The Milwaukee Bucks have been NBA title contenders, on at least some level, for the past seven seasons, dating to their 60-win season in 2018-19. This qualifies as an outsize window in the modern era, where repeater taxes and aprons have been installed to make this sort of run a real challenge.
But most importantly, the Bucks won a championship in 2021 and validated everything and everyone. Having said that, they have lost steam. They’ve exited in the first round of the playoffs in three consecutive years and haven’t made it past the second round since the title run. They have traded their first-round pick or its swap rights for the next six years and traded their second-round selection for the next six years, hampering their ability to restock the roster.
Over the past four years, they have paid about $940 million in salaries and luxury taxes and won one playoff series. In April, their chances were submarined by Damian Lillard’s devastating torn left Achilles. The Bucks will pay him $54 million next season uncertain how much he will be able to contribute.
There is a lot in those three paragraphs. They don’t cry out for maintaining the status quo. The Bucks’ franchise player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is fully aware of the situation but has not taken any action.
The Bucks feel as if they have come to a crossroads: continue to build around Antetokounmpo despite their challenges or look for a new way forward. Here’s a look at both paths.
— Brian Windhorst
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Milwaukee’s options this summer
Three trades to build around Giannis
Giannis to: HOU | TOR | SA | DET | GS
What can the Bucks do this summer?
Nearly eight years ago, then-Cleveland Cavaliers GM David Griffin made a statement regarding LeBron James that resonates with the Bucks and Antetokounmpo.
“You’re basically charged with the legacy of Babe Ruth, and it’s our responsibility to allow that legacy to grow and evolve,” Griffin told The Vertical. “So it’s almost like a sacred trust that the kid gives you. He’s so good, in his own right, by himself, that he sort of mandates you have to be a title contender just by his presence alone … and if you don’t capitalize on the years he has left, then shame on us.”
The same philosophy applies to Bucks GM Jon Horst this offseason.
It would be easy for the Bucks to put Antetokounmpo on the trade market, especially in light of Lillard’s Achilles injury and consecutive losses in the first round. However, sources confirmed to ESPN that Milwaukee will be aggressively exploring options in free agency and trades to complement Antetokounmpo.
Due to the Khris Middleton-Kyle Kuzma swap before the February trade deadline, the Bucks can use the $14.1 million non-tax midlevel exception to sign free agent Gary Trent Jr. or a temporary guard replacement for Lillard. They also have the $5.1 million biannual exception available. It is unlikely that Milwaukee can retain free agent Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and also use both exceptions.
The Kuzma deal has also given the Bucks flexibility to use more than 100% of the traded player exception (taking back more salary) and aggregate contracts in a trade.
Pulling off a trade that impacts the roster presents a problem because 79% of the Bucks’ payroll is owed to Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Kuzma. The lone sizable contract is Pat Connaughton’s $9.4 million expiring salary. Because of a rule in the CBA, Milwaukee is not allowed to attach the contracts of AJ Green, Chris Livingston, Andre Jackson Jr. and Tyler Smith to Connaughton and bring back a player earning $25 million. To offset that rule, Milwaukee could add Lopez or Portis (if his player option is declined) in a sign-and-trade.
— Bobby Marks
Three trades to build around Giannis
1:37
Stephen A.: Giannis will have underachieved if he doesn’t win another title
Stephen A. Smith breaks down why winning another championship is crucial for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Wendell Carter Jr.
Ayo Dosunmu
Jett Howard
Orlando Magic get:
Pat Connaughton
Jalen Smith
Jevon Carter
2031 first-round pick
2032 first-round pick swap (with Milwaukee)
Chicago Bulls get:
Kyle Kuzma
Andre Jackson Jr.
2031 second-round pick
More than any team in the league, the Bucks should be ready to get involved if some of these clubs begin trimming salary and parting ways with talented players. One that would be a perfect fit, particularly if the Bucks don’t bring back Lopez: Kristaps Porzingis from Boston. It’s difficult to imagine the teams working out a deal, but keep in mind that Jrue Holiday found his way to Boston after Milwaukee dealt him to the Portland Trail Blazers initially.
With regards to the proposed deal above, this would obviously be quite a gamble to get out from under the Kuzma deal, given that it would essentially empty Milwaukee’s draft cupboard. But it also answers some immediate questions for the Bucks in terms of who holds down Lillard’s spot while he rehabs and who replaces the aging, free agent Lopez in the middle. Milwaukee’s defense improves — perhaps considerably — with these moves, making the club younger and giving it more upside.
Chicago, likely to hand ball handler Josh Giddey a big deal this summer, might be fine getting a return for Dosunmu as his deal gets closer to winding down. And Orlando parts ways with Carter (handing the reins to Goga Bitadze) but gets back some draft capital after paying handsomely, to the tune of four first-rounders and a swap, to acquire Desmond Bane from Memphis earlier this week.
— Chris Herring
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Cameron Johnson
Brooklyn Nets get:
Kyle Kuzma
2031 first-round pick
2032 first-round pick swap
Given the Bucks’ extremely limited resources, who is the best current player they could conceivably add to support Giannis in a win-now posture? Johnson has never been an All-Star, but he has made immense strides in Brooklyn. Always a tremendous shooter (39% career on 3-pointers), he has become an accomplished multilevel scorer who could try to fill the Middleton-shaped hole on Milwaukee’s perimeter.
Would the Nets do this deal? It’s a fairly light return for trading Johnson — an attractive trade target around the league — while taking back Kuzma’s contract. But the Bucks’ unprotected 2031 and 2032 picks might be so enticing that Brooklyn would go for it. Antetokounmpo would be pushing 37 years old at that point and perhaps gone from Milwaukee entirely. The Nets could also value holding some of Milwaukee’s draft capital for a future scenario in which they try to trade for Antetokounmpo and would be able to offer the Bucks their picks back.
— Zach Kram
Milwaukee Bucks gets:
Bradley Beal
Royce O’Neale
2025 first-round pick (No. 29)
Phoenix Suns get:
Pat Connaughton
Damian Lillard
On paper, there is logic to a swap of Beal for Lillard. The Bucks were linked to Beal during the season, when it would have meant building a package around the now-departed Middleton, and getting nothing out of Lillard’s $54 million salary while he recovers from Achilles surgery might not be tenable.
Beal, who would need to waive his no-trade clause to make the deal work, could fit better in Milwaukee than he has with the Suns, getting more opportunities to handle the ball and spacing the floor for Antetokounmpo in a way Lillard wasn’t as comfortable doing. The Bucks also win the undercard here, adding wing depth with O’Neale in a swap that’s necessary to avoid hard-capping Phoenix at the lower luxury tax apron and getting a late first-rounder to use upgrading the rest of the roster.
If the Suns are ready to move on from Beal, waiting for Lillard’s return might not seem so bad. And if he is able to return at something close to his All-Star form at age 35, Lillard would be a better fit alongside Devin Booker in the Phoenix backcourt. However, it’s unlikely the two sides will agree on how much more valuable Lillard is while injured than Beal.
— Kevin Pelton
Five trades for Giannis
1:26
JWill: There’s a world in which Giannis says he wants to be a Warrior
Jay Williams and Brian Windhorst discuss the possibility of Giannis Antetokounmpo teaming up with Steph Curry in Golden State.
Houston Rockets get:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Pat Connaughton
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Alperen Sengun
Cam Whitmore
Reed Sheppard
Jock Landale
2025 first-round pick (No. 10)
2027 first-round pick (via Phoenix)
2028 first-round pick
More than any other club that held home-court advantage to begin the playoffs, No. 2-seeded Houston desperately needs more offense. Between their bottom-five 3-point attempt rate and Jalen Green’s inconsistency as a scorer — he exploded for 38 points in Game 2 against the Warriors but scored 12 points or fewer in the other six contests during that first-round matchup — the Rockets need to manufacture easier scores.
Yes, Sengun is an All-Star who can be the hub of a decent offense, and he has a higher ceiling as he continues to improve. But Antetokounmpo, a two-time league MVP in his prime, is elite enough to be the No. 1 option for any club’s offensive attack.
This might fall right within a sweet spot, depending on where your fandom lies. If you’re a Rockets fan, you likely hate the thought of parting with Sengun. But the need for a big as the offensive hub — even one with the playmaking chops of Sengun — lessens considerably if Giannis joins the roster.
Beyond that, if you had to choose one young star to include between Sengun and two-way standout Amen Thompson, Sengun might be the preferred choice, if only because of their contracts. With his extension beginning this coming season, Sengun is due to earn almost $34 million in 2025-26, while Thompson will get a little less than $10 million.
That would give the Rockets more flexibility in remaking the roster (one with Thompson, Fred VanVleet, Green, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and others) around Giannis over the next couple years.
— Herring
Toronto Raptors get:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Scottie Barnes
Gradey Dick
Ochai Agbaji
2025 first-round pick (No. 9)
2029 first-round pick
2031 first-round pick
Antetokounmpo and Raptors president Masai Ujiri go way back, and Ujiri has never been shy about taking big swings for stars. Toronto’s recent moves, including trading for and extending Brandon Ingram, suggest Ujiri wants to leap back into contention sooner rather than later — and in a depleted Eastern Conference field, adding Giannis could make that happen.
Given his youth and upside, Toronto’s Barnes could be the most attractive current player available to the Bucks in a trade. That’s important because the Bucks owe so many future picks to other teams that they have no incentive to tank.
In 2023, the Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and one swap to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant. That’s the model from which we’re building this trade: one rising star (Barnes), one young shooter with potential (Dick), a third wing and a similar — but lesser, because Barnes is more accomplished than Bridges — assortment of picks that sent Durant to Phoenix.
With this deal, the Raptors would improve by slotting Antetokounmpo into Barnes’ spot in their rotation, while the Bucks would be able to start building a young core of Barnes, Dick and the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft. The other picks headed to Milwaukee would be concentrated toward the end of the maximum seven-year trading window, so Milwaukee wouldn’t have to rely on picks from a team led by Giannis in his prime, which would be more likely to come at the end of the first round.
— Kram
San Antonio Spurs get:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Harrison Barnes
Keldon Johnson
Jeremy Sochan
2025 first-round pick (No. 2)
2026 first-round pick (better of Atlanta and San Antonio)
2028 first-round pick (better of Boston and San Antonio)
2030 first-round pick (better of Dallas, Minnesota and San Antonio)
2031 first-round swap (Milwaukee’s for better of Sacramento’s and San Antonio)
Before missing the final third of last season because of deep vein thrombosis, Victor Wembanyama had established himself as a top-10 player at age 21. Pairing him with an All-NBA first-team pick in his prime would give San Antonio a core good enough to contend now, and the fit between Wembanyama — who prefers to play on the perimeter — and Antetokounmpo’s power game is ideal.
I consider this as the NBA version of an NFL team loading up around a star quarterback on a rookie deal, taking advantage of his cheap salary to add premier talent.
Even after dealing for De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs are well-positioned to build an Antetokounmpo offer around picks based on the combination of moving up to No. 2 in the lottery and future swaps. Instead of relying on San Antonio picks likely to come at the end of the round, the Bucks would be able to bet on a variety of teams bottoming out.
In particular, the 2030 first-rounder looks especially valuable because it’s the best of three teams — albeit with top-one protection on the swap with the Timberwolves. Milwaukee also gets a recent lottery pick in Sochan and players who could keep the team competitive.
— Pelton
Detroit Pistons get:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Tobias Harris
Jaden Ivey
Isaiah Stewart
2027 first-round pick
2029 first-round pick
2031 first-round pick
With the Cavaliers and Celtics up against the restrictive second apron and likely needing to cut salary (and Boston without the rehabbing Jayson Tatum), and the Knicks undergoing changes of their own, the contending class of the East is as open as it’s been in a while. The Pistons, making their first playoff appearance in six years, looked evenly matched with New York in a highly competitive first round. Adding a player of Antetokounmpo’s ilk would speed up the timeline but also give All-NBA guard Cade Cunningham and the Pistons a real shot in the East sooner rather than later.
Milwaukee might hesitate in making a deal within its division and might ultimately want to swing bigger than this. But Ivey, still just 23 and coming off a season that was far more efficient than his first two, has shown real, palpable flashes. Stewart is 24, and is a rugged rebounder capable of bigger minutes than what he currently receives alongside fellow youngster Jalen Duren.
And the veteran Harris, still just 32, was solid for the Pistons — particularly on defense — throughout Detroit’s playoff run. It would be enough for the Bucks to remain competitive, with a chance for Ivey to achieve stardom as he enters his prime.
— Herring
Golden State Warriors get:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Los Angeles Lakers get:
Draymond Green
Daniel Gafford
Dallas Mavericks get:
Gabe Vincent
2031 first-round pick (via L.A. Lakers)
2025 second-round pick (No. 41)
Milwaukee Bucks get:
Austin Reaves
Brandin Podziemski
Jonathan Kuminga (via sign-and-trade)
Trayce Jackson-Davis
Maxi Kleber
2029 first-round pick (via Warriors)
2031 first-round pick (via Golden State)
2030 first-round swap (with L.A. Lakers)
The Warriors are almost always in the mix for stars, and after trading for Jimmy Butler III in February, they could take an even bigger swing this summer to maximize the remainder of Stephen Curry’s extended prime. If Antetokounmpo requests a trade to Golden State, the Warriors could simply reroute Butler, whose salary is a perfect match. But the Warriors could also build a matching package around Green and a host of young players, so let’s get truly wild with a blockbuster four-team proposal.
The Warriors would sacrifice depth to construct a star-studded big three of Curry, Antetokounmpo and Butler. The Lakers would balance their roster by turning Reaves into Green — who has been involved in Lakers rumors in the past — and Gafford, improving their defense and adding a rim-running center who’s a proven fit with Luka Doncic. The Mavericks would trade from a position of strength (center) to add a future first and point guard help during Kyrie Irving’s absence. And the Bucks would grab an assortment of promising young players and future picks in return for their star.
— Kram
