Milwaukee isn't just worse without Giannis Antetokounmpo. They're literally the worst offensive team in basketball when he sits. And the numbers expose a dependence so extreme it should terrify everyone in the organization.
Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps, the Bucks have the best offensive rating in the NBA when Giannis is on the floor at 123.5 points per 100 possessions and the worst in the league when he goes to the bench at 102.1. That's a 21.4-point swing.
The writing has been on the wall since the season started. And perhaps what hurts the most is that this is the one area where the services of Damian Lillard might have helped things.
Milwaukee's offense without Giannis is unsustainable
Twenty-one points fewer per 100 possessions whenever one player hits the bench isn't a typical dropoff when a superstar sits. No, that's a catastrophic collapse. It means Milwaukee goes from unstoppable to unwatchable the moment they lose their star, which means every single minute he misses with this groin injury is a potential disaster.
Enter Damian Lillard. While he wouldn't have been able to play this season (and while his defensive limitations are what they are at this juncture in his career), this is one problem Milwaukee would have never had with him at the helm of their Giannis-less minutes. His shot creation, pick and roll mastery, and 24.9 points per game are exactly what made Milwaukee's offense sustainable with or without the Greek Freak.
And that's on coaching as much as it is about roster construction. Championship teams have systems that function regardless of who's on the floor. Milwaukee has Giannis plus a collection of players who apparently can't score without him creating everything.
The acquisition of Cole Anthony (fans swore he was the next Damian Lillard, after all) was supposed to solve this. Ryan Rollins showed flashes of being able to run an offense. Myles Turner provides spacing and scoring ability. Yet somehow, when you remove Giannis from the equation, the entire offensive infrastructure evaporates.
What makes this even more damning is how good they are with Giannis. A 123.5 offensive rating is an elite, championship-caliber offense, which only indicates that Milwaukee has the pieces and the system to score at historic levels. They just can't do any of it without their franchise player orchestrating everything.
Doc Rivers should be losing sleep over these numbers. Every coach preaches about depth and next-man-up mentality, but the Bucks' bench units are getting cooked on the offensive side of the ball in ways that suggest serious systemic problems.
This isn't sustainable for a championship contender. Giannis can't play 48 minutes, and he certainly can't stay healthy all season if Milwaukee needs him on the floor every single possession to avoid offensive disaster.
The next few weeks with Giannis sidelined (and likely, with Kyle Kuzma playing starter minutes) will expose just how fragile this roster really is. If the offense completely craters like these numbers suggest it will, Rivers and Jon Horst have some serious soul-searching to do about how this team is built.
Milwaukee better hope Giannis heals fast, because without him, they're not just worse. They're broken.