Apr 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) looks on in the final seconds of the game against the Indiana Pacers during game four of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Former NBA Guard on Why Giannis Antetokounmpo Needs to Leave Bucks

Originally posted on Milwaukee Bucks on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated May 8, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The 2025 NBA playoffs have been insanely exciting — but the Milwaukee Bucks have already been sitting on the sidelines for a week.

After finishing their 2024-25 season on an eight-game win streak and with a solid 48-34 record, the stage was set for the Bucks to avenge their six-game 2024 first-round playoff series loss to the Indiana Pacers with a rematch.

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Instead, with Damian Lillard only fleetingly available due to first a blood clot recovery and later a season-ending Achilles tendon tear, Milwaukee fell in just five contests, and Antetokounmpo got into post-series clashes with Tyrese Haliburton's dad and Bennedict Mathurin.

It was an ugly end to, possibly, what has been the best career in Bucks history for nine-time All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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With Lillard now likely shelved for most or all of the 2025-26 season, and virtually untradeable thanks to his $54.1 million contract next year, the Bucks' championship chances seem essentially DOA. It may prove difficult to move Lillard in 2026-27, too, thanks to his suffering one of the worst injuries possible for an NBA player, especially for a small guard in his mid-30s (Lillard is 34).

Essentially, Antetokounmpo is stuck with a team that cannot win.

Speaking on FanDuel Sports' "Run It Back," former three-time NBA champ and All-Defensive Team swingman Danny Green made his case for Antetokounmpo to demand a trade out of town.

“These numbers that he’s putting up right now, we’re not going to see this last for a very long time. His window is about two, three years, at best, of doing this. If he wants to win again and be competitive, he’s going to have to explore that option. He’s going to have to have that conversation,” Green said.

Antetokounmpo, 30, is still close to his athletic prime. This season, the 6-foot-11 big man logged averages of 30.4 points on 60.1 percent field goal shooting and 61.7 percent free throw shooting, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals a night.

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In the Pacers series, the two-time league MVP boosted that output to 33.0 points on 60.6 percent shooting from the floor and 69.8 percent free throw shooting, 15.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks a night.

Green, who won his titles as a starter for the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers, has a salient point. Antetokounmpo remains a terrific two-way talent, but his shooting limitations outside of the painted area demand a specific kind of teammate. Without moving Lillard, it's going to be tough to give him the support he needs in Milwaukee.

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This article first appeared on Milwaukee Bucks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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