As the Milwaukee Bucks enter a season marked by uncertainty, they're going to need to use the Philadelphia 76ers' 2023-24 season as a cautionary tale. That year, the Sixers essentially leaned into taking a "gap year" of sorts, and that's precisely what Milwaukee can't afford to do in 2025-26.
The proverbial "gap year" has become sort of the phrase of the offseason this summer in the NBA. With the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and others all set to be without key contributors in the upcoming campaign, there's a lot of talk that certain teams should or should not intentionally take a step back and focus more on the long-term.
As for what's going to be best for the Bucks, I would say I feel strongly they'd be best not going in that direction, and the Sixers' season from a couple of years ago illustrates why. As of right now, Milwaukee is without a second star. Damian Lillard is injured and no longer on the roster. The first obvious reason why the Bucks can't punt on the season is because they have to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo happy. But this goes quite a bit deeper than just that.
When Philadelphia started their 2023-24 campaign, they still had James Harden on their roster. Then, just about two weeks into the season, they opted to trade him to the Los Angeles Clippers, leaving them without a true co-star on the roster alongside Joel Embiid.
Milwaukee can't throw away this next season
In making this move, the 76ers basically leaned into taking something of a "gap year" themselves. This wound up being a crucial mistake. Instead of recognizing that they had the reigning MVP on their team who was still playing at a very high level and going all-in, the Sixers essentially left Embiid on an island. He still did everything he could, but the heavy workload contributed to him missing much of the second half of the season and Philadelphia being out in the first round of the playoffs.
It's going to be very important for Milwaukee to remember that they're ultimately still in a favorable position with Giannis on their roster and, more importantly, healthy. You simply can't waste a year of a healthy number 34.
As for the 76ers, you can say that trading Harden ultimately led to them getting Paul George eight months later, but that really still hasn't paid a lot of dividends for them as of this writing. So in the grand scheme of things, it's still hard to say that making that move was a great idea, even if Harden wasn't happy playing in Philly at the time.
I just think that as tempting as it may be to think more about building for the future and approach the trade deadline with a conservative mindset, the Bucks have to treat this coming year with as much urgency as they would any other. Giannis Antetokounmpo's health is never guaranteed, and you don't want to make light of this opportunity.