Giannis Injury Update: How Will/Can the Bucks Survive December Without Their Superstar?

Giannis Injury Update: How Will/Can the Bucks Survive December Without Their Superstar?

We got an updated timeline on Giannis’ recovery and what it means for this season’s Bucks. We dig into it next on Locked on Bucks. You are Locked on Bucks, your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome in to Locked On Bucks. I’m Justin Garcia thanking you for joining us today each and every day. All the everydayers out there, shouts to all of you and anybody else that’s that’s found Locked on Bucks popping up on their Spotify unwrapped. Continue to share those with Camille and myself. We thank each and every one of you for that and for helping make Locked On the number one sports podcast network out there. Uh shout out to each and every one of you joining us here every single day and those just stumbling on to us on days like today and any day this week with some of the offthe court rumors and rumblings. Today’s episode of Lockdown Bucks is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. Okay, so anything happened recently in the last couple days? Um, Frank and Camille talked a little bit about the the rumors that popped up. We will get into it a little bit on today’s show. I I uh may be surp I had quite a few requests for radio interviews yesterday. So, we tackled that in various places. But, let’s start with what we do know and what’s going to impact this team in the short term greater than anything. And that is the injury update on Giannis is um it came out. It’s a two to four week timeline that we are looking at here for Giannis in terms of his recovery with a calf strain. I I don’t know what grade that would put it at two I believe but um two to four weeks if we’re generous and saying hey Jiannis has been a mira miraculous recovery miraculous at recovery throughout his career. uh that’s going to put you until the middle of the week before Christmas, which as we’ve talked about some scheduling quirks due to the NBA Cup would mean that Giannis, if it’s two weeks, would miss uh four maybe five games depending on where he’s at that next day when the Bucks host Raptors. That doesn’t really seem like a game I’d want to rush him back for. um especially depending on where things go the remainder of this week. But that’s best case scenario is four to five games that he would miss. Now unfortunately you got another four game week the week after that which would be three weeks if it is the full four weeks. Um then we’re looking at about 11 games, potentially 12 depending on where he’s at with that Hornets game the end of the first week in January. And then after that, you embark on a West Coast road trip the next week. So I I think you probably have to manage, I would assume, 9 to 11 games here that you’re going to be playing without Giannis in the uh the short term. And as we’ve seen, you know, that game against the Pistons does not count as a game played without Giannis, but for all intents and purposes, it was. the have struggled to put it might mildly in those uh games. So, if your aspirations, which coming into the season we knew they were, are playoffs, it’s quite a challenge that you’re going to have in front of you here. Now, we talked about some of these teams starting to go through some scuffles of late, namely the Chicago Bulls, who much like the Bucks, feel like a a totally different team uh since that that incredible start to the season. The Bucks have now passed the Bulls or they’ve caught them uh in the standings, but they’re up in win percentage for that final spot in the playin tournament. Right now, if the season were to end today, your playin tournament would be the 76ers hosting the Cavaliers in the 78 matchup. The winner gets the seven seed and then the Hawks hosting the Bucks in the 910 matchup with the loser eliminated. And while it’s easy to say, look, I don’t think that’s going to be what we get at season’s end, I there’s a very very strong chance that at the very least two of those teams are in there and maybe even three of those teams are in that 7 to 10 range because Detroit, New York, Toronto, they’re not going away at the top of the Eastern Conference in that order. And I throw Miami in there as well with the way that they’ve played offensively. Wow, they did not have Tyler Herro. Uh they’ve continued to beat good teams here. I think you could look at the Celtics and say, “Well, this certainly can’t last, right?” But they’re 13-9. They’ve gone 13-6 since an 0 and3 start to the season. And you look back at recent games, uh this Celtics team that myself included, many of us kind of overlooked. I said I thought they were possibly quiet quitting before the season started with that front court. you know, in recent games, they’ve beaten the Pistons, the Knicks, the Cavaliers. So, this team’s for real. Maybe they slide into the playin tournament. The Boston’s not just going to vanish entirely. Um, if you’re going to be with Giannis for that games and just looking at this schedule that’s in front of them. So tonight, the Philadelphia 76ers, who are on night two of a back-to- back in a game that went down to the wire last night against the Golden State Warriors, but it was a win for Philly. You get that. Then Saturday, you are on night two of a backto-back in Detroit against a Pistons team that is probably going to be even more motivated after what happened on Wednesday. Detroit is also on night two of a backto-back. Then you get four days off. As we’ve talked about the quirks to the schedule and where it starts to come into play here, you do get four days off. That next game is at home against the Boston Celtics. Then it’s two days off. Then you’re on the road in Brooklyn against the Nets. Then it’s three days off. Then you’re at home against the Raptors. And then two days off before you start what comes to be a fivegame road trip. That’s a Midwest/ East Coast road trip. It starts in Minnesota against the Timberwolves. Uh two days before Christmas, it’s in Indiana against the Pacers. And now you are trending in the wrong direction as Indiana starting to get some pieces back. Then the day after Christmas, it’s in Memphis against the Grizzlies. One day later in Chicago against the Bulls and the trip wraps up December 29th in Charlotte against the Hornets. Before you wrap up the calendar year, New Year’s Eve 7:00 tip off against the Washington Wizards. And if things continue to trend this way, I I wonder how how how much attendance we will see on New Year’s Eve for a 700 p.m. game against the Washington Wizards. But that’s the schedule. It’s not incredibly difficult. It’s not like when you look back at some of the stretches in November when you saw Lakers, Cavs, Sixers, Pistons, Blazers for that matter, Heat, Knicks. Um there is difficulty in there but it is not start to finish what you saw in November. The caveat though is well it gets more difficult when you don’t honest on the floor. So looking at that that schedule and again I think you have to kind of say it’s going to be at least nine games. Uh best case scenario as we noted four games that Giannis will miss but got four the following week got one more at the end of that week. Um I just given this is another soft tissue issue with Giannis coming you know what uh two weeks after he suffered an adductor injury and and this one marked uh two three games back from that injury. you have to be even more cautious with him for his long-term future and for potentially the short term or summer future for both you and uh Giannis. So, can you weather the storm here? You know, we we said coming into the month of December, December is going to tell you everything you need to know about this team. December is going to give you your answers with the struggles that they faced in November. Again, it wasn’t just the injury to Giannis and of Giannis. They were not good in the games outside of that. They have not played like a good team since November 1st. They’ve had some blips on the radar. Uh but October, which was only a five-game sample, they were very good. Since then, they have not been. So, in terms of where you go from here, we said December was going to give you an answer. I I think that’s even more accurate now. But I didn’t anticipate it being for these reasons. So, the back end of that, the answers that you could be provided and potential pivots and scenarios that we now have to put on the table and examine. We’ll get into that conversation coming up after this on today’s Locked On. Me tell you about our friends over at Drip Drop. When I’m hydrated, everything works better. Same for you. Focus, energy, mood, your skin. That’s why I’ve been using Drip Drop. It’s doctor developed hydration that keeps me running at full power no matter what my day looks like. And just to give you a peak behind curtain, I need that hydration and energy throughout each and every day. Drip Drop isn’t your average sports drink. 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If you joined us over on WTMJ radio for the immediate postgame show, but you know, I’ve talked about it there in other appearances, too. The Bucks are not looking to trade Giannis. this is going to happen, there’s going to have to be a trade request and a mutual agreement of both parties feel this can’t go any further and it’s in our best interest for you as a competitor to find that elsewhere and for us as a team to get back to that spot by restocking our assets here and looking to make that type of deal. That has not happened. Uh there’s more to it that you have to examine as well other than just what assets can you get when you trade Giannis, right? Um this is something that look I will grant you this does not impact fans per se. Um and a lot of you frankly don’t care and that’s fine but I’m just telling you it’s not only a basket decision. There is a business decision to this as well and a business impact in in dealing any player like that, especially for an organization like the Milwaukee Bucks who prior to Giannis’ arrival and descent. This was basketball Siberia, right? like you think back to and I know the league is in a much different spot than it was in the ‘9s certainly in the early 2000s uh even again early 2010s when Giannis was just starting his ascent here there is more of an opportunity for those smaller market teams to find some success and you know sustain it right I mean look the Bucks won an NBA championship and look at some of the recent title teams that you’ve seen it’s not just Celtics Lakers, Knicks. I know the Celtics are in there, but you’ve had the Bucks, the Denver Nuggets, the Toronto Raptors, the Oklahoma City Thunder. So, there is that opportunity that’s out there. But I I know all of the fans have been here long before this era of Bucks basketball, which I I do think I was talking about this the other day. I’m try I’m going to try not to get sidetracked here, and we’ve already done it, but I do think you have to say that era is over. And that era probably ended two years ago. When you fire a head coach and you trade a player like Drew Holiday, you know, the identity has been gone. The pieces have changed that that era ended. It is the Giannis era, sure, but the the era that we came to know in how this team competed and the levels of success that they have, that era has been gone for a couple of years. Um, those of you, and I I know it’s quite a few that remember very well in detail what it was like before that era, you know how sparsely attended games were. You know how very, very little attention you saw in your own market, your media give to the Bucks, right? Think about how many Bucks stories were out there and Charles F. Gardner and and Dale Hoffman and and those guys of the the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that were writing about them and blogs, shouts to Frank, that were just starting to come about and and Mitchell Mau. That was it, right? I mean, Sports Talk Radio, there was no need to talk about the Bucks. It was Packers and Brewers and even collegiate teams. Uh there was no attention paid to this group. It was tough to drum up interest. It was a a chore for the Bucks media relations group to really do all that they could to try to get folks out there to cover the team and pay attention. Milwaukee was not a destination, not just as a basketball place, as a city itself. You think about the tourism impact and and that’s what it comes down to of largely why there’s no interest to to trade Giannis is number one, he is the greatest player in the history of your franchise. And you can debate whether or not Kareem Abdul Jabbar has been a bit better better player in NBA history. He certainly has more accolades and championships, but for their time in Milwaukee, uh I know Kareem played in a second finals, but Giannis’ impact has been much greater because of where the franchise was and what he essentially rescued and saved. I mean, you can also make a strong case the Bucks are no longer here if Giannis doesn’t become the player that he is with all the rumblings and chatter that was really starting to pick up steam for relocation in other markets and and cities that lost their teams. Um, so there’s that component, but there’s a business aspect to it as as well in that you’re a viable group. You know, I I mean, I I know we’ve talked about where are they at in terms of competing for a championship now in the last couple of years, but people know who the Milwaukee Bucks are. People know who Giannis is. You look at jersey sales. You look at the international appeal and interest and TV ratings uh that are generated when you have a player like Giannis becoming Greeks adopted team and and getting that country the tourism market now to fans from around the world and us come to Milwaukee to go to Bucks games because they want to see Giannis look at the arena outside or the area outside of the arena. Those are all things that don’t happen without this explosion and without this player that drums up even more interest in this franchise. So, I I do believe there’s a great deal of fear of boy, I remember what it was like when we didn’t have this guy. What if we go back to that? I think there are more guard rails in place that you you will never truly be back to the level it was before. Um where it’s this is no longer a league where big market teams can just go pluck whoever they want. I know that’s the discourse that’s been out there all of this week is frankly false. Um, but that is the hesitation, the importance that he’s meant to the community, this team, the history of this team and what he’s done in terms of the economic boost for you. Plus, like you continue to have some relevancy in this league. And it’s not to say it’s lost and gone forever if he exits, but it’s one of those things that once you have, you aren’t looking to rush to give up. So that’s where this is coming from. Even if more and more fans have started to to side with the you know what, I just think it is probably in best interest of both parties here to move on. That is why barring something unforeseen, you’re not going to see the Bucks say it’s time we’re going to look to move you. It’s going to have to be a mutual thing or it it’s going to have to be from the player camp to say, “Yeah, let’s do this.” Um, now I I didn’t want to spend too much time on that cuz like I said, I know Frank and Camille talked about this quite a bit and you’ve heard a lot of it and I know there’s probably a large portion of Bucks fans who are just over it and don’t want to continue to be beaten over the head with what’s going to happen with Giannis. Is he going to be traded? because in many ways it’s also starting to feel like something we experienced twice before with Aaron Rogers and with Brett Favre. So I I don’t want to turn this into what happens now and and what options for Giannis. What I will just say is what I started to say there. I just I would be stunned if there’s an in-season trade for that reason alone and also because of the CBA and the cap. It is incredibly difficult to make those types of deals, especially with contracts like what Giannis has. Uh again, to be clear, there has not been a trade request. You hear one name coming up quite a bit and it goes back to the summer where there were reportedly conversations that were had and as we found out anybody could have told you that that took a step back and analyze the situation of both teams. It’s not a fit because of the assets available and that’s the New York Knicks. Look at the Knicks for example. Knicks are a first apron team which means you cannot bring back more money than you send out in a trade. They don’t have anyone that makes more money than Giannis this year. So, you would have to make this a multi-player deal. Multiplayer deals are very challenging when you have contracts of that size of 55 and more million dollars. uh because that is a big big piece of your roster that you are now trying to finagle and fit under this apron level and and cap and and oh by the way the Knicks just don’t have assets. you know, the the picks that they traded for Male Bridges and and and for Carl Anthony Towns, the assets in that deal, it leaves the cupboard not totally bare, but just not with much to deal out there that I don’t believe they could even trade their first rounder this summer because of the Steppian rule. Um, they do have a pick coming in from the Washington Wizards. They only get that first round pick if the Wizards are outside of the top eight, which is is very unlikely for that to happen. The Wizards would have to finish outside of the bottom four records in basketball to even have a chance at uh the number eight pick. So, or outside of the number eight. So, Knicks are almost impossible in season. Any other team is going to be very very unlikely in season when you’re dealing with contracts of that size. But it brings us to the next potential pivot. And I I don’t even want to say sell job, but just okay. Can we possibly thread the needle here? So, the way to do that, we’ll get into coming up next. The NBA season’s heating up and Door Dash has found the perfect way to keep fans in their bag all season long. Whether you’re watching for the highlights, your fantasy team, or just your favorite player, Door Dash makes every game night even better. Door Dash is the official on demand delivery platform of the NBA. They are celebrating with something called the bag drop. Every time an NBA player scores 50 points in a game, Door Dash drops 50% off your order with Dash Pass the next day and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win the Ultimate Fan Bag. Player inspired drip, exclusive gear, stuff you’re going to actually want. 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And you think back to the way that he played against the Miami Heat. Uh, can we get that Miles Turner going here? But also, we got to get a much better look at this threeman group of Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., and AJ Green. How do they fit together? what are the shortcomings? Obviously, size, especially if you’re going up against bigger opponents on the perimeter. Um, but offensively, how do they pair off of one another? We got to continue to get those possessions and minutes to build up a sample size and see what we have here because you’ve got AJ locked up. You’ve got Ryan on an incredibly friendly uh team friendly deal here for the next at least two seasons after this, I should say. And then Kevin Porter Jr. is a oneplus 1 that if he look if he continues to play like this. We talked about last summer what the market was going to be and I told you and and Frank mentioned as well. Look, it’s not $20 million. I I know that was kicked around by a lot of fans. That’s not going to be out there for Evan Porter Jr. because of the cap situation by a lot of teams uh who actually has money. And think about the guys we’ve seen go for veteran minimum contracts. Well, if he’s going to play like this, uh, basically a guaranteed I mean, if we look at the last three games, especially 25 points, it’s going to be there or at least close to that figure this summer when more teams are going to have money as well. So, you’re going to have to figure out what is our walk away number with Kevin Porter Jr. and, you know, all that’s going to depend on which route you take this thing with the franchise. So, those are the things to discover. Jericho Sims as well. I I would imagine not just because of the the 15.14 rebound performance against the Pistons, but the fact that Giannis is down for two to four weeks. I think you know what you have in Bobby Portoris and you know what you can get from him, but you have to find that now in Jericho Sims and how does this fit with Miles Turner? How does this fit with this player? There’s we see a baked in history. He already has with Kevin Porter Jr., But how does that fit look with Ryan Rollins and some of those things? So, it gives you the opportunity to get an extended look now at Jericho Sims and the rest of these guys. Um, Cole Anthony, right, for how much he struggled, he’s going to have opportunities now because you’re going to have to find guys with juice that are going to push the tempo and look to score. And as long as your two main guys are healthy and Rollins and KPJ, you at least have a shorter leash where you can say, “Not a game, he has it. We can pull him and move on to something else.” So those are those are the biggest things to start to get a sense of here in the short term as you continue to play these games uh for again at least the next two to four weeks without Giannis and see what do we have with this group. How do we get Miles Turner going? What can we build up here? And maybe by the time Giannis is able to return, we’ve weathered the storm, right? If if it’s nine games, let’s say, that he is, maybe you go five and four because these young guys just fit. They’re allowing you to play a different brand of basketball and you discover some other things with the ways that you utilize Miles Turner and Jericho Sims, etc. uh you do that, you’re still not in a great spot at 15 and 17. But one of the things we mentioned was look coming out of December and and why to finish that point, this is going to tell you what you need to know. I know everybody that went back and looked up the Indiana Pacers and like, well, they were 9 and 13. They battled a lot of injuries in that first stretch of the season when the Bucks beat them on New Year’s Eve. I think it was 16 and 18, something like that. That is to me the the that’s the bar. Be within striking distance of 500 going into December into January into the new year. And if you’re getting a healthy Giannis back and if you found some of those things that we just went through with individual players that work with a miles turner of look this is the way we got to play him. So when Giannis returns this is some of the things we’re going to have to do are some of the things we’re do. If you can be within 500, then it makes it very interesting. But it’s it’s also I I think a larger conversation. Makes it very interesting in the sense that it gives you much more hope. Uh because right now, as we mentioned, you’re 10th in the East, you’re the final playing team, but we’re starting to see a little bit of gaps starting to form. You’re eight games back in the lost home of the Pistons. You’re not catching them. You’re six games back in the Knicks, you’re not catching them. You’re five games back of the Heat and Raptors. You’re starting to lose hold of that rope. You’re four games back of the Celtics, Magic, and Sixers. You can do something about that in terms of the Sixers and Celtics in the near future here. And you’re three games back in the loss column of the Cavs and the Hawks. You’ve already dropped two to the Cavaliers. So, a tough stretch here without Giannis. And it’s starting to get pretty late pretty early. And it may make the decision for you. That decision is, you know, as we mentioned, finding things with guys, discovering some things and and seeing different ways to play and what you have with this group, how much more sample size you can build up, I think, with those four guys especially, I would say, an AJ Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins, and then seeing what you have in Jericho Sims. Um, but this is not what any of us envisioned coming into the season. And the other tough part is players are competitors. Players want to win. Front offices may have different directions and decisions than players, but players are going to play to win. If things do go south here, and again, if we if we say nine games that Giannis misses and you go one and eight or two and seven, and then all of a sudden you’re 11 and 21, you know, 12 and 20, something like that, I think it may make the decision for you to say, well, let’s tell the big fella, just continue to take your time. uh two to four weeks maybe it becomes four weeks we’ll re-evaluate you Ian up we’ll continue to play you because the other thing to note here uh two to four weeks if Giannis misses that amount of time and it’s 11 games it basically means you’re not qualifying for individual honors in all NBA for the first time in his career so I do wonder how much that’s going to factor into on Giannis’s end how much he pushes himself to return here but if those things happen where it starts to give you an answer none of us wanted coming into the season. If there was one year to do it, this is the year for for as much as you know, everyone kicked around the phrase gap year and it was shot down immediately and vehemently by the organization many times throughout the offseason. Um, this would be the year to do that because that first round pick is a pick swap this summer with the New Orleans Pelicans. Right now, the New Orleans Pelicans own the worst record in the league at 3 and 20 and they announced Zion Williamson is probably going to be out for five weeks. Um, there isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel for the Pelicans. I wonder what happens with Dallas. Cooper flag starting to look better and better. Uh, do they start to maybe move closer to 500? I still don’t really see a pathway to a a 500 finish for them, but they start to pick up some wins here. The Nets have already kind of shut it down. Same with the Wizards. I think the Pacers, even though they’re getting guys back, they’re 4-8. The DY has been cast there. They’re probably going to do the same. But three and 20 for the New Orleans Pelicans in a tougher conference where it’s not the end- all beall like everybody pointed to. Yeah, but the Eastern Conference and you get an easier slate of games. Like it’s not every single game. It’s about twothirds of your schedule. Doesn’t help you when you’re a bad team like the Pelicans. So the long and short of it is New Orleans is going to be bad. Right now the Bucks have the 13 worst record. Have the worst. though the pick swap means if you miss the playoffs, I mean, there’s a there’s an incredibly high chance it’s a lottery pick either way because New Orleans is going to finish, you would assume, with a worse record than you. You’ve already got seven games banked in the win column over them. So, if there’s a year to do it, this is the year where you can say, “Well, we’re not at risk of losing a lottery pick.” And New Orleans wouldn’t even get it. would go to Atlanta. So, they could potentially be be looking at the number one pick in the draft, which would then add even more intrigue to the summer and potential trade discussions. But, um, if December goes south and if this injury to Giannis kind of puts it over the top where this team just can’t hang tough and compete in those games and you start to lose even more ground and before you know it, you’re out of that playoff picture. The Bulls have moved back past you. maybe even the Charlotte Hornets because that’s only four games right now separating two of you then I I think that’s the answer that you have is this is how we restock some of the assets with this uh this draft which continues to catch rave reviews and be hyped as one of the better draft classes we have seen in uh quite some time tonight though uh we’ll start to get some of those answers and we’ll see how this group specifically that back court specifically some extended minutes you would assume for Jericho Sims looks against a, you know, not rested, a tired Philadelphia 76ers team coming in on night two of a backto-back in a game that went down to the wire last night against the Washington Wizards. So, I believe we’ll have a postgame tomorrow. Um, TBD on that one. If you cannot wait, again, you can join us immediately after the game on WTMJ and get the radio version of the postgame show. And then um TBD on who it is in terms of personnel too, but it’s likely going to be tomorrow if we can get to it. Camille is currently uh under the weather and uh my video duties mean any postgame show wouldn’t be until very very late at night, early in the morning, but be on the lookout for that. and uh a lot of rest. So, a lot of off days to start to dig into some the cap numbers, everything else and and probably get to some more mailbags and some of your questions early in the week next week. That’ll do it for today’s show. Uh again, Bucks and the Sixers, a big one tonight. All eyes on that one. We’ll talk to you once again tomorrow on Locked on Bucks.

Milwaukee Bucks face a pivotal stretch as Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury sidelines him for up to four weeks. With playoff hopes on the line, can the Bucks survive a challenging run without their franchise cornerstone? Trade rumors swirl, but the Bucks remain uninterested in moving Giannis—unless a major shakeup is requested.

Justin Garcia breaks down the NBA standings, upcoming schedule quirks, and the impact of Giannis’s absence on the Bucks’ play-in tournament prospects. The spotlight shifts to key contributors like Bobby Portis, Miles Turner, and emerging talents Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr., as Milwaukee tests new rotations to weather the storm. Hear exclusive insights on potential lineup pivots, front office hesitations around blockbuster trades, and the uncertain future for the Bucks in the fiercely competitive Eastern Conference. Are these weeks a make-or-break moment for Milwaukee’s season?

0:00 Giannis Injury Update
12:07 Trade Rumors & Franchise Direction
24:51 Bucks Short-Term Strategy

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