one of the worst seasons of his career, Andre Jackson is a great defender but lacks a consistent shot, and Bobby Portis just got suspended for the next 25 games. The depth outside of Lillard and Antetokounmpo is not where it should be in order to contend in the East, and the Bucks have no assets to trade in order to improve unless they decide to move on from one of their superstars.
With the East only getting tougher with the Celtics, Cavaliers, and Knicks on top, and with other teams on the rise in the Pacers, Magic, and Pistons, an older Bucks squad may not be able to keep up. Antetokounmpo is right in wanting to look elsewhere and if Milwaukee flames out in the playoffs again, they could be in for a long offseason.