Milwaukee Bucks: The push and pull of accountability and maintaining culture

The fallout of the Milwaukee Bucks’ disastrous playoff run remains to be seen, but the tension of upholding their culture and making foundational changes will define their offseason.

The Milwaukee Bucks are witnessing first hand that high-stakes playoff losses are met with all sorts of calls for sweeping changes.

That’s certainly the case nearly three weeks after they fell to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, a result that has raised all sorts of critical questions regarding their future. All while the Heat have come out of the East and prepare for the Los Angeles Lakers in this year’s NBA Finals down in the bubble.

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In the weeks since the end of their season, reported discussions between Bucks ownership and superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo have offered up the prospect of big changes regarding their foundation.

Time will only tell on that front, though, and obstacles stand in the way of making the level of upgrades they will seek this offseason.

Meanwhile, fellow title contenders have followed the adage of there’s no rest for the wicked when dealing with their own playoff failures. On Monday, the NBA world was rocked with the news that Doc Rivers was fired by the L.A. Clippers in light of their epic 3-1 collapse to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

Granted, it’s not entirely a like-for-like comparison and the combination of the Clippers’ latest and greatest playoff collapse and their own ticking clock opened the door for such a stunning departure like Rivers’ all the same.

As the Clippers teeter on the edge of free falling and their internal turmoil continues spilling out in the open, the organization has set up the most taut of tightropes ahead of a season where anything less than an NBA championship will be considered a failure in the Western Conference.

For how vastly different both teams arrived to this point of contending for NBA titles and failing spectacularly this season, both organizations can share in the immense pressure that awaits them next season.

From that perspective, you can understand the reason why the Bucks would want to maintain some continuity and put out a strong front ahead of such a massive challenge. To this point, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer is safe from seeing his time in Milwaukee come to an early end after yet another high-profile playoff collapse on his resume.

With Antetokounmpo’s present and future at the center of every and all Bucks discussions, finding any solutions that address the flaws shown in their last two playoff collapses is paramount toward realizing their own championship goals. But it’s clear the Bucks aren’t risking to reinvent the wheel completely while doing so.

While it’s come with trials and tribulations over the years, the Bucks have systematically built around Antetokounmpo and have helped raise his game to the point where he’s now won two consecutive MVP honors at just 25 years old. And to be fair, Budenholzer’s arrival coincided with putting many of those things into action.

To say that all Bucks players, including Antetokounmpo, and Budenholzer have fallen short of the mark of translating their regular season success into the playoffs over the last two years would be an understatement. And it promptly raises the question about the viability of the way the Bucks can continue building their roster around Antetokounmpo into the future, especially with the personnel they have in place.

On this note, I hearken back to something Bucks general manager Jon Horst mentioned in his appearance on The Woj Pod hosted by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski where he was asked about what he essentially believes is core to keeping Antetokounmpo long-term in Milwaukee:

"“At the end of the day, we believe that if we can create a system that Giannis can thrive in, we can plug in players around him that will help him thrive and will help the system thrive. It’s a coach’s job and that coaching staff to continue to develop and evolve that system around (Giannis’) skill set and the skill set of all our players. And it’s our job to help create the culture and environment where those players want to come into work every single day and enjoy the people they’re around, enjoy the style of play, enjoy the facilities we have…And if we can do that in Milwaukee, we can do it with a superstar, have a great coach, have a great system in play, I think we’re going to have a chance.”"

This formula has certainly brought the Bucks and Antetokounmpo this far in their pursuit of greatness, but they have fallen well short of the finish line as pressure continues rising. How that pressure informs their next moves amid limited avenues to improve their roster remains the biggest question the Bucks have to answer this offseason, all while things have seemingly set up for Eric Bledsoe to be the obvious candidate to be upgraded from their core.

Whether it’s the Bucks, the Clippers or the 27 other NBA teams that will fall short of winning a title this season, there are different ways to go about building a roster and setting up a blueprint for success that will foster the success that all teams seek. Of course, some teams are closer in achieving that goal that the majority of the league while other have built-in advantages that others simply do not have.

It’s in the times where a team’s trust and culture is greatly tested in the face of failure like the Bucks have recently experienced. And all eyes remain fixed on they respond to this latest bout of adversity, both on the court and internally.