The Milwaukee Bucks' season has gone from bad to worse.
On Friday night, they mounted a huge comeback to catch up to the Denver Nuggets but lost in the closing stages. And the defeat wasn't even the worst part. An injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo was.
The Greek Freak left the game late, and afterward, he shared with reporters that he has a right calf strain and expects to miss four-to-six weeks.
At this point, the Bucks might as well press fast forward to next season.
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What's next for Milwaukee Bucks?
At this point, a Giannis trade before the early-February deadline seems incredibly unlikely. He has said he won't request a trade, and his value now takes on a temporary uncertainty with the injury.
It seems like if Antetokounmpo himself is going to be traded, the summer makes the most sense.
The Bucks should try to be active at the deadline, though, in trading away anyone they don't see as part of their future plans to acquire future assets. Their chances this season seem pretty much done.
They're 18-26, four games in the win column out of the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference, which is only good for the toughest spot in the play-in tournament.
Milwaukee's best path is a temporary tank, hope for good lottery luck and potentially see what it can accomplish next season.
It'll also be interesting to see if the Bucks hold Giannis out longer than his timeline in an effort to make that rise up the draft board, but the competitor in Antetokounmpo probably wouldn't like that very much.
For now, it's just a brutal reality on top of an already tough season.
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