The Milwaukee Bucks are preparing for their interviews with the bitter taste of a First Round sweep in their mouth. What makes the feeling worse is that this isn\u2019t the first time they\u2019ve had an unceremonious playoff exit. In fact, they\u2019ve now had three consecutive First Round losses.<\/p>\n
Despite this, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> still \u201cremains happy in Milwaukee<\/a>,\u201d according to ESPN reporter Jamal Collier.<\/p>\n Though Antetokounmpo doesn\u2019t seem likely to request a trade from the Bucks, that doesn\u2019t mean the front office can sit on their hands.<\/p>\n To be fair, their trades for Damian Lillard<\/a> and even Kyle Kuzma<\/a> speak to their desire to win another championship. Lillard may not have Jrue Holiday<\/a>\u2019s defensive acumen but he\u2019s one of the best scorers in NBA history. Kuzma\u2019s reputation has never been quite strong. However, he\u2019s a jack of all trades who\u2019s younger and more durable than Khris Middleton<\/a>.<\/p>\n The problem for Milwaukee hasn\u2019t been a lack of effort. Rather, they\u2019ve made the wrong gambles. Even Antetokounmpo has faced criticism for the team\u2019s decision-making, as is seen by some to have \u201cblood on his hands<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Lillard and Antetokounmpo\u2019s slow-growing on-court chemistry was problematic last season. This season, they made strides but Lillard\u2019s defense still left a lot to be desired. Now, at the age of 34, he\u2019s rehabbing a torn Achilles<\/a> and less than a month removed from a blood clot diagnosis<\/a>. He\u2019ll likely return next season but there\u2019s no guarantee he\u2019ll still be playing at an All-Star level.<\/p>\n In terms of skillset, Kuzma never made much sense for the Bucks. His ability to play off of Antetokounmpo and Lillard would be limited by his deficiencies as a jump shooter. His playmaking upside would be dampened by the presence of two high-usage on-ball creators in Antetokounmpo and Lillard. The most he could offer at one point was sound defense<\/a>, an area that he\u2019s not even considered great at.<\/p>\n At this point, it\u2019s obvious that the Bucks need to rectify their mistakes. They can\u2019t enter 2025-26 with the same core. Antetokounmpo, Kuzma, and post-injury Lillard probably won\u2019t cut it if the goal is winning a championship.<\/p>\n Their options will be impacted by a dearth of first-round picks and the diminished trade value of players like Lillard and Kuzma. Nonetheless, now\u2019s not the time to stop swinging for the fences.<\/p>\n With that in mind, the Bucks\u2019 primary offseason target should be Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant<\/a>.<\/p>\n In theory, Milwaukee could offer up the farm for Durant. Well, at least their idea of a ranch. Given that Lillard\u2019s injury status likely makes him unattractive to the Suns, their best offer features Kuzma, Bobby Portis<\/a>, Pat Connaughton<\/a>, and a 2027 first-round pick. Some combination of Kevin Porter Jr.<\/a>, Andre Jackson Jr.<\/a>, and AJ Green<\/a> could be included as well.<\/p>\n Perhaps the Suns would accept that package. However, they would probably get stronger offers from the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, or San Antonio Spurs. Each of those teams has been linked to Durant in trade rumors.<\/p>\n The Grizzlies and Mavs were said to have interest<\/a> at the trade deadline. The Rockets have been linked<\/a> to Durant for many moons. Lastly, the Spurs are considered to be a potential offseason suitor<\/a> for Durant.<\/p>\n Beating out those teams may not require more from a talent perspective. Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane<\/a>, Mavs wing Klay Thompson<\/a>, Rockets guard Jalen Green<\/a>, and Spurs wing Devin Vassell<\/a> are probably the best players that would be put on the table. However, the Rockets and \u00a0Spurs in particular can offer much more in terms of draft assets. Thus, it may be wise for the Bucks to flip Kuzma or Portis for a first-round pick to get the deal done.<\/p>\n It might not be easy but it doesn\u2019t seem impossible.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Milwaukee Bucks are preparing for their interviews with the bitter taste of a First Round sweep in their mouth. What makes the feeling worse is that this isn\u2019t the first time they\u2019ve had an unceremonious playoff exit. In fact, they\u2019ve now had three consecutive First Round losses. Despite this, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":137118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1608,62,28],"tags":[1255,187,306,69,1128,596,4774,1382],"class_list":["post-137087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bucks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-suns","tag-bobby-portis","tag-damian-lillard","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kyle-kuzma","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-rumors","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137087"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137119,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137087\/revisions\/137119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Can Giannis Antetokounmpo Get Kevin Durant To Bucks?<\/h2>\n
Damian Lillard<\/h3>\n
Kyle Kuzma<\/h3>\n
Rectifying Their Mistakes<\/h3>\n
Trade Obstacles<\/h3>\n