Before Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled up with a calf strain Friday night versus Denver, the Milwaukee Bucks were already staring down a bleak season. Pulling off a perfect trade deadline looked like the Bucks' only hope to right a rapidly sinking ship.
According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, they should have known that approach wouldn't work. "No trade will return the Bucks to contender status," he wrote in his midseason check-in handing out "lessons" for all 30 teams.
If he wasn't right before, he is now. In the wake of Giannis' latest injury, there isn't a move the Bucks could make to save their season.
With Giannis hurt again, Bontemps' truth is undeniable
Expected to miss four to six weeks with a right calf strain, Giannis could return late next month at the earliest, well past the trade deadline. The Bucks would have around six to seven weeks left on the schedule. Barring a miraculous turnaround in Giannis' absence, there just wouldn't be time.
With or without a trade, there's no reason to expect any such miracle to come. Milwaukee is 3-11 without Antetokounmpo; no "replacement" via trade, minus outgoing players, would make up the difference. So long, Michael Porter Jr. dreams.
With Giannis healthy, the Bucks are 15-15. It was not inconceivable that the right maneuvers could help them become at least a feisty Play-In team. Mired outside the Play-In field for most of the year, they clearly lacked the firepower to aid the Greek Freak in his nightly efforts. Maybe flipping a few rotation pieces for a high-octane playmaker was the shakeup the roster clearly needed.
Or maybe Bontemps was right all along. Would adding Zach LaVine really rewrite their story? Would Ja Morant? To have any hope at all, the Bucks needed something seismic.
That much was evident on Friday, when a Nuggets squad missing most of its starting lineup and multiple key reserves had the Bucks on the ropes at home. A final push from their two-time MVP proved futile as the comeback fell short. Hobbled by injury, Giannis returned to watch from the bench, an ice pack strapped to his leg.
Burned into the brains of Bucks fans, that image painfully reflects where this team sits in the wake of his injury. Without Giannis, this roster is effectively helpless. A trade won't change that. Spending valuable draft capital to try and resuscitate a season past saving would just further hurt the future.
Fans can only sit by and watch while the NBA world waits for a possible bombshell to kickstart the Giannis sweepstakes.