Just a few short years ago, the Milwaukee Bucks were routinely sweeping teams in the first round with ease. Under Mike Budenholzer, it felt like regular season dominance was just a given for a Bucks team as talented as they were. Fans had come to expect a top-seeded finish year in and year out, and they weren't wrong to.
But those days are over now.
And while a lot of blame is (rightfully) going to the coaching staff and front office, there's another, harsher truth that we have to reckon with: the league is simply getting better all around us.
With the Indiana Pacers just two wins away from an NBA Championship, the extent of this reality could not be clearer. The Eastern Conference has passed the Bucks by, and their reign of dominance is long over.
Indiana isn’t a fluke—they’re proof the East left Milwaukee behind.
Bucks must climb out of their current hole
Just three years ago, Indiana was rebuilding. Now they’re in the Finals.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, had the All-World talents of Giannis Antetokounmpo and squandered it. We can blame playoff injuries all we want, but if that’s not an indictment of the Bucks’ decision-making, what is?
Because at the end of the day, the Bucks had the superstar while Indiana built the team. While the Bucks were preoccupied with chasing name-brand salvation, whether in Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, Doc Rivers, whatever, the Pacers doubled down on continuity, cohesion, and a system that didn’t need to be retrofitted every trade deadline. They drafted smart, developed talent, and refused to vegetate in mediocrity.
Now, after two straight first-round exits at the hands of Indiana, the juxtaposition is impossible to ignore. This isn’t just a bad matchup anymore. It’s a transfer of power.
This is the hard truth: the Pacers are living the future the Bucks thought they had. And right now, the Bucks look like a team that mistook star power for structure—and are paying the price.
But this doesn't have to be the end of the story.
The Bucks can surpass Indiana again, but it won’t happen through desperation signings or empty posturing. It’ll take an actual plan—something closer to Indiana’s than Milwaukee might like to admit.
First, they need to rehabilitate their defense with younger, more versatile wings and guards. Maybe that means targeting minimum-to-mid-level free agents like De’Anthony Melton. Maybe that means drafting guys who can contribute right away. And it definitely means doing away with the services of Doc Rivers, whose imagination of the game of basketball was left behind long ago.
Second, they have to stop hedging their bets on veteran floor-raisers. The team’s offensive fulcrum has aged, and the supporting cast is encumbered by bloated contracts and deteriorating athleticism. The front office needs to eke out whatever value they can get from the G League, undrafted market, and international circuits. A scouting pivot, in both geography and philosophy, is overdue.
And finally, there needs to be a coherent vision for who the Bucks are post-2025. If the next 12 months are just a delayed Giannis referendum, the franchise is missing the point. They don’t need to “save” Giannis. They need to build something worth staying for.
Because if Milwaukee can’t equilibrate ambition with execution, they’ll keep getting passed over. Not just by the Pacers, but by every team that understands building a team is not about grandeur. It’s about grinding toward a sustainable identity. The Milwaukee Bucks used to have one. They still can.
Let Indiana be the blueprint. Because if Milwaukee doesn’t start making smarter decisions, they’ll keep watching teams like the Pacers sprint past them until they lose the only superstar they've ever known in this era.