The Milwaukee Bucks enter the offseason with uncertainty.
Will Doc Rivers be back as head coach for 2025-26? What will the roster look like especially since All-Star guard Damian Lillard will miss a significant portion, if not all, of next season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon sustained in the first round of the playoffs?
And there will be constant speculation about the future of All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and whether he’s with the team next season either because he wants out or the Bucks try to maximize his trade value. There’s nothing they can do about that. It’s part of the NBA ecosystem that makes the league buzz.
The Bucks’ season ended Tuesday, dropping Game 5 to the Indiana Pacers 119-118 in overtime. It’s the third consecutive first-round series loss, including the past two vs. Indiana, and the second consecutive season the Bucks were not healthy. Lillard was not available for a portion of the playoffs last season and this season, and Antetokounmpo missed all of last season’s playoffs.
The Bucks won a title in 2021 and have tried to win another with Antetokounmpo yet have won just one series since, in 2022. They have changed coaches (Mike Budenholzer to Adrian Grifin to Rivers) and re-arranged the roster as other teams in the East, including Cleveland, Detroit and Indiana in their own division, have improved.
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General manager Jon Horst recently reached an extension with the Bucks, so ownership has entrusted him to assemble a roster. Lillard’s absence makes Horst’s job more difficult, but he needs to find more scoring, younger talent and more athleticism.
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He will have options. Antetokounmpo is under contract through 2027-28 but has a player option on the final season of the deal and can become a free agent in the summer of 2027. Lillard can become a free agent in the summer of 2026 or play out the contract through 2026-27.
Kyle Kuzma, who the Bucks acquired at the trade deadline and wasn’t the exact solution, is on a deal through 2026-27; A.J. Green, who provided solid 3-point shooting, is on a team-friendly $2.1 million deal through next season; and Ryan Rollins, a 22-year-old guard with potential, is a restricted free agent.
Bobby Portis, who this season served a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA/NBPA anti-drug program, Pat Connaughton and Kevin Porter Jr. have player options on next season, allowing them to stay with the Bucks or enter free agency in the summer.
Brook Lopez, Jericho Sims, Taurean Prince and Gary Trent Jr. are unrestricted free agents this summer.
The Bucks don’t have a first-round draft pick in June and have just the No. 47 overall pick in the second round. Depending on what the players with player options decide, the Bucks could have some salary cap space this summer plus mid-level exception and bi-annual exception to use in free agency.
Rivers was 65-53 in his one-plus season with the Bucks. He took over for Griffin midway through the 2023-24 season. Milwaukee was 48-34 this season, but just like last season, they lost to the Pacers in the first round. He signed a deal through 2026-27, making a potential buyout a significant amount. If the Bucks went in another direction, they would owe Rivers about $20 million.
Lillard’s injury complicates the Bucks’ future.
Jeff Stotts, a certified athletic trainer who maintains a comprehensive database of NBA injuries, said on X the average time lost for an NBA player with that injury is about 10 months. Some players come back sooner, some take longer to return. Klay Thompson missed the 2020-21 season and a part of the 2021-22 season after sustaining a torn Achilles, and Kevin Durant missed the 2019-20 with the same injury. Basketball Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant returned in eight months after tearing his Achilles in 2013.
And of course, there’s the chatter about Antetokounmpo’s future. Who wouldn’t want him? He had another MVP-caliber season (he is one of the three finalists for the award), averaging 30.4 points (second-best in his career), 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists (matched a career high), 1.2 blocks and shot 60.1% from the field (second-highest in his career).
New York? Miami? Golden State? Brooklyn? Houston? Oklahoma City? There is logic to trading a valuable player with great years remaining for draft capital. But there’s also another side. Ownership enjoys full arenas and competitive teams, and the way the NBA is right now with competitive balance and different teams reaching the Finals, all it takes is the right move or two to become a contender.
“It’s still the awesome responsibility to try to take this franchise and maximize the window that we have now as best we can,” Horst told reporters in February.
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
