Photo courtesy The Sporting News
Giannis Antetokounmpo has dominated the NBA as a superstar for a decade, and his departure marks a major turning point for Milwaukee.
He played for the Milwaukee Bucks throughout his 13-year career until June 22, 2026, when the Heat acquired him and his teammate Bobby Portis from Milwaukee in exchange for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jacquez Jr., Kasparis Jakucionis, three first-round picks, a pick swap, and a second-round pick. The Bucks now face a 6’11”, 243 lb gap in their roster.
So how did this happen? Milwaukee selected Antetokounmpo with the 13th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. From there, the Bucks didn’t achieve their first winning season with Giannis until 2016-2017, when they finished with 42 wins. Antetokounmpo averaged 22.9 PPG and won Most Improved Player. Still, Milwaukee exited in the first round of the playoffs that season and the next.
In 2018-2019, Giannis delivered a special season, winning MVP for the first time and leading the Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals. Although the Toronto Raptors defeated the Bucks in six games, hope for a future return remained strong. Then Milwaukee exited the playoffs early in 2019-2020, even with Giannis earning a second MVP. The team then added former All-Star guard Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2020-2021 season.
Photo courtesy Sportando
With Holiday joining the Batman and Robin duo of Giannis and Khris Middleton, the Bucks cruised to a 46-26 record and secured the third seed in the East. From there, Milwaukee swept the first round with a 4-0 victory against Miami, and KD’s foot on the three-point line allowed the Bucks to win Game 7 vs. the Nets in overtime in the second round. Milwaukee then defeated Atlanta in six games in the ECF to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.
Down 2-0 against the Suns and the dominant duo of Devin Booker and Chris Paul, Giannis led the team back from the brink and secured the Bucks’ first title since 1971. He averaged an incredible 35.2 PPG throughout the series in 39.8 MPG.
After Giannis delivered one of the most impressive Finals performances in recent NBA history, Milwaukee fans set their expectations sky-high. The Bucks reached the semifinals the following season but lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics. Since the 2021-2022 season, Milwaukee has failed to advance past the first round and did not even make the postseason this year.
But (and this is the most important part of the story), the Bucks could not acquire the necessary talent to transform the team into a contender, and that failure explains why Giannis eventually wanted to leave.
As a result, they wasted two straight 30-plus PPG seasons from Giannis following their magical Finals win.
