The NBA season is officially over, though for the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans that was already sadly the case as of April 29th. While Oklahoma City won its first championship since leaving Seattle and have an immeasurably bright future, the story of the playoffs might be a list of three significant matching injuries for three separate players: the unfortunate Achilles tendon ruptures of Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Tyrese Haliburton.
While the rise of this type of injury, especially found in response to an already strained calf muscle injury, could use a deep dive of its own, Lillard’s already important future with Milwaukee is even more under the microscope now.
If we go back to September 27th, 2023, that was the date that beloved Bucks starting point guard, Jrue Holiday, was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in a massive three-team deal. In return, the Bucks received perennial all-star and, dare I say, generational scorer Damian Lillard, seemingly straight out of the Miami Heat’s Pat Riley-sized grasp.
This was supposed to be the needle-mover, to put it mildly, that would get a true star to play alongside Giannis to hopefully add another title within the Bucks’ limited window, extend the window’s duration of being open overall, and solidify that the Bucks were a serious franchise so Giannis would remain in Milwaukee “forever.” Now, that Achilles injury has likely not only changed the course of the Bucks’ off-season this year, but many in the future, too.
With Achilles ruptures typically taking nine months to over a year to recover from, Dame might miss the entirety of next season, which would mean he’d be playing the 2026-27 season in the last year of his contract on a player option. He’ll be 36 by that point, so who knows if he’d even be the same player he is now (which is already a defensive liability). Brook Lopez will likely be wearing a new uniform shortly after seven years with the team. Kyle Kuzma absolutely does not look like a strong Robin to Giannis’ Batman. With keeping Giannis in town being priorities number one through a million, the front office has their biggest challenge yet starting right now.
Before the playoffs started, the Bucks were not considered a favorite to make it out of the East, but with Giannis and Lillard, anything was possible. By the end of the first round, the season was over, they saw their second best player get injured in a way that could affect the rest of his career, and now Giannis staying in Milwaukee has gone from a guarantee to a nightmare-fueled maybe. Bucks GM Jon Horst is officially in a “whatever it takes” situation for the future of the team. Hopefully he doesn’t pull a Thanos in the process…
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