Apr 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) takes a shot against Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) and forward Jarace Walker (5) in the third quarter during game four of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Expert Gets Brutally Honest About Bucks' Title Window with Giannis Antetokounmpo

Originally posted on Milwaukee Bucks on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 1:00 PM ET

Can the Milwaukee Bucks win their second title of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era in 2025-26?

Milwaukee lost nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard to an Achilles tendon rupture during its first-round playoff series clash with the Indiana Pacers this past spring.

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The 6-foot-2 Weber State product, 35, seems unlikely to play for much — or even any — of the next regular season, so team general manager Jon Horst made the bold decision to stretch and waive Lillard's contract. Horst used the added cap real estate to sign former Pacers free agent center Myles Turner.

While Brook Lopez departed in free agency for the L.A. Clippers, Horst also re-signed Bucks free agents Bobby Portis Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, Ryan Rollins and Jericho Sims.

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Horst also brought in free agent former Orlando Magic guards Cole Anthony and Gary Harris to help bolster the team's backcourt in the absence of Lillard.

Andscape/ESPN's Marc J. Spears got real about whether or not Milwaukee's championship window remains open with its current roster.

No one else on this iteration of the Bucks has even come close to sniffing an All-Star accreditation, although Turner has finished among the top 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting twice.

"No," Spears said when asked, point-blank, if the Bucks had enough weapons to win Antetokounmpo his second title this spring. "This team is not good enough. They don't have the point guard needed to get to that championship level. Myles Turner, fantastic. Even with the East kind of being depleted from an injury standpoint, I can see this being, maybe, second round at best."

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His colleague Ramona Shelbourne, however, painted a sunnier picture of the club's upside for one key reason: Antetokounmpo, who at 30 remains close to his MVP prime.

"I'm not willing to write them off yet," Shelbourne opined. "I don't think they're gonna be favored over the Knicks or the Cavs... probably not even the Hawks or the Magic, right? But would it shock me if they popped up as the three seed? No, because they've got that man right there [Antetokounmpo]. And as long as he says that he wants to be in Milwaukee and he's on the team, I'm not picking against him."