Historically in the NBA Playoffs, teams that go down 2-0 in a series are pretty much dead. Statistically speaking, teams that are up 2-0 in an NBA playoff series go on to advance more than 90 percent of the time. For the Milwaukee Bucks, who find themselves in a 2-0 series hole against the Indiana Pacers, the writing may already be on the wall for how their season is going to end.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, it won't be a foreign one to them. Over the last two years, the Bucks have lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs on each occasion. If they were to go on to lose their first-round playoff series against the Pacers, this would be a third-straight season in which they suffer such an early postseason exit.
Losing in the first round of the playoffs would be devastating for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. A player as talented and great as Giannis is, he should not be losing in the first round of the playoffs in three straight years. That's unacceptable. So much so that there are already rumblings that the Bucks' lack of success could wear on Giannis that he could consider demanding a trade away from the team.
Because of Milwaukee's failures of late, even NBA insider Chris Haynes is at the point where he no longer believes Giannis is going to finish his career with the Bucks. He also noted that the Bucks could elect to trade Giannis and make some big changes this offseason if they do end up losing in the first round of the playoffs again.
Is the league expecting a Giannis trade this offseason?
Interestingly enough, it's not just Haynes where the Giannis trade whispers or smoke is coming from. It's been recently reported that the Brooklyn Nets intend to strongly pursue Giannis in a trade this offseason. Whether the Bucks will even entertain such offers remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to watch it all play out, especially if it does become clear that the Bucks don't have a clear path toward retooling around Giannis.
That could be the Bucks' biggest issue heading into the offseason. Milwaukee has no cap space, no draft picks for the foreseeable future, not many tradable salaries on their books, and no young players that they can expect to develop into big contributors in the future. In many ways, the Bucks may be stuck.
The Bucks are still going to be somewhat relevant because they have Giannis. But what good is it to have Giannis on the roster if they can't properly build around him? That's what the Bucks will have to weigh this offseason.