The moment Damian Lillard tore his Achilles in Game 4 of the first round against the Indiana Pacers, the 2025-26 season felt loss for the Milwaukee Bucks. On top of the injury, the rising concern that Giannis Antetokounmpo will inevitably request a trade to compete for championships elsewhere.
However, the Bucks responded in a much bigger way than what the average fan thinks. The biggest move they made this offseason was cutting but stretching Lillard’s contract. Instead of paying Lillard the remainder of his $103 million over the next two seasons, they will be paying him roughly $20 million over the next five seasons, freeing up cap space.
When the Bucks cut Lillard, fans were 90 percent sure that Antetokounmpo would request a trade before the season started. As training camp is a month away, Antetokounmpo is still a Buck, and has only considered requesting a trade. It is looking like Antetokounmpo, will at minimum, be playing the first half, if not the entire season in Milwaukee.
To have arguably a top 20 player of all time on your roster in their prime, Milwaukee is grandfathered in as a threat. With the Indiana Pacers taking a gap year, and potentially the Boston Celtics, the cards can draw in favor of the Bucks to compete in the Eastern Conference.
Bucks quietly put together a successful offseasonDespite the Lillard debacle, the result of stretching Lillard’s contract allowed them to sign Myles Turner. Turner was a key factor in the Pacers playoff runs the last two seasons. Indiana being without Tyrese Haliburton and now Turner, that’s one less threat Milwaukee will worry about.
Turner is an even bigger signing than just damaging the Pacers. Brook Lopez was the center next to Antetokounmpo. Stretching the floor and play defensive player of the year caliber defense for most of his tenure. Him signing with the Los Angeles Clippers left a hole that is now filled by Turner. Turner is eight years younger, can do everything that Lopez did, and is a more versatile defender.
Another newly added player, Cole Anthony. By no means is Anthony a game changer every game, but he is capable of being the difference between winning and losing. He averaged 9.4 points off the bench, with his highest in a game being 35. He did this in one of the worst offenses in the league. In an offense is that is sounder, with a superstar, his impact will be far greater.
Milwaukee brought back Gary Trent Jr, who had the most efficient season of his career, as well as Kevin Porter Jr, Bobby Portis, Taurean Prince, and Ryan Rollins. All played effectively next to Antetokounmpo last season.
Milwaukee should make strides defensivelyWhat allowed the Bucks to be a consistent top three finisher in the Eastern Conference since 2019, was that they were an elite defensive team. From 2019-23, they were a top 10 defense. The two years with Lillard, they finished 19th and 12th.
The moves they made allowed them to get younger and more versatility. With Lillard, they lost some of their perimeter defensive presence, which made defending the pick-and-roll harder when Lopez was in drop coverage. Additions such as Turner strengthens their ability to switch and Antetokounmpo can play as a top defender.
Kevin Porter Jr. can be an X-factor in the Bucks rotationThe biggest X-factor for the Bucks is Kevin Porter Jr. Last season, Porter had the opportunity to shine when Lillard went out with a blood clot. He averaged 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists on .500/.378/.851 shooting splits.
This performance should not come as a surprise. Before dealing with off the court issues, Porter averaged 19.2 points and 5.7 assists on .442/.366/.784 shooting splits his last season as a full-time starter in Houston. Playing as a number two option next to Antetokounmpo, and turned 25 years old, it’s within full reason to believe Porter could reach that level again.
Based off the recent success that a few teams have had over the last couple of seasons, they don’t need multiple superstars. One of the bigger questions NBA fans on the Bucks is, “Who will score besides Giannis?” The answer is, they have four other players, who either have or are capable of averaging 15 point a game. Those being, Bobby Portis, Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma, and Porter Jr.
The role players surrounding them are very efficient at what they do too. If Porter can return to a similar level to how he played near the end of the regular season and as he did in Houston, that is a game changer for Milwaukee.
Point-Giannis still leads the way in MilwaukeeThe Milwaukee Bucks that we saw at the end of the 2025-26 season will be running the same offense for as long Antetokounmpo is still a Buck. Which is, Antetokounmpo playing point guard. This was a 14-game stretch, in which Antetokounmpo played in 11, going 8-3 in that stretch, and the Bucks won the last eight games of the 14-game stretch.
Antetokounmpo averaged 31.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, and 1.1 steals shooting 61.2 percent from the field. The expectation is for him to continue that, which he’s shown he can for the course of a full season.
The most underrated part about his game has been his passing. He has shown that he can make the right reads and put his teammates in the best position to succeed. Based on the current roster construction, it’s built for Antetokounmpo to have the best season he has ever had.
We may see one of if not one of the greatest statistical seasons from Antetokounmpo next year. If he does his job, his teammates are also doing theirs as well. Which makes for a potential third MVP for Antetokounmpo and a great Milwaukee Buck team that no one was expecting to be as good as they can be.
