Despite strong interest and their best efforts, the Golden State Warriors were unable to pull off a blockbuster trade for 2x MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo before last month's deadline.
The good news for the Warriors is they coud easily get another opportunity during the summer, with the Milwaukee Bucks hardly doing much to convince their superstar forward of staying put despite his recent return from injury.
Giannis Antetokounmpo will become available based on Bucks meltdown
Given they're five games behind the red-hot Charlotte Hornets with less than 20 games remaining in the regular season, the Bucks appear destined to miss the Play-In Tournament entirely as their year from hell continues.
More so than just their 27-36 record, the way Milwaukee have played in the past fortnight -- and for the majority of the season -- has to concern Antetokounmpo as he considers his future and the desire to win a second championship.
The Bucks had delivered some optimism through much of February, winning eight of 10 games despite Antetokounmpo dealing with a calf injury. Yet since then, Milwaukee haven't just lost, they've lost by a lot.
Sunday's 130-91 blowout loss to the Orlando Magic was their fifth loss in the past six games, all of which have come by at least 18 points, and four of which have come by at least 23 points. Across the past six games, the Bucks have ranked 29th in offense, 27th in defense and dead last (-20.6) in net rating.
Antetokounmpo has appeared in three games since returning from injury, averaging 23.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists in just 26.2 minutes per game. The 31-year-old did help his team to a much needed win over the lowly Utah Jazz on Saturday, but sat on the second night of a back-to-back as Milwaukee were destroyed by Orlando.
Giannis will have stronger say on his future during the offseason
The Bucks still held many of the cards in trade negotiations before the trade deadline, largely because Antetokounmpo still had multiple years on his contract. Things will become far simpler in the summer -- the 10x All-Star will either sign the max extension Milwaukee offers him, or he'll choose not to and the front office will be left with no choice but to have more legitimate trade discussions than what they had before the deadline.
Given he'll be on a potentially expiring contract, Antetokounmpo could have a significant say on where he ends up because he could threaten to simply not sign an extension with any team not among his preferences.
That could be good or bad news for the Warriors, but either way there's little doubt the franchise will renew interest if Antetokounmpo becomes truly available, as appears likely based on Milwaukee's recent form.