The Milwaukee Bucks were once the bar to clear for the Boston Celtics to make some noise in the playoffs. Now, they are the NBA's biggest laughingstock. They might not be the worst team in the league, but they are the most hopeless.
With each passing day, it's only gotten worse for them. Today alone, ESPN's Shams Charania revealed all the turmoil going on in his most recent tell-all, from Giannis Antetokounmpo wanting out to Doc Rivers using his Celtics accomplishments to feel superior.
It's gotten bad for Milwaukee that no matter what they do, their goose is cooked. The most necessary move for them at this point is something they've been avoiding both long enough and longer than they should have: trading Giannis. It's the most necessary move to make because their current roster construction is a disaster, so keeping it together will only make it worse until he opts out in 2027.
But unfortunately, it comes with a caveat: once the Bucks trade the two-time MVP, they basically become a new-age version of the Brooklyn Nets from the mid-to-late 2010s, i.e., the team responsible for giving the Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The Bucks' situation is eerily similar to the Nets back then
For anyone who needs a reminder, the Nets made one of the worst trades in NBA history in 2013: trading three unprotected picks and two pick swaps from 2014 to 2018 to the Celtics for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry, which not only backfired big-time, but it led to Boston getting their hands on the Jays.
Brooklyn was in basketball hell during that time. They were bad and didn't get that hope to add a young prospect for their troubles. Doing so gave the Celtics Banner 18. Now, the Bucks are about to approach similar territory.
Let's preface this by saying that, in Milwaukee's defense, a lot of what's destroyed them over the past few years has simply been because they went for it and it blew up their face. Unlike the Nets, who mortgaged their future for one above-average season.
While Milwaukee will be able to keep a pick this season, it's unlikely to be in the top 5 as they'll receive the lower of their pick and the Pelicans' as a consequence of the Jrue Holiday trade (thanks again for doing Boston a solid, Milwaukee!), 2027 to 2031 will be pretty excruciating for them.
Next year, their pick either goes to the Pelicans or the Hawks. The next two years after that, their pick goes to either Portland or Washington (thanks to the Damian Lillard trade). The year after that, their pick could get swapped to Portland, depending on whether the Trail Blazers are better than them. It's looking pretty bleak.
That's four long years. Milwaukee can also hope to recoup the most value they can for Antetokounmpo, but they waited too long, so they were better off trading him last year when he wasn't a flight risk.
The one solace they can take is that there is an NBA team that knows what this situation is like. The upside is that the Nets made the most out of their situation and bided their time until the obligations they had to the Celtics were up.
As much as the future will suck in Wisconsin, they don't have much of a choice. They can't fight the future, but they can make the most of it.