Milwaukee Bucks’ biggest offseason need revealed if Giannis Antetokounmpo decides to stay, ‘You have $14 million…’

Milwaukee Bucks’ biggest offseason need revealed

It’s not shocking, but the Bucks need a point guard. Damian Lillard will miss all of next season with a torn Achilles, and with no one to run the offense, the Bucks will stagnate.

Of course, Antetokounmpo has some playmaking chops, but a point-of-attack defender, facilitator, and floor spacer to share the court with Giannis would be a dream come true for the Bucks.

If Milwaukee is unable to entice a free agent point guard, then and only then is Giannis expected to ask out.

“Let’s be clear here, he has not asked for a trade,” summed up ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “The Bucks are not looking to trade him. Having said that, a lot of the league is keeping an eye on what will happen.

“The Bucks have seven free agents. They really right now don’t have a team that they could really put together in any form. They have four core free agents. 

“They were already a team that is going to be struggling to replace Dame Lillard for the majority, if not all of this season. They need a starting-level point guard. So they have a lot of problems. They don’t have good assets.”

Milwaukee, with only a distant 2031 first-round pick to trade, won’t be able to land a solid lead guard via trade, although depending on how free agency shakes out, the Bucks should be able to land a stopgap facilitator until Lillard returns next season, where he will be owed $58.4 million assuming he opts into the final year of his contract.

“They need a point guard here,” said Bobby Marks. “You have $14 million. How do you want to go spend it? You want to go spend it and bring Gary Trent Jr. back, or do you want to go out and bring back a point guard here?”

Milwaukee Bucks’ free agent options

The Bucks do not have endless money or play in a big market that attracts stars, but playing alongside Antetokounmpo is tantalizing. In a weak Eastern Conference, with Giannis and Kyle Kuzma already rostered, the Bucks are a point guard away from contending.

Free agents like Chris Paul, D’Angelo Russell, and Malcolm Brogdon stand out as possible pickups. Paul has been linked to the Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas could afford Russell, as well. Brogdon won Rookie of the Year with the Bucks in 2017 before being traded to the Indiana Pacers in a salary-dumping move, although a reunion seems overdue.

If the Bucks are unable to add a point guard to entice Giannis to stay, they might have a difficult choice to make later in the summer, although Antetokounmpo might make it for them.

“If this doesn’t look like a contending team in a month, will Giannis revisit his position of keeping hands off?” asked Windhorst. “And that is one of the big things that could define this offseason in the NBA.”

For now, the Bucks look like a middling team, although they boast one of the best players in the world and could have the means to be contenders, even in a down year.