Following an injury that will sideline him through the start of their first playoff series, is Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s future with the Milwaukee Bucks in doubt?
It could all depend upon how the team performs without him, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
He broached the topic on an April 16 episode of Get Up on ESPN.
“If they lose in the first round, that’s a big statement right there, number one” Windhorst told Get Up hosts. “If they lose in the first round, the first person you’re worried about isn’t Dame. It’s Giannis. You wanna make sure Giannis is still committed.”
Antetokounmpo signed a three-year, $186-million extension in October of 2023. Whether or not he’ll suit up in the first round, and how effective he’ll be if he does, remains up in the air.
“And also, when you talk about this first round you gotta worry about where Giannis’ calf is,” Windhorst continued. “If he’s going to be 100-percent. But if they go down in the first round again, they have that disappointment back-to-back years, I’m not sure where Giannis is gonna be.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on April 15 that the Bucks are “preparing to be without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for the start of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Indiana Pacers.”
Change seems an inevitability in Milwaukee regardless.
Windhorst: ‘They’re Going to Have to Make Changes’
For the second summer in three years, the Bucks could be back at the drawing board and looking at blockbuster options. And it all could center around Damian Lillard.
“No matter what happens, this is a flawed roster,” Windhorst said on Get Up. The panacea that they thought Dame Lillard was going to be wasn’t the case. They’re going to have to make changes one way or another. And they’ve basically mortgaged their entire draft for the future. So they’re gonna have to get creative. And I do think it’s possible Dame could be looked at. But you gotta make sure Giannis is committed to it first.”
Damian Lillard has underwhelmed in his first season in Milwaukee.
In 73 appearances, he averaged 24.3 points, 7.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. Those numbers don’t stand out as poor.
But his shooting percentages from the field and from the three-point line both dropped.
And the Bucks’ win total did too, from 58 to 49.
Lillard will make $48.7-million next season, and much more in the two seasons following. Is he worth the investment Milwaukee made in sending Jrue Holiday, a first-round pick, and two first-round swaps?
It wouldn’t be the first time Windhorst was ahead of the curve.
Windhorst Successfully Predicted Donovan Mitchell Trade
Trust that when Brian Windhorst alludes to potential superstar trades, everyone listens.
From his days of following LeBron James, to his foreshadowing the Utah Jazz‘s infamous fire sale of 2022, he’s been at the center of landscape altering trades, often before anyone else.
But no scoop is more impressive than Windhorst predicting the Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers trade in 2022.
In a July 1, 2022 episode of ESPN’s First Take, the insider went viral for questioning “What’s going on in Utah?”
“There was a trade yesterday between the Utah Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets,” Windhorst told First Take. “A very strange trade…They traded Royce O’Neale, who is a role playing three-point defensive shooter, to Brooklyn for a future first-round draft pick…Why would the Jazz do that? Why would the Jazz, who have two stars on their roster, take a player who’s one of their starters, one of their best defensive players, and trade him in a salary-dumping move?…Why did Quin Snyder walk away from that job?…What’s going on in Utah?”
Less than a month later, in July of 2022, Utah traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Two months after that, in September of 2022, they traded Mitchell to the Cavaliers.
Will the same be said of Giannis Anteotkounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks?
How the team fares in the upcoming playoffs could prove the deciding moment for the franchise face and his future.
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