A concerning detail about Damian Lillard's and Giannis Antetokounmpo's offseason activities should have Milwaukee Bucks fans up in arms.
After making the bold move for Damian Lillard days before the start of NBA Training Camp last year, their first season of the Lillard experience was a disappointment. Partly due to injury, the Bucks' season flamed out in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. But even when healthy, the Bucks never seemed right. They went through a mid-season coaching change and more often than not, Lillard never looked completely comfortable in the offense.
The hope is that with a full offseason in the system, that will change heading into the 2024-25 NBA season. Of course, there's only one problem with that. Lillard admitted at Bucks media day that he and Giannis weren't able to work out together this offseason. Lillard did attempt to clarify by saying their schedules didn't let up and they had the intention of doing so.
But for a team that did have some chemistry issues throughout the season, the fact that Lillard and Giannis weren't able to build cohesion with each other during the summer is far from ideal. And, in fact, it does naturally make you question this team a tiny bit more heading into the start of the season.
The Milwaukee Bucks have one season to figure it out
For a team that was already entering the season with questions, this is only going to add more doubt to the Bucks' chances of reemerging this year as a legit championship contender in the Eastern Conference.
If you're trying to be positive, I suppose the spin zone is that both Lillard and Giannis are veterans and should figure it out. They did play one season together and it's hard to imagine that their chemistry is going to look worse this year - even without having worked on it during the offseason.
And maybe it does end up working out. Maybe the Bucks are able to work through the issues they had last season in training camp and this team looks like a completely different squad this year.
But if they don't, there's no question that this revelation could end up hurting both Lillard and Giannis in the future. It's way too early to doom the Bucks, but this is something to keep in the back of our minds heading into the start of the season.