With the Milwaukee Bucks sidelined from the playoffs, they turn to their most pressing need… re-signing Giannis Antetokounmpo.
According to reports, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks have already spoke about the supermax, paying the luxury tax and roster building. There’s no doubt that Bucks Governor, Marc Lasry, wants Antetokounmpo’s input on any and everything.
Re-signing Antetokounmpo doesn’t guarantee the Bucks anything. Not re-signing him guarantees that Milwaukee won’t be a threat in the East for the next few seasons. Even with this uncertainty in play, it’s a must to commit up to 35% (roughly $220M) of your cap space to keep him. With Lasry making it clear that Antetokounmpo has a seat at the table along with being a willing tax payer, it comes to whether the Greek Freak is buying what Lasry’s selling.
As much as fans and some media like to attack the Eastern Conference, it’s far from being guaranteed that they can come out of this East with Antetokounmpo. The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Brooklyn will be armed with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving next season. If the Philadelphia 76ers get the right coach, they will jump back up into the conversation. The team that eliminated Milwaukee, the Miami Heat, are also here to stay because of their culture. Trust me, if you don’t know about their culture, Pat Riley and his legion of head-nodding foot soldiers will let you know.
Antetokounmpo is a card carrying Mamba Mentality gangster but let’s not get it twisted. Though Kobe Bryant played with some challenging rosters in Los Angeles, he also played with two solid big men at a time when that meant something. Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol were both instrumental in the Lakers winning those rings. A lot has changed since then, mainly, the NBA and how it is played.
With the offenses being more spread, bigs are looked at in different ways whether it’s rim protection or their ability to stretch. One can argue that Antetokounmpo is there best rim protector and he’s trying to stretch the court as much as possible. Yet, he has the same issue that James Harden has. Can he make the players around him good enough to carry them to an NBA Finals? That’s an underrated trait that superstars like LeBron James and Luke Doncic bring to the table.
They increase the effectiveness of everyone on the court not just themselves. They aren’t very “Mamba Mentality” at all and it’s what has made James the best player of this generation and Doncic a rising superstar. Antetokounmpo hasn’t shown he can do that. Heck, he hasn’t shown that he has a desire to do it. If he doesn’t, Milwaukee can overturn the roster all they want. They can have the best record in the Eastern Conference for the next three years but that means nothing in the playoffs where teams can specifically scheme for one opponent. It’s the big difference between the regular season and the playoffs.
As much as fans think the Antetokounmpo re-signing is all about getting a ring, and part of it is, it’s also about survival. Does that mean that’s the best place to win a championship? Who knows. But if Antetokounmpo isn’t willing to change his game, the $220M will result in nothing more than reshuffling chairs on the deck of the Titanic.
