Milwaukee Bucks

If the Milwaukee Bucks are trying to acquire Chris Paul this offseason, they aren't in a rush to get a potential deal done. 

Per ESPN's Zach Lowe, it's unclear if the Bucks have even called the Oklahoma City Thunder to discuss Paul. 

"There has been no traction so far—and maybe not even any talks—on any deal sending Chris Paul from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Bucks, multiple sources say," Lowe wrote.

There has been speculation throughout the offseason that the Bucks could pursue the 35-year-old, though some of that discussion likely dates back to last year. 

The Ringer's Ryen Russillo said in October that he "heard (Paul) wanted to go to Milwaukee" before being traded to the Thunder. 

Following the Bucks' second-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat, The Athletic's Eric Nehm and Sam Amick reported it was "highly unlikely" they would go after Paul because of his high salaries over the next two seasons and a potential personality clash with Giannis Antetokounmpo:

"The cost of bringing him aboard—Paul is owed $41.3 million next season and has a player option worth $44.2 million in the 2021-22 campaign—and the potential difficulty of bringing Paul onto a roster already led by a strong personality in Antetokounmpo seems to limit the chances of the Bucks moving to pair the two All-Stars. All indications are that the Bucks would rather look elsewhere."

Antetokounmpo's contract status is hovering over everything happening in Milwaukee. The reigning two-time NBA MVP is eligible to sign a supermax extension this offseason, but he can become a free agent after the 2020-21 season if he decides to play things out. 

Paul is coming off a terrific season with Oklahoma City. The 10-time All-Star averaged 17.6 points and 6.7 assists per game. His 48.9 field-goal percentage was his best since the 2009-10 season. 

Forget looking like Mike. Disney+ is seeking someone to echo Antetokounmpo.

The streaming giant is turning the early life of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo into a film and has begun searching for an actor to portray a young hoops star. On Wednesday, Antetokounmpo joined in on the hunt for his younger self, as well as someone to play older brother Thanasis:

Casting information for Disney: https://t.co/B2EeOiuh6M. @Thanasis_ante43 💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/dFUFmY7LJs

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) October 28, 2020

According to a casting call from Walt Disney Studios, the production team is looking for actors who can assume the role of the Greek Freak at 13-15 years old and 15-18 years old. The former part requires actors 5'11" or taller, while the latter calls for an actor who is at least 6'3".

The casting call shows how Antetokounmpo's story will unfold on screen:

"Shorter and not as obviously gifted as Thanasis, Giannis has not yet reached his maturity, and he works extra hard at basketball – always remaining two long steps behind his big brother. Giannis is not afraid of hard work, and he pushes and pushes his body to master the craft of basketball -- until one magic day, something clicks and Giannis morphs from a skinny, inexperienced young boy to an 'AWESOME' young man."

By the time Antetokounmpo joined the NBA in 2013, the No. 15 overall selection stood a slender 6'9", 210 pounds. It might take some extreme method acting to pull off that type of growth spurt on screen. Fortunately, depicting a back-to-back NBA MVP's early days may be enticing enough for a wide swath of actors—or athletes—to try out.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Korver recounted when the team decided not to play in an NBA playoff game against the Orlando Magic as a form of protest in August.

Korver said Sunday at an event for his alma mater Creighton that Bucks players "were not really there mentally" ahead of the game. They had been deeply affected by the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, who has two sons, was especially emotional.

George Hill was the first Bucks player to signal he wasn't going to play, with Sterling Brown joining him. The rest of the team quickly agreed not to play.

Last night Kyle Korver explained the decision for the Milwaukee Bucks to stick together during an intense locker room meeting inside the NBA Bubble, and how it helped bring about change. pic.twitter.com/1wPi4brcyN

— Creighton Bluejays (@gocreighton) October 27, 2020

With nationwide protests against police brutality and racial inequality ongoing, the NBA said in June it had met with a group of players included Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala "to further advance the league's collective response to the social justice issues in our country."

The league also made ceremonial gestures such as painting Black Lives Matter on the courts it used for its restart at Walt Disney World Resort. Players were also permitted to wear a preapproved social justice message on the back of their jerseys.

However, some players were reportedly concerned before the restart that the return of basketball would take attention away from the protests. Hill argued that point following the shooting of Blake, per USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt:

"First of all, we shouldn't even have came to this damn place to be honest. Coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are. But we're here. It is what it is. We can't do anything from right here. But definitely when it's all settled, some things need to be done. This world has to change. Our police department has to change. Us a society has to change. Right now, we're not seeing any of that. Lives are being taken as we speak day in and day out. There's no consequence or accountability for it. That's what has to change."

Two days after making those comments, the Bucks started what became a brief leaguewide shutdown. The movement spread to MLS, MLB and the WNBA as well.

It looked like the fate of the 2019-20 NBA season was in jeopardy again.

National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Aug. 28 that games would resume after the league and players' union reached an agreement. Among the commitments from the NBA was for team governors to convert privately owned arenas into voting locations for the upcoming elections.

My career is done.

That was Trevon Duval's overriding thought. On the night of the 2018 NBA draft, sitting with friends and family at Bull Bay Caribbean Cuisine in Wilmington, Delaware, he'd felt embarrassment, shock and disbelief as the minutes became hours and his name was not called.

My career is done.

Loving words and pats on the back were appreciated but not enough. A lifelong desire to hear commissioner Adam Silver or deputy commissioner Mark Tatum say, "...select Trevon Duval from Duke University" was left unfulfilled.

My career is done.

Just a year earlier, in 2017, Duval had been the No. 1 point guard and No. 6 overall prospect of his high school class in the ESPN 100—ranked higher than current NBA starters Jaren Jackson Jr., Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trae Young and Collin Sexton. 

Now, on draft night, Duval—featured in the McDonald's All-American Game, the Jordan Brand Classic, the Nike Hoop Summit—had gone from lottery shoo-in to a trivia answer: Who was the first one-and-done Duke Blue Devil to go undrafted?

Two NBA seasons down and three G League organizations later, Duval, 22, is looking forward, aiming to find a way to the place so many thought he'd be two years ago. At the same time, it can be hard for him and his supporters not to look back. How a top prospect ended up undrafted and adrift provides a cautionary tale as a new crop of young men hope to enter the NBA fraternity in the November 18 draft. 

That night in 2018 when Duval went unselected, he remained expressionless. "Shut up and don't say anything," was his approach, even as inside he despaired his career was over before it had started. 

"It was sad at the end. Felt like a dream," his father, Trevor, said. "All these years, you training for this and preparing for this, and the dream don't come true, and it's like, 'Wow, is this real?' ... Felt like we was in the twilight. Felt like a dream."

All those four-hour, father-son workouts at the YMCA seemed for naught, all that time together with Trevor telling Trevon: You're going to the NBA; you're going to the NBA; you're going to the NBA.

"It was rough, and still is sometimes," Trevor said. "We reminisce a little bit. It was rough—was a rough night. We stopped getting a lot of calls. A lot of people stopped calling. [You] notice who your friends are, notice who's fake and the tagalongs and all that."

Since that night, Trevon has learned how to stand on his own, without the hangers-on. 

And there are plenty of true believers still around him, supporters who think the dream is alive.

"Here's the new headline for Trevon Duval: 'How did this kid go undrafted?' That's the headline," said Ron Martin, who coached Duval's We R1 AAU team. "We're going to be watching him play on TV, and the announcers are going to be asking that question, 'How did this kid go undrafted?'"

---

What had gone wrong?

Going into his freshman season at Duke, as a 6'2" guard with a 6'8" wingspan and 41.5-inch vertical, Duval's biggest strengths were his speed, athleticism and ability to find his way in the paint. He had a physical makeup that caught everyone's attention.

But with the Blue Devils, his game didn't show out as Duke played through Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr., and also featured Gary Trent Jr. and Grayson Allen. Duval's effectiveness and production suffered. He started 34 games, averaging 10.3 points and 5.6 assists, shooting 42.8 percent (29 percent on threes) and 59.6 percent from the line, but at 13.7, his PER was the lowest among the starters. 

Then Duval struggled in the predraft process, according to his father, belatedly hiring an agent and not participating in extra workouts. 

"I think he probably could've been a little bit more focused," Trevor said. "Coming from being a 5-star athlete, sometimes you think that's enough. Every level is harder, gets harder and harder."

But at the time, people in Trevon's ear thought his draft position was solid, even if he wasn't seen as the surefire lottery pick he'd been coming out of high school. 

"Everybody was telling me [as the draft approached] I was definitely going first-round," Duval said. "I was in the ranges of 15 and down. ... Everybody was telling me a bunch of things, but it was first-round and stuff."

Mocks for the 2018 draft did show Duval slipping. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman in February had Duval going as the last pick of the first round. In May and June, Duval was projected to go late in the second round.

When, after all, he was left undrafted, Duval felt he'd been deceived. 

"I was distraught," Duval said about the contrast between what he'd been told and what actually happened. "I was like: 'Damn, that's messed up. I thought somebody was gonna take me.' ...

"A bunch of teams promise you [stuff] and tell you things. You can't even take that seriously. I realized that obviously after the draft. They tell you whatever they feel like telling you."

The father-and-son tandem had a harsh entrance into the business and politics of the NBA. An experience countless families have encountered and will continue to.

---

Shortly after the draft, the Duvals got the call that would start a stage of Trevon's basketball career he had not been anticipating. On the line was Robert Gantt, aka Coach Weasel, his first AAU coach. 

Weasel had reassurance to offer Duval: "'Yo, man, I got some teams here calling for you, man,'" Duval recalled. "'I know everything ain't go how it was supposed to go, but I got some teams calling for you. Just stay positive, man.'

"When I talked to him after that, I really did feel better, and I was a lot more positive," Duval said.

Now, after nobody picked him, it was Duval's turn to make a choice: Houston or Milwaukee for the 2018 summer league? 

He chose the Rockets, and in five games he averaged 9.2 points and 16.9 minutes. Then it was the Bucks who signed him to a two-way G League/NBA deal four days after the summer session concluded.

Duval spent most of his time during the 2018-19 season in Oshkosh with the G League's Wisconsin Herd, not in Milwaukee. Oshkosh is a town with one of the world's largest air shows and synonymous with a children's apparel company—it's not where anyone envisions their career beginning.

But it was a direct opportunity for Duval to reach his basketball goals. "I felt like I arrived. I felt like I was here," Duval said.

In hindsight, the feeling of arrival was premature. Duval made it to Milwaukee for only three games and six minutes of playing time.

"Man, I learned a lot," Duval said. "Biggest thing I took from it: Everybody tells you it, but when you experience that this whole thing is a business. 

"You get a little bit of it in college, but it's not really you. It's more like the university.

"But when it's just you, and you realize you're your own corporation and business, that's what I realized."

He saw maturing as his challenge with Oshkosh. Evolving, developing self-discipline, with no father, Coach Martin, Coach K or Coach Weasel on the sidelines. 

As the season progressed, Duval produced—12.5 points in 28.2 minutes per game—and scored that brief time with the Bucks, which he described as "nice and dandy up there with Giannis."

Everything seemed to be on track for Duval as an individual, but the team's atmosphere was pressing in on him, and after the third-to-last game of the season, it became too much for him to bear. 

On a frigid, gloomy night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the team suffered the 11th loss of its past 15 games, making it 12-36. Duval was ready to burst. 

"I was frustrated we was losing, honestly," Duval said. "The most frustrating thing for me was that it felt like a lot of people were OK with losing. It really just frustrated me and, over time, I said: 'Bro, this isn't cool. We're staying in place. We're not going anywhere.' If we're not getting better as a team, that means individuals aren't really getting better."

Those who know Duval find him quiet, laid-back, easygoing. On that night in Grand Rapids, he became the opposite and got into an argument with head coach Jordan Brady in the locker room.

Duval thought he was in a position where he could voice his candid disappointment with the team. Part of maturing is telling people the truth even when they don't want to hear it, and in that locker room, Duval thought he was doing just that.

The front office apparently thought otherwise. He didn't play in the final two games and was released the day after the season ended. He returned to an increasingly familiar state: uncertainty.

---

"That was a pretty weird moment for me in my life," Duval said of spring 2019, after his Bucks tenure ended. "I'm thinking like, OK, what is going on?' I didn't get a call for like a day or two. I'm 20 and start thinking like: 'Wow, what's going on? What am I about to do?' I started looking at myself."

The summer was a lot of searching, looking back at what had gone awry in Oshkosh and trying to confront what he had to do to end the unpredictable reality of his career.

It looked like he'd get another chance, fast, when two days after the Bucks dropped him, his two-way contract was claimed by Houston, whose Rio Grande Vipers were in the G League postseason. But he scarcely touched the floor during their playoff run. Summer league with the Rockets was a letdown too.

He flew back home to Delaware. 

"I look back at it, and even though I didn't have a horrible year," Duval said, "I just look back and wonder, 'How much more could I have worked to get better?' To where, like, as long as I'm destroying and killing on the court, there's not really nothing [anyone] could say."

---

There it was. He was growing up without anyone telling him to: Going from thinking he made it to realizing he hadn't. Noticing his work ethic wasn't actually enough to make the NBA but was enough to be in the G League. His introspection was a sign of growth.

Step 1 of moving forward involved self-honesty and accepting he hadn't put in the work to secure an NBA contract. Step 2 would be definitively moving on from being undrafted. Although it had been a year, memories of draft night affected Duval mentally. 

As his Delaware offseason progressed, he hung out with friends. On one particular day, Duval blurted, "Bro, I never expressed my emotions on not being drafted." It seemed random at that moment, but his friends did their job and let him cathartically vent.

"I never really talked about it with nobody like that," Duval said. "That really helped me. It really helped me move on and let it go. Sometimes all people need is just somebody to listen to them. You can just listen, and the person will figure it out themselves talking to themselves."

Duval came into the 2019-20 season feeling reborn, committed to the grind, with the past behind him. His first opportunity to bring that to the court was with the Iowa Wolves, affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who selected him with the No. 5 pick in the G League draft.

"We knew he was a tremendous talent, and he's young. Tre's still really, really young," Iowa coach Sam Newman-Beck said. "We had coached against Tre, and [given] his style of play—being an uptempo guard and defending—we wanted to take a look at his upside."

Duval entered the season knowing he'd be a reserve, behind guards with two-way contracts. Making the best of this lesser role was part of maturing, the way he looked at it. No more guaranteed starts. Farewell, 25 minutes per game. 

"It can be real easy to get upset and mad and say, 'I should be playing' and have a bad attitude," Duval said. "I feel that was a big stepping stone for me as a player, because I never had to do that. For me to make do with what I had this season, I did a good job for myself, and I grew."

Where he needs to grow in terms of actual play is with his jump shot. With the Wolves, he averaged 6.9 points per game, making 21.3 percent of his three-point attempts, consistent with his sub-30 percent results with Duke and with the G League Bucks. He's been working at it in gyms around the country, including Phoenix, D.C. and Delaware, trying to remedy that flaw.

"Once I accomplish that, sky's the limit," Duval said.

"Sometimes you just gotta have confidence and shoot that ball no matter what," Newman-Beck said. "Don't think about it, don't overthink it. We told Tre to shoot it whenever he was open. I don't like talking about things like that too much because then it becomes a stigma, and I don't think it needs to."

Newman-Beck acknowledges that "from a skill-set standpoint," a consistent jumper is what Duval must add. But the coach also sees some leadership challenges: "Knowing the playbook and being vocal, which for a lot of guys at a young age it doesn't come naturally to be a vocal leader. Really running the team so I don't have to call out sets."

An NBA scout still sees NBA potential: "An elite athlete, but his biggest flaw is his inconsistency shootingwise," the scout said. "He can run an offense, solid defender, but should have stayed at Duke at least one more season. Definite NBA prospect as a backup PG."

Duval's agent, Jerry Dianis, said Duval has turned down offers to play overseas and will focus on returning to the G League in hopes of making the NBA. He thinks the essentials are there: "He's a prototypical guard with his size, explosiveness and measurements."

That invisible attribute lusted after by executives and scouts is still there too: potential. It is attached to Duval, at age 22, as it has been since he made his teenage rise to top-10 prospect. It's up to him to dispel the doubts he can live up to that potential. 

"There was no guarantee that he would make it if he did get drafted," Martin, his former AAU coach, said. "Now he's on the grind. Now he's got to go to work, and he's always been a hard worker." 

Clevis Murray is a sportswriter who has written for The Boston Globe, The Tennessean, The Arizona Republic and The Athletic. Follow him on Twitter @ClevisMurray.

Giannis Antetokounmpo will be eligible to sign a supermax contract extension this summer, and more than a few teams will be waiting eagerly to see what he decides to do.

Even if he doesn't sign that deal and instead chooses to become a free agent next year, Tim Bontemps of ESPN reported Monday that the Milwaukee Bucks have no plans to trade the two-time MVP:

"Multiple sources have emphatically said Milwaukee will not look to trade Antetokounmpo if he passes on the extension. Instead, the Bucks will try to improve their roster and use the next year to show Antetokounmpo why he should stay.

"Waiting would give Antetokounmpo maximum leverage over Milwaukee over the next 12 months. If the Bucks are willing to add to their payroll to improve the team—something ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has reported they are—Milwaukee could chase a significant upgrade in trades (despite being short on prime assets)."

It's clear Milwaukee needs to make some roster changes after being the Eastern Conference's top seed two seasons in a row yet failing to make the NBA Finals. It may be difficult to add a third star alongside the Greek Freak and Khris Middleton, with players like Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez, George Hill and Donte DiVincenzo the top assets on the roster.

The Bucks also have the Indiana Pacers' first-round pick in this year's draft and their own 2021 first-round pick as potential trade chips.

For instance, Milwaukee could make the money work in a potential Chris Paul trade by using a combination of those players, but would the Oklahoma City Thunder accept such a package? It's more likely the Thunder would prefer promising young players, draft assets and salary-cap relief (though the market that forms around Paul may dictate those demands).

If Antetokounmpo chooses to hit free agency, it would make the Bucks want to urgently improve their roster. Whether they have the assets to do so is another story.

His decision will affect other teams as well. As Bontemps noted, should Antetokounmpo sign a long-term extension with Milwaukee, it would end the hopes that teams like the Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks might have of signing him next year. It wouldn't be surprising if the New York Knicks were putting all of their eggs in the Giannis basket as well based on their pursuit of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last offseason.

In turn, those teams likely would be more willing to spend short-term money, unencumbered by the need to preserve the cap space they had been earmarking for Antetokounmpo.

His decision will carry weight for a lot of franchises. More than a few teams will remain on high alert, including the Bucks, if he decides to become a free agent next offseason.

Giannis Antetokounmpo can envision himself as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks for quite a long time.

"As long as everybody's on the same page and as long as everybody's fighting for the same thing, fighting for the same thing every single day, which is to be a champion, I don't see why not to be in Milwaukee for the next 15 years," he said on TNT after being named this year's NBA MVP.

Commissioner Adam Silver announces @Giannis_34 as the #KiaMVP ⭐️

Get to NBA TV to hear from Giannis NEXT on NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/8lriVHG2OG

— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 18, 2020

It isn't the first time the two-time MVP has publicly expressed his loyalty to the Bucks after the team was shockingly eliminated by the Miami Heat in five games during the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

"It's not happening. That's not happening," he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports on September 8. "Some see a wall and go in [another direction]. I plow through it. We just have to get better as a team, individually and get right back at it next season."

"If winning a championship was easy, everyone would have one," he added at the time. "We lost. Everyone saw that we lost. It's disappointing, but what are we going to do? We're going to keep working. I've got confidence in my teammates."

pic.twitter.com/SHlLxYLvUK

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) September 18, 2020

While Antetokounmpo continues to declare his intention to remain in Milwaukee, he and the Bucks are entering a fascinating year, with the Greek Freak in the last year of his contract.

He has a few options:

• Sign a supermax deal that will keep him in Milwaukee for another five years after his current deal runs up;
• Hit free agency in a year and keep the leverage of potentially leaving to ensure the Bucks make moves to build a better winner around him; or
• Decide to leave and push for a trade at some point before next summer's free agency. 

Given his public remarks, the last option seems unlikely.

Both the supermax route and the free-agency route have their pluses and minuses, however. If he signs the supermax, he'll earn significantly more money than he could in free agency, but he'll lose the leverage to essentially say to the front office, 'Improve this team in the short term or I'll sign elsewhere.' If he hits free agency, he's losing out on millions of dollars but maintains that leverage. 

Granted, he could sign the supermax and demand a trade down the line if Milwaukee—which has been a No. 1 seed two years in a row and failed to reach the NBA Finals in each season—can't build a winner around him. That might be the closest to his "have his cake and eat it too" option. 

The stakes, in other words, are high for Milwaukee's front office. The 25-year-old is justifiably focused on winning titles. If the Bucks can't build a better contender around him, it's fair to assume he'll eventually leave. For now, however, Antetokounmpo seems determined to win in Milwaukee. 

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named NBA MVP for the second consecutive year, the league announced Friday.

Full MVP voting results: pic.twitter.com/6nKrXknPMK

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) September 18, 2020

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first broke the news.

He's the second player in franchise history to collect back-to-back MVPs, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Antetokounmpo beat out Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, denying James what would've been his fifth MVP to tie him with Bill Russell and Michael Jordan for the second-most all-time.

The Greek Freak set a high bar in 2018-19. He averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists as the Bucks won 60 games.

His numbers were even better this season, and Milwaukee surely would've improved upon its win total had the COVID-19 pandemic not interrupted the NBA season. The league based this year's postseason honors on games through March 11, excluding the eight seeding games after the restart.

The Bucks were first in the Eastern Conference at 53-12, 6.5 games up on the second-place Toronto Raptors. It looked like they might be flirting with history before they started cooling off.

Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, was averaging 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists over nearly two fewer minutes per game. He had also connected on a career-best 83 three-pointers. His long-range shooting remains a work in progress (30.6 percent) but is getting to a point where opponents have to respect his jumper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzQCbIU21I

The 25-year-old was stifling on the defensive end too. According to NBA.com, he held opposing players to 36.1 percent shooting overall and 31.3 percent on three-pointers. He was simultaneously a capable rim protector and suffocating on the perimeter.

Antetokounmpo was also named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, so he joins Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Jordan as the only players to win DPOY and MVP in the same season. David Robinson and Kevin Garnett are the only other two players to have won both awards in their careers.

His standout performance came in a 122-118 win over the Utah Jazz on Nov. 25. He finished with 50 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two steals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAt5N3BsRJ8

"Even without a three-point shot, Giannis was the most unstoppable player in the league this year," Bleacher Report's Sean Highkin wrote of Antetokounmpo in arguing why he deserved to win MVP. "He was unguardable attacking the basket while also setting up shots for his Bucks teammates, all on top of being arguably the NBA's best wing defender."

The Bucks aren't a one-man show since the team has surrounded Antetokounmpo with as strong a supporting cast as one could reasonably expect for a franchise in a non-marquee market. Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, George Hill, Eric Bledsoe and Wesley Matthews all play to his strengths by spacing the floor and spreading out the defense to clear the way for his drives to the basket.

But nobody questions Antetokounmpo's value to Milwaukee. Take him out of the mix and the team's championship hopes evaporate.

Of course, that's the big question surrounding the franchise. Milwaukee fell to the Miami Heat in five games in the second round of this year's playoffs, although Antetokounmpo dealt with an ankle injury in Games 3 and 4 and sat out Game 5. The Bucks also lost to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, a disappointing result after they had taken a 2-0 series lead and had home-court advantage.

Anything short of an NBA Finals appearance next year could have major ramifications for the future with Antetokounmpo due to hit free agency in 2021.

Few questions in the NBA remain larger than the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Milwaukee Bucks may not have much doubt about the outcome, though.

The Athletic's Eric Nehm and Sam Amick noted Milwaukee's conference semifinal playoff exit inevitably impacts the situation but spoke to a source who said the Bucks have "had confidence for quite some time now that Antetokounmpo would sign the supermax."

Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported on Saturday that Antetokounmpo met with Bucks ownership "to discuss the future of the franchise." That isn't atypical since players always have exit interviews with their team at the end of a season.

The 25-year-old's pending free agency in 2021 obviously adds a layer of intrigue to any sort of standard offseason business.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Bucks co-governor Marc Lasry indicated during the meeting the team will be willing to spend into the luxury tax to improve the roster.

That's an important distinction because this year's disappointing finish showed how Milwaukee requires reinforcements in order to make a run to the NBA Finals. Finances were also one reason why the team didn't re-sign starter Malcolm Brogdon, which looks like a mistake after the guard played well in his first season with the Indiana Pacers after being part of a sign-and-trade.

Given the increased frequency of marquee stars changing teams, nobody would be surprised to see Antetokounmpo sign elsewhere in 2021. Much like when Kevin Durant became available in 2016, the reigning MVP will have a number of franchises willing to go above and beyond to win him over.

The Los Angeles Clippers' playoff collapse is an example of how assembling stars isn't always the quickest path to a championship, though. Continuity and collective strength count for something when it comes to the postseason.

The Miami Heat exposed the Bucks' flaws, which extend from roster construction to coaching and to even areas in which their best player can improve. Milwaukee's outlook could look much different this time next season.

Any rumors of Giannis Antetokounmpo wanting out of Milwaukee can quiet down a bit longer.

On Tuesday, the Bucks superstar posted his second tweet since getting eliminated from the playoffs, and he made it clear he doesn't want to play anywhere else next season. 

Thank you Milwaukee for all the love and support you showed my teammates and I this season. You guys are the best fans in the league. I can’t wait for next season! #ThroughTheWall #Antetokounbros 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/k5D6HxSZwH

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) September 16, 2020

Antetokounmpo recently met with Bucks co-governor Marc Lasry about the future of the organization. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported the Bucks are "expected to be one of the busiest teams this offseason" in pursuit of a championship. 

The 25-year-old is eligible to receive a supermax extension this offseason, and after the stunningly early playoff exit, there was some concern about whether he'd attempt to force his way out of Milwaukee. 

That seems settled now. 

While it may seem silly to give so much credence to an offseason tweet, it isn't just the portion about returning to Milwaukee that's worth noting. The MVP went on to reference his own quote about staying the course when things get tough. 

"Some see a wall and go in [another direction]. I plow through it," Antetokounmpo told Haynes. "We just have to get better as a team, individually and get right back at it next season."

In his tweet on Tuesday, Antetokounmpo used the hashtag #ThroughTheWall. 

Expect him not only to return to the Bucks next season, but to come back as hungry as ever as he looks to deliver a title to the only franchise he's ever known.

The Milwaukee Bucks will reportedly be able to offer superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo a five-year supermax contract worth from $220 million to $250 million when free agency begins in October.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the update Monday.

Milwaukee is unsurprisingly planning to offer Antetokounmpo the supermax, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

The bigger question is whether the 2019 NBA Most Valuable Player, who may soon add another MVP trophy to his collection, will accept the Bucks' offer or play out the final season of his four-year, $100 million contract and become an unrestricted free agent in 2021.

Giannis and the Bucks were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last week. The four-time All-Star dealt with an ankle injury during the latter stages of the series, but the Heat were already well on their way to the conference finals.

The 25-year-old Greece native wouldn't tip his hand about the contract situation, but he confirmed to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes that he won't demand a trade in the offseason.

"It's not happening. That's not happening," Antetokounmpo said. "Some see a wall and go in [another direction]. I plow through it. We just have to get better as a team, individually and get right back at it next season."

He had a Friday meeting with agent Alex Saratsis and Bucks co-governor Marc Lasry, who said the team is willing to spend into the luxury tax to help Giannis' supporting cast, per Wojnarowski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzQCbIU21I

Milwaukee has strong depth, led by Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe, which is a key reason they led the NBA with a 56-17 record. Star power is more significant in the playoffs, however, and the roster doesn't feature another bona fide superstar alongside Antetokounmpo.

Getting another high-end player, preferably a wing or perimeter scorer, will likely be necessary to bring the Bucks their first championship since 1971.

That said, it could prove difficult to attract another star this offseason if Antetokounmpo doesn't first sign an extension.