Tim MacMahon isn't the only one struggling to understand what the Milwaukee Bucks are doing. To keep Giannis Antetokounmpo around, they need to win, meaning they need to make it to the play-in and beyond. On the flip side, receiving a high lottery pick in June's draft could prove to be the better route, meaning the more losses they rack up could result in a win.
On the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast, MacMahon said:
"The reason there's a tanking epidemic is because it's a smart strategy for teams that aren't any good. The Bucks aren't any good. Whether they're moving forward with Giannis or not, they don't have control of their picks moving forward... This is their one swing at a lottery pick for a little while, and it would be their best asset to try to somehow quickly rebuild and give Giannis a chance to contend, or their best asset if they do end up trading Giannis."
He added that it's not in the team's long-term best interest to try to make the play-in tournament, but Windhorst chimed in, saying it could be in the team's short-term best interest. You see the dilemma.
Bucks can only hope their Giannis strategy will pay off one way or another
Right now, Milwaukee has the 10th-worst record in the league, so it has a 13.9% chance at a top-four pick. The Bucks are riding a four-game losing streak, and that's with them trying to win. Giannis didn't return from a calf injury in Monday's loss to the Celtics for no reason. If they wanted to purposefully embrace the tank these next few weeks, he'd still be on the sideline.
Once the trade deadline passed, Antetokounmpo made a tweet on X with the caption, "Legends don't chase. They attract." That understandably led fans to believe that he'd stay in Milwaukee, but this summer will reveal how he truly feels, as he will be eligible to sign an extension on Oct. 1.
The Bucks should have an idea of what he wants to do well before then. Although he previously told Sam Amick of The Athletic that it's not in his nature to request a trade, indicating that he doesn't want to re-sign would say it for him.
If that's what happens and Milwaukee is forced to trade him, it could regret how it approached the second half of the season, especially if the team makes it to the play-in and doesn't get a top lottery pick. The Bucks would need to nail their return package for their superstar, but at least over the summer, interested teams will unlock access to additional draft assets.
Milwaukee's push to make the play-in may not even happen, as the Bucks are five games back from the No. 10 Hawks, who are riding a five-game win streak. The team could end up with a top pick without necessarily trying.
There are two very different paths that the organization could take this summer, and all fans can hope for is that regardless of what happens, the Bucks won't come out with the short end of the stick.