After entering the season with hopes of claiming their second title in four years, the Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, with superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo missing the entire series due to a calf strain.
As Jamal Collier of ESPN writes, Milwaukee made plenty of changes to try to advance further in 2023/24, starting with firing Mike Budenholzer and trading for Damian Lillard. The Bucks also cut ties with Adrian Griffin, Budenholzer’s replacement, during the season, hiring longtime head coach Doc Rivers in Griffin’s place. Yet the end result was the same: Antetokounmpo injured and a first-round exit.
With the NBA’s second-oldest roster, the Bucks looked brittle throughout the season, particularly on the defensive end, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer. Khris Middleton, Lillard and Antetokounmpo only combined to play 42 games together, and while they went 28-14 in those contests, they’ve all had their share of injuries the past few seasons.
Pina wonders if either Antetokounmpo or the Bucks — or even both — will eventually decide its best for the two sides to part ways, particularly if Milwaukee slogs through another up-and-down season again in ’24/25. That could turn out to be the most prudent choice for both parties, Pina contends.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Lillard, who missed Games 4 and 5 after aggravating an Achilles injury, returned for Thursday’s Game 6 loss. He finished with 28 points and four assists. While the team was obviously disappointed to be eliminated by Indiana, Middleton appreciated how much work Lillard put in to return on Thursday, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It meant a lot,” Middleton said. “He was going through a serious thing that had been bothering him for a while. He felt he was good enough to go out there and play tonight. I thought he gave it everything he had also. So it’s a lot of respect from me and I think from everyone inside that locker room that he went out there and played 35 minutes. We needed him tonight, but just couldn’t pull it out.”
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic gives an “incomplete” grade regarding the fit of Lillard and Rivers due to Milwaukee’s injuries. However, it’s clear the Bucks need to improve their roster, particularly adding more wing defenders, which will be a tall order for a team facing luxury tax restrictions this offseason, Nehm adds.
- Mark Deeks of HoopsHype provides his offseason preview for the Bucks.
- At the end of Game 6, Patrick Beverley threw a ball in the stands behind Milwaukee’s bench two times, hitting a pair of Pacers fans. According to Lauren Merola, Shams Charania and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, one of the fans was directing obscenities at Beverley in the lead-up to the incident, which was apparently escalated when the fan said, “Cancun … Cancun on three” when the team was breaking a huddle. The NBA is looking into the incident, per The Athletic.
- Beverley also refused to speak to a very well-regarded ESPN producer — Malinda Adams — who wasn’t subscribed to his podcast after the game. On Friday, Adams announced (via Twitter) that both Beverley and the Bucks reached out to her and apologized.