Currently, Giannis Antetokounmpo is occupied with representing his national team at the EuroBasket 2025. But back in Milwaukee, the question that has occupied many is the Greek Freak’s future with the team. The Bucks even bought out Lillard’s contract to maximize the window of winning another championship. But as every single day goes by in the summer, the heat increases on the exit rumors.
Especially when Shams Charania continues to drop updates, which requires everyone to take a deep breath. This one might provide a sigh of relief to the Bucks faithful. “I think right up until training camp. Figuring out, at least for me, is when I’m told Giannis Antetokounmpo is good. He is 100% good from every single avenue, every single side that I trust and rely on. That’s when I’ll be comfortable…” So, ESPN’s senior Insider is sure that there is still a chance and, more importantly, time for the Bucks to convince their superstar. But will that require a sacrifice from the 2x MVP?
On the Hear District episode 75, co-host Kris Johnson directed the question to NBA legend Kevin Garnett. “We talked about sacrifice earlier. Ticket. Do you think that Giannis should make similar sacrifices to have more energy on the defensive end if the Bucks want to be a legitimate championship title contender?” KG, a forward known not only for buckets but intensity to shut opponents down, once had the same dilemma. “Well, unfortunately, I’ve been in this situation, and Kris to answer your question honestly, and this is just my view.”
Garnett posed a question, “So, if Giannis takes a little more defensive stance and has better defensive numbers and the Bucks don’t win and he doesn’t average the points that you’re expecting to average, right? Because he’s putting a little more than on the defensive end, right?” Should the 30-year-old sacrifice his scoring to save energy to defend more? But that leaves the team susceptible to scoring. Last season, only Giannis and Dame averaged more than 20 points for the team. That’s why the Big Ticket was not a fan of this assessment.
“I can see him conserving himself to be more effective on the offensive end because you still got to put the ball in the basket. You still got to get to the foul line. Somebody has to take it to the basket. Who’s the best one-on-one player you got? I’m the best player, right? Y’all post me up. I get it off the glass, you know, in transition, I try to playmate. So I think he’s trying to do everything within his scope of knowing what to do. You know what I’m saying?”
But the team’s defensive struggles may not be solved by a single new player, which adds to the pressure on Giannis.
The new addition might not be enough for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s chances to win with the Bucks
Let’s understand this: Last season, Giannis finished third in the MVP ranking, behind only Jokic and the winner SGA. The Greek Freak scored 30.4 points per game. Even in the playoffs, in the 5-game series, his scoring did not go down. Against the Indiana Pacers, he scored 33 points but failed to inspire the team to win. Their defensive woes were visible; the team had a 112.7 defensive rating during the regular season, which turned for the worse. 118 defensive rating, being the second-worst team during the playoffs. That’s why the team signed Myles Turner to add more stability and reduce the defensive woes.
Recently, Sam Vecenie of the Game Theory Podcast spoke about Turner’s regression on defense. “I would argue that from a five-year stretch there, really his fourth year until probably 2023, Turner was probably a top-10 defender in the NBA, something in that ballpark…Now, he’s just not quite as mobile as what he used to be, and I think that hinders him. I thought this year defensively was probably a pretty real drop off from him.”
So, that means the pressure on Giannis Antetokounmpo is two-fold. To continue scoring and help other players improve as well. On the other end, he needs to be defensively active to avoid losing again. With this added pressure, the rumors about him leaving cause more trouble than comfort.
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