It may be time for the Milwaukee Bucks to realize that they must trade Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason.
The Milwaukee Bucks franchise is in major trouble. The Bucks embraced going all-in year after year in hopes of delivering a championship to the city in the Giannis Antetokounmpo era. It's something they managed to accomplish four years ago. However, as they stare down a 3-1 series deficit against the Indiana Pacers and the very real reality of losing three-straight years in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it's becoming pretty clear that they're in a major rut.
A rut that won't be easy to get out of. In fact, there's a fair argument that the only way the Bucks can get out of their own way heading into the offseason is by trading Giannis Antetokounmpo. There are some who will believe this is an outrageous statement to make. However, when you look at the circumstances the Bucks find themselves in, it's a very fair take.
The Milwaukee Bucks are in a messy situation
Here are the facts that face the Bucks heading into the offseason. They don't own their own first-round pick until 2031. They are in salary cap hell with $130 million due to Lillard, Giannis, and Kyle Kuzma next season and $138 million due to those three the following season. They will have no salary cap space and no natural way to upgrade the roster. To add to all of those unfortunate circumstances, the Bucks also don't have any promising young players on their roster.
The injury to Lillard, which is believed to be a torn Achilles tendon, only complicates this team's future even further. Not only will the Bucks not have a clear path toward upgrading the roster this summer, but they won't even have a very competitive roster next season (assuming Lillard misses the entire year).
Trading Giannis, as much as the team may not want to do, seems like the only clear path toward salvaging this franchise at the moment. If the Bucks were to trade Giannis, the return would be substantial enough that they would get a fresh start as a franchise. The return for Giannis could be historic. We're talking about 4-5 first-round picks (at least) and perhaps even some young talent attached to that draft capital.
It's the type of move a team is generally forced into making, but the Bucks would be getting ahead of that possibility by pulling the trigger this offseason. In turn, that would make a supposed bidding war even that much more promising for Milwaukee.
The Bucks went all-in and won a championship. Now it's time to begin to clean up the mess and put the franchise back in good standing. Unfortunately, it's going to come at the cost of Giannis. Sometimes, that's just the cost of doing business at a championship level.