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The Milwaukee Bucks only shot at keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo after this summer is by adding another player, according to new trade rumors.
Things appear to be spiralling for the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo at the worst possible time.
During Friday night’s 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Antetokounmpo pulled up with a non-contact leg injury, immediately signalling discomfort before heading to the locker room to have his leg wrapped during the first-half.
Although he returned briefly, the Greek star never looked comfortable.
Late in the game, Antetokounmpo appeared visibly deflated on the sideline, consoled by his brother Thanasis as the Bucks slipped to another defeat.
Milwaukee Bucks Facing Another Giannis Setback
Postgame, a somber Antetokounmpo addressed reporters. Initially guarded, he eventually revealed the injury is expected to sideline him for an extended stretch, with an MRI scheduled to determine the full extent.
“After the MRI, they will tell me, probably, I popped something in my calf on my soleus or something,” he said. “Probably give me a protocol of four-to-six weeks that I’ll be out. This is from my experience being around the NBA.”
“After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully the team plays [well enough] that we can at least make the play-in or the playoffs. Just take it day by day, get better.”
Before exiting, Antetokounmpo still managed to post 22 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists, going 4-of-8 from the field and 14-of-16 at the free-throw line.
The loss marked Milwaukee’s fifth defeat in its past six games, dropping the Bucks to 18-26 on the season.
They now sit 11th in the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the final play-in spot.
Milwaukee Bucks Enter Crucial Stretch Without Their Star
Milwaukee is just 3-10 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season, including an earlier eight-game absence caused by a similar calf injury. Even when he is healthy but off the floor, the Bucks post a -10.1 net rating, as per NBC Sports.
The latest setback all but rules the 31-year-old out of the February 16 All-Star Game, despite being voted in as a starter. It also means he will fall short of the 65-game threshold required for end-of-season NBA awards.
“Yeah, it’s hard. What is it, 10 years in a row?” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s hard. But always in my mind, I think of all the good things that have happened in my life. I think where I am at this moment, what my goals are, and what stops me from my goals, which might be this injury. The first thing you have to think about is that it can be way worse.”
“You can be out for 12 months, 18 months. So being out for two, three, four, five, six weeks, whatever the case may be now, and not making the All-NBA, for sure it’s going to hurt. It’s going to be frustrating, but it doesn’t matter.”
The injury does little to calm the growing tension surrounding the Bucks star as the February 5 trade deadline approaches.
While Antetokounmpo told The Athletic’s Sam Amick earlier this month that “there will never be a chance” he forces a trade out of Milwaukee, speculation continues to swirl.
ESPN’s Shams Charania has since reported that frustration within the organization is at an “all-time high,” with Antetokounmpo increasingly uneasy about the franchise’s direction.
Whether that manifests in a move before the deadline or becomes a larger offseason storyline remains one of the league’s most closely watched developments.