One of, if not the, most talked-about trade sagas of this season has been Giannis Antetokounmpo and his desire to find a new home away from the Milwaukee Bucks, the team he has been part of for over 13 years.
Given that the Bucks’ front office and Antetokounmpo had been working with each other on finding a solution, a trade seemed inevitable, but the opposite would happen.
In the hours leading up to the NBA trade deadline, it was reported that Milwaukee planned to keep its franchise superstar for the remainder of the season. This news came after several moves, some of which involved teams that were reportedly tied to pursuing Antetokounmpo, such as the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Golden State Warriors.
Now it allows Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to focus on the remainder of the campaign, one that sees them in the twelfth seed in the Eastern Conference standings, well outside of a Play-In or Playoff spot.
Some of these struggles could come as a result of the two-time MVP’s unfortunate injury luck this season, having missed 19 games thus far. The most recent stint on the bench has been due to a calf strain that he suffered in late January. This injury has deprived the Bucks of their leading scorer, with Antetokounmpo averaging 28 points and ten rebounds per game.
While there isn’t a set return date, the Greek international plans on playing upon returning from his injury, according to a recent report from The Athletic’s Eric Nehm.
“League sources tell The Athletic that Antetokounmpo still plans on playing once he has fully recovered from his right calf strain to help the Bucks make a push for the postseason,” writes Nehm.
As previously discussed, given where the Bucks are in the Eastern Conference standings, a playoff push would be quite the tall order. But with a few months of action left and only two and a half games outside postseason contention, anything is possible.
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