On Friday night, the Milwaukee Bucks went down 3-0 in their playoff series against the Miami Heat. However, prior to game three, rumors of an even more significant loss for the Bucks began to circulate throughout the NBA.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports reported about it being an “open secret” in the Orlando bubble that Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking at the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors as front-runners in the upcoming bidding war for the reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. The idea of Giannis leaving Milwaukee has been speculated about for years now. For many, according to Zach Lowe, the impression was that he would like to stay and win a championship with the Bucks.
“The vibe everybody gets from Giannis, and this is all second, third-hand whatever… is that he probably would like to stay.” Lowe Said, “I think he likes Milwaukee. He met his partner in Milwaukee. He has a son now in Milwaukee. I think he likes being the best player on a team and having it be his team. It’s clearly his team. But I think the case for the Bucks all along, and I think they would be honest about this if you asked them about it, the case for them all along has been winning. Winning championships. The ability to win championships. That’s the case for almost every star player.”
Fast forward to today, and it is hard to imagine why Giannis might want to stay. For the last three seasons, there has been an incredible amount of pressure on the young star to lead his team to a championship. Even before the Bucks had a championship-worthy roster, the Greek Freak was given an expectation to compete for the Larry O’Brien when Tyler Zeller and John Henson were splitting postseason starts. Since then, Milwaukee has done little to build a championship team around their star.
Milwaukee Bucks
It’s fair to argue that while the 2019-20 Milwaukee Bucks had an impressive regular season, the team regressed from the year prior. One glaring mistake for the Milwaukee Bucks was their unwillingness to enter into the NBA’s luxury tax to bring back Malcolm Brogdon. Instead, Milwaukee chose to bring back guard Eric Bledsoe on a 4 year $70 million extension.
The move to sign Bledsoe may have been accelerated so the Bucks could focus on re-signing Kris Middleton. But, this postseason letting Brogdon walk is becoming inexcusable for the Bucks in their pursuit of a championship.
Why is this postseason significant though? As stated earlier, the Bucks are now a game away from losing to the Miami Heat in the playoffs. The Heat have proved to be one of Milwaukee’s toughest matchup throughout the year. Erik Spoelstra has been impressive in his game plans for Giannis, throwing defenders like Jae Crowder, Jimmy Butler, and Andre Igoudala at him. The smaller defenders have often been able to draw offensive fouls on Antetokounmpo and get the MVP in foul trouble. Antetokounmpo has the entire Bucks offense in his hands, and due to the lack of help he sometimes forces things, leading to his league-leading 76 offensive fouls.
Malcolm Brogdon
The lack of offense from the Milwaukee Bucks supporting cast is what makes the loss of Malcolm Brogdon so much worse. Brogdon faced the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs and averaged 21 points per game and 10 assists per game.
Much of Brogdon’s production came off the dribble and driving to the basket. Brogdon led the NBA in assists off of a drive and was 5th best in points driving to the hoop. The way Malcolm Brogdon was able to create offense in his matchup against this same team is something the Bucks could use and is something Eric Bledsoe is not bringing.
Choosing Bledsoe over Brogdon is still a perplexing decision that the Bucks made. Malcolm Brogdon came off of an impressive season, even achieving the elusive 50-40-90 season by shooting over 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the free throw line. Their stat lines were nearly identical in the 2018-19 season, but the consistency and ability to create offense by Malcolm Brogdon should make him the choice or a reason to find a way to keep both.
Front Office Errors
With moves like this, it is necessary to ask; Why would Giannis Antetokounmpo want to stay in Milwaukee? The Bucks have made multiple roster errors and failed to build a championship team. Mike Budenholzer has failed to make postseason adjustments once again in another playoff series, and it has cost his team.
As great as the Greek Freak is and has been he deserves more help and creativity in offensive sets. The Bucks lack of offensive creativity flashes in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s league-leading 76 offensive fouls (21 higher than the second-place player). Milwaukee has failed to remove the offensive burden from their MVP, and devoting so much money to Kris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe has put them into this position. …down 3-0 in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, and likely about to lose their MVP and franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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