It's obvious that the Milwaukee Bucks have an extremely difficult task on their hands this offseason when it comes to retaining Giannis Antetokounmpo. Number 34 is the organization's only hope, and things are not getting any easier when it comes to convincing him to stay. The Bucks hold only one pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, and that selection continues to lose value.
Milwaukee's sole pick in June's draft is the 47th overall selection. Recently, ESPN's Jonathan Givony stated his opinion that this will be one of the weakest second rounds of the draft we have seen in a while.
Obviously, that doesn't bode well when it comes to convincing Giannis to stick around Milwaukee. If the team had perhaps a first round selection, or even a more valuable second round selection it could be easy to sell him on the point that the team will be gaining some useful new young talent.
But with the Bucks' only pick in the draft being one that's pretty inconsequential, it's hard to imagine it will be something for Antetokounmpo to think about.
The Bucks' 2025 second-round pick is losing value
For those who know the NCAA landscape, it's probably pretty easy to figure out why this 47th-overall selection won't be very valuable. But for those who don't, it would be because of the incredible value of NIL (name, image, likeness).
Players are more incentivized to return to school and play an additional collegiate season than they ever have been before, because they have the ability to earn based off of their own name more than ever before. Whereas this had previously been outlawed in former eras, it's now an extremely useful tool for college athletes to earn pay on their own without going pro.
It's not hard to understand why NIL has changed both the college and professional basketball landscape. Many players that are considered second round talents would have certainly made this draft a deeper one, and given the Milwaukee Bucks' asset more value. But now, they have a much lower chance of finding a roster-worthy player with the 47th pick.
We know that the Bucks are in a tough situation with low cap flexibility and a limited number of tradable assets. Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to stay in Milwaukee, but not if the organization is unable to put themselves in a position to win. This draft pick becoming borderline useless is just another blow to the Bucks' offseason plans.