MILWAUKEE — Shortly after the Milwaukee Bucks suffered yet one more loss on Friday night time, this one by two factors after a livid comeback try in opposition to the Denver Nuggets’ back-ups fell brief, Giannis Antetokounmpo sat at his locker and let loose a yell. He then clapped his palms loudly in frustration, placed on his socks and turned to face the media.
He had unhealthy information to ship about his proper calf, which had been limiting him all night time and stored him out of the ultimate 34 seconds.
“The next steps will be go to MRI tomorrow, after the MRI they will tell me probably I popped something in my calf, or my soleus, something. They’ll probably give me a protocol of 4-6 weeks that I’ll be out. This is from my experience being around in the NBA,” Antetokounmpo mentioned. “After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully the team will be in a place that we can at least make the Play-In or the playoffs. Just take it day-by-day, try to get better.”
The Bucks haven’t introduced an official timeline for Antetokounmpo’s injury, however he missed over three weeks earlier this season with a calf pressure on the identical leg, and indicated that this injury felt the identical to him. He is probably going heading again to the sidelines for an prolonged interval, and could be out by way of the commerce deadline (Feb. 5) and All-Star Weekend (Feb. 13-15), and presumably longer.
What does that imply for him and the Bucks, and could this injury really be a blessing in disguise?
Time to tank?
The Bucks acquired off to a 4-1 begin that included wins over the Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks. It appeared as if their audacious offseason plan to waive-and-stretch Damian Lillard, signal Myles Turner and encompass Antetokounmpo with capturing could repay.
Since then, nevertheless, they have been one of the worst groups in the league, in half as a result of a parade of accidents. Friday’s loss to the Nuggets was their sixth in the final eight video games, and they’re now a season-worst eight video games beneath .500. At 18-26, they’re in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference, 2 ½ video games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the ultimate Play-In Tournament spot.
The Bucks are nearer to the Brooklyn Nets for the fifth-worst file in the league than they’re to the Philadelphia 76ers for a top-six spot in the East. For the season, the Bucks are 3-11 with Antetokounmpo out of the lineup. At that tempo, they’ve little hope of nonetheless being in the Play-In race if he is out till after the All-Star break.
While the Bucks don’t management their very own first-round choose in the 2026 NBA Draft, they may have a first-round choose. They will obtain the least favorable of their choose and the New Orleans Pelicans’ first-round choose. The 11-36 Pelicans have the second-worst file in the league and are nicely on their solution to a top-five choice. If each groups are unhealthy, that ensures the Bucks a good choose.
It’s unattainable for the Bucks to get the No. 1 total choose, however they could choose as excessive as No. 2 in the event that they proceed to fall down the standings and get some lottery luck. A top-five choice in what’s considered a generational draft class is nicely throughout the realm of chance, relying on when/if Antetokounmpo returns. The Bucks have not drafted increased than No. 10 since Antetokounmpo got here to city, and this could be a uncommon likelihood to get an elite expertise whereas he’s nonetheless on the roster.
Giannis Antetokounmpo should not play one other recreation for the Bucks this season, and most likely not ever once more
Sam Quinn
What concerning the commerce deadline?
Earlier this month, Antetokounmpo instructed Sam Amick of The Athletic that he would by no means request a commerce. However, after the Bucks’ slender win over the Hawks on Monday, Antetokounmpo was requested if he would end the season in Milwaukee and responded, “I don’t know. I take it day-by-day.”
Following the Bucks’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, Antetokounmpo known as out his teammates for being “selfish” and “not playing hard.” Shams Charania then reported Friday that discussions between the Bucks and Antetokounmpo about his future had “intensified in nature” and that the “tension” contained in the group and locker room was at an “all-time high.”
Over the final month, nevertheless, there have been quite a few experiences that the Bucks had really been trying to purchase on the deadline to extend their possibilities of making the playoffs in a weaker-than-usual Eastern Conference.
About the one factor that had been clear about Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee was that the complete league was watching.
“Giannis is the trade deadline,” Brian Windhorst mentioned earlier this week. “There is really not a lot of other players out there that can move the needle. There is very small to no market for Ja Morant or Anthony Davis. The entire league is watching Giannis.”
Antetokounmpo’s injury throws a main wrench into the deadline plans for the Bucks and each different crew that was ready for a decision on his standing.
The Bucks ought to not be patrons on the deadline or entertain any offers in which they provide up future property akin to Ryan Rollins or their 2031 first-round choose. It’s unclear how Antetokounmpo’s injury will affect different groups’ pursuit of the two-time MVP, however it probably will increase the percentages that he stays with the Bucks for the remainder of the season.
Antetokounmpo probably out of the All-Star Game (once more) and award consideration
Antetokounmpo was not too long ago named as a starter for the All-Star Game for the tenth consecutive season, which is the longest lively streak in the league. However, this calf injury will probably maintain him from enjoying in the mid-season showcase for the second consecutive yr. He additionally sat out final yr as a result of a calf injury.
In addition, this injury will finish Antetokounmpo’s possibilities of award consideration. The 65-game threshold for main awards signifies that gamers can’t miss greater than 17 video games in a season. Antetokounmpo has already missed 14 video games, and even when he comes again sooner than anticipated, he’ll miss 4 extra video games.
Antetokounmpo has been named to the All-NBA First Team and completed in the top-four in MVP voting in every of the final seven seasons. Those streaks will come to an finish.
“It’s hard, but always in my mind I think of the good things that have happened in my life, and I think of where I am in this moment, and what my goals are, and what stops me from these goals, which might be this injury, and the first thing that you have to think about is that it can be way worse,” Antetokounmpo mentioned Friday. “You can be out for 12 months, 18 months. Being out for two, three, four, five, six weeks, whatever the case may be and not making the All-NBA, for sure it’s gonna hurt. For sure it will be a little bit frustrating, but it doesn’t matter. That’s not where we are right now mentally as a team, as a player. All-NBA it’s in June, I’m in January.”
Can the Bucks flip this into a optimistic?
This is the fourth time in the final three seasons that Antetokounmpo has suffered a calf injury.
In addition to the correct calf pressure that stored him out for three weeks earlier this season, he missed over two weeks (and sat out of the All-Star Game) final season as a result of a left calf pressure. A left calf pressure additionally stored him out of the ultimate week of the common season and the playoffs in 2024.
“I don’t think it looks great, personally,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers mentioned Friday. “This calf keeps coming up and it’s concerning. I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know that his calf keeps bothering him and there’s something that is there and it keeps happening, and that’s troublesome for all of us.”
No one in Milwaukee wished to see Antetokounmpo injured but once more, however there’s a likelihood for the Bucks to show this into a long-term optimistic.
This crew shouldn’t be going anyplace this season. Since their 4-1 begin, they’ve three wins in opposition to groups in the top-six in both convention, and total they’re twenty fourth in offensive ranking, twenty first in defensive ranking and twenty fourth in internet ranking (-3.4). Even in a world the place they made some strikes on the deadline and fought their approach into the Play-In, they weren’t going to be a contender.
Now, there’s a excellent likelihood they find yourself with a top-10 choose, and presumably even increased than that — particularly if Antetokounmpo’s injury retains him out for greater than a month (at which level there’s little purpose for him to return in any respect this season). Whatever occurs with Antetokounmpo down the road, that is a lot better for their future than a futile Play-In chase.
