{"id":571047,"date":"2026-01-30T16:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/571047\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T16:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:35:13","slug":"the-bucks-are-worse-than-the-nbas-worst-team-without-giannis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/571047\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bucks are worse than the NBA’s worst team without Giannis"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, Giannis Antetokounmpo wants a new home<\/a> you say?<\/p>\n

If the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> drag their feet on accommodating that wish reported Wednesday<\/a> by ESPN’s Shams Charania, you\u2019ll understand why after watching the team play a day later. We don\u2019t have to wonder what a post-Giannis life looks like for the Bucks, we\u2019ve seen it already through several chunks of the season. It’s bleak.<\/p>\n

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Thursday was no different as Milwaukee struggled to keep up with the bottom-dwelling Washington Wizards<\/a>, owners of the NBA\u2019s worst record, in a second straight loss with their two-time MVP sidelined by a strained calf<\/a>. Maybe that was even to be expected considering the Bucks lost to the Wizards a month ago with Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a rock fight,\u201d head coach Doc Rivers said<\/a> after the 109-99 loss.<\/p>\n

WHERE TO? 4 potential Giannis trade destinations<\/a><\/p>\n

Milwaukee\u2019s most glaring hole might\u2019ve been at point guard, where the team deployed former Wizard Kyle Kuzma for stretches. Through boos from the D.C. crowd each time he touched the ball, Kuzma finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists playing out of position. Though Rivers was pleased with how Kuzma played overall, he admitted \u201cnot having [Kevin Porter Jr.], not having Giannis, we literally don\u2019t have enough ball-handlers on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Milwaukee struggled from the start, mustering just two points through the first 4:32 of the game, digging an early hole it never fully recovered from in a game the Bucks trailed 92 percent of the way through. Where Washington won was at the free throw line, where the team\u2019s 25 makes were 16 more than the Bucks attempted. The 29th-ranked team in free throws on the season, Milwaukee can’t afford to give up so many on the other end, and yet that\u2019s exactly what happened against a Wizards team that only ranks 25th.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re keeping up, that\u2019s ball-handler, defender who doesn’t foul and volume free-throw shooter the Bucks were missing Thursday. Hmm. Milwaukee might have a guy who fits that description. It\u2019s no wonder Charania reported the Bucks aren’t in a rush to make any trades.<\/p>\n

MAMA MIA: Did Giannis’ mom drop hint about his preferred destination?<\/a><\/p>\n

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What Antetokounmpo gave the Bucks\u2019 flawed roster was a fighting chance each game. They have a 120.8 offensive rating with him on the court, which would tie Denver for No. 1 in the NBA. Their 106 rating with him off the court would rank last by two points. It all helps to explain why they\u2019re 3-13 in games he\u2019s missed this season, good for a winning percentage of 23 \u2014 which would also rank last. In other words, without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are the Wizards.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee\u2019s future outlook is even worse than that, though. At least Washington has young talent to develop for a brighter future. All the Bucks have is the league\u2019s fifth-oldest roster, according to nbaage.com<\/a>. Which makes obvious what the team needs to prioritize in any trade for Antetokounmpo; young players and draft picks. Anything short of that won\u2019t be worth it.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Bucks are NBA’s worst team without Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So, Giannis Antetokounmpo wants a new home you say? If the Milwaukee Bucks drag their feet on accommodating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,301,123,365,124,102,121,3871,6,567,361,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-571047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-denver","11":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","12":"tag-kevin-porter-jr","13":"tag-kyle-kuzma","14":"tag-milwaukee","15":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","16":"tag-milwaukeebucks","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-shams-charania","19":"tag-the-bucks","20":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115985024547657129","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}