It's been a bumpy ride for the Giannis Antetokounmpo era of Milwaukee Bucks basketball, and the 2021 championship almost feels like it happened in a different time and place. Back then, you could ride two superstars and some role players to a title if everything broke right. But that playbook is dead now, and thankfully, the Bucks front office seems to understand that too.
Watch any contender today and you'll see the same thing: waves of talent coming at you in 12-minute stretches. The defending champions boast playable talent throughout their bench. Denver has legitimate scoring threats one through nine. Even teams like Orlando are building rosters where their eighth man could start for half the league.
This is where the league is today, and Milwaukee has one foot in the door and one foot out; they're still banking on Giannis doing everything while hoping their supporting cast doesn't completely fall apart.
The Milwaukee Bucks need to adapt with the rest of the NBA
The modern NBA punishes teams that can't survive their star's rest minutes. Giannis sits, and suddenly you're watching Kyle Kuzma try to create offense for a bench unit that looks lost without their anchor. That's not championship basketball anymore—that's first-round exit basketball.
That's just how things are: you simply need depth to succeed in the modern NBA. Giannis can't do it alone, and the Bucks haven't fully realized the importance of having multiple options around their star. Up until perhaps recently, it has felt like their priority was always making moves for big names instead of building a roster that can function at multiple levels.
The past few seasons have shown us that one injury, one off night, one foul trouble situation, and their entire system crumbles. Look at their playoff runs since 2021. Every loss comes down to the same problem: when Plan A (feed Giannis) doesn't work, there is no Plan B. Other teams have five different ways to hurt you. Milwaukee has one, and everyone knows exactly what's coming.
The front office (and for that matter, the coaching staff, too) seems stuck in this weird middle ground where they know they need more talent but refuse to admit their current approach isn't working. They'll trade for another declining veteran or sign another past-his-prime shooter, then act surprised when the depth issues show up again in May.
Of course, the good news is that they've addressed that somewhat this offseason. Any one of Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Cole Anthony, even AJ Green, and Taurean Prince could net you an efficient 15 any given night. All of them bring particular skills to the table that fit perfectly around the playmaking chops of Antetokounmpo. The point is, they have multiple X-factors on this roster today.
Giannis is still in his prime. He's still capable of carrying a championship team. But he needs an organization that understands championship basketball has evolved beyond the superstar-plus-scrubs model. The window isn't closed yet, but it's getting smaller every season they waste trying to recreate 2021 instead of building for 2025.
Evolution or extinction. Those are Milwaukee's only options now.