Two days after star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo called out his teammates for “being selfish” at times, the Milwaukee Bucks’ season went from bad to worse on Friday.
The Bucks hosted the Denver Nuggets, who were on the second night of a back-to-back. The Nuggets entered the night down four of their five starters, and their fifth starter, Aaron Gordon, left shortly before halftime with a hamstring injury. The Nuggets began the second half with Jalen Pickett, Julian Strawther, Spencer Jones, Zeke Nnaji and DaRon Holmes II as their starting lineup.
In other words, it was the epitome of a get-right game for the Bucks. It wound up being anything but that.
The Nuggets extended their six-point halftime lead to 15 points by the end of the third quarter, and they were up 86-63 with 10:33 remaining in the game after Tim Hardaway Jr. drilled a three-pointer. To the Bucks’ credit, though, they refused to throw in the towel. They battled all the way back to a one-point deficit late in the game before Denver closed out the win with free throws.
Making matters worse, Antetokounmpo injured his right calf early in the game. He gutted through it for most of the night but was clearly hobbled, and he ultimately subbed out for good with 34.2 seconds remaining. After the game, head coach Doc Rivers confirmed to reporters that Antetokounmpo aggravated the calf injury which sidelined him for three-plus weeks in December.
Antetokounmpo expects this aggravation to sideline him even longer.
Teams around the NBA have been particularly cautious with calf injuries this year in the wake of the ruptured Achilles tendons that Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered in the playoffs last year. Antetokounmpo is set to get an MRI on Saturday to assess the scope of his injury, but it sounds as though he won’t be back until after the mid-February All-Star break at the earliest.
Friday’s loss dropped the Bucks to 18-26 on the season, which has them 2.5 games behind the 10th-seeded Atlanta Hawks for the final spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in tournament. If the season ended today, Milwaukee would be out of the postseason entirely.
With Antetokounmpo’s frustration reportedly at “an all-time high,” Friday’s loss could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back on his long-awaited trade request. Instead, it might be a blessing in disguise for the Bucks.
Are The Giannis Trade Rumors Done For Now?
The Bucks have been adamant that they won’t trade Antetokounmpo unless he specifically requests a trade, while Antetokounmpo recently told Sam Amick of The Athletic that he never planned to do so because “that’s not in my nature.” In essence, he and the Bucks have been caught in a game of trade-request chicken for the past six-plus months.
With Antetokounmpo now expected to miss at least a month, that could put an end to all trade speculation about him this season.
The Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline is less than two weeks away. Teams might be less inclined to offer a blockbuster package for Antetokounmpo without knowing the full scope of his injury. This being an aggravation of the previous injury could scare off even more potential suitors.
That might be best for all sides for now. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that “the tension that’s in the air within that organization, in that locker room, it’s at an all-time high” due to the uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo’s future.
“When a player of Giannis’ caliber maybe has a wandering eye, or maybe doesn’t know what his future holds there, and having these intense conversations with the organization about what that looks like, there’s going to be such high levels and degrees of uncertainty within that organization,” Charania added.
That isn’t going away fully, to be clear. Even if Antetokounmpo stays put at the trade deadline, his long-term future figures to be perhaps the biggest topic of the offseason, as he’ll be one year away from potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent. If he turns down the $250-plus million extension that the Bucks can offer him on Oct. 1, they may have little choice but to trade him at that point.
Although Rivers has been trying to downplay the speculation about Antetokounmpo’s future all season, it’s human nature for that uncertainty to affect the locker room to some extent. Not having those questions hanging over their heads for the next few months could be a much-needed breath of fresh air for the other Bucks players.
Antetokounmpo’s injury could also make the Bucks change directions at the trade deadline. They’ve reportedly been shopping around for win-now upgrades despite having a relative dearth of assets to dangle. Antetokounmpo’s injury should force them to re-evaluate that strategy, as they’re now facing an uphill battle just to make it into the playoffs.
Could The Draft Provide A Savior For Milwaukee?
Aside from potentially pressing pause on the exhausting narratives about Antekokounmpo’s future, his injury could have on-court benefits for the Bucks as well.
The Bucks do not have control of their 2026 first-round pick, which theoretically reduces their incentive to pull the plug on the season. However, they get the worse of their own pick and the New Orleans Pelicans’ fully unprotected 2026 first-round pick. The Pelicans currently have the second-worst record in the NBA.
If the Pelicans or Bucks win the lottery, that pick is heading to Atlanta. But if both teams jump into the top four of the lottery or land just outside of it, both picks should be fairly valuable.
Since the Bucks have spent all season trying to convince Antetokounmpo to stay, they’ve been in win-now mode up until this point. With Antetokounmpo sidelined, the Bucks could decide to pivot into more of a youth movement and let losses organically begin to pile up. That would push them higher in the lottery standings, increasing their odds of landing a premium pick (barring a drastic turnaround from the Pelicans).
Between Kansas wing Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, the top of the 2026 draft class is projected to have multiple potential franchise cornerstones. Even if the Bucks miss out on that trio, adding a young, high-upside prospect like Houston guard Kingston Flemings or Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. could go a long way toward convincing Antetokounmpo that he does have the help he needs in Milwaukee.
The Bucks don’t have control of any of their first-round picks beyond this year until 2031. Not only might this year be their best chance of landing a young co-star for Antetokounmpo in the draft; it might be their only chance.
If this sounds far-fetched, look no further than the Dallas Mavericks, who lucked into landing the No. 1 overall pick (aka, the rights to Duke forward Cooper Flagg) only a few months after their historically disastrous trade of Luka Dončić. Or what about the Philadelphia 76ers, who scuffled through an injury-ravaged 2024-25 season only to jump up to No. 3, take Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, and never look back.
This year’s draft is projected to have at least a few difference-making prospects along those lines. Antetokounmpo’s injury could help push the Bucks closer to landing one of them if they can’t stay afloat in his upcoming absence. That could push them closer to a resolution of his future, too.
A similar situation played out in Portland three years ago. Trade rumors had been swirling around star point guard Damian Lillard, although he swore his loyalty to the franchise and didn’t want to look like the bad guy by asking out. The Blazers landed the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 draft, which they used on fellow point guard Scoot Henderson. Roughly one week later, Lillard officially requested a trade.
Depending on how the lottery plays out this year, could history repeat itself in Milwaukee? Antetokounmpo’s latest injury might have increased the likelihood of that.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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