To be able to suit up and lead his home nation of Greece to recognition in the FIBA World Cup and the Olympics are Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo's main goals. Unfortunately, Giannis announced on Friday that he will not be able to play in this summer's world cup since he is continuing to recover from a procedure he had done on his left knee earlier this offseason.

“Since the conclusion of my NBA season I have been pushing my body to the limits to be the player I need to be to help our team achieve the goals we set,” Antetokounmpo stated in a recent post on Twitter. “But after months of work and multiple meetings with medical staff, it is clear that I am not ready to compete in the level that I need to be to participate in the World Cup. … I am extremely disappointed in this outcome but this was a decision made with the medical staff. I’m going to continue to push myself to be ready for the next time my name is called.

“My personal, and our ultimate team goal is to qualify for the 2024 Olympics games and it will be an honor to represent my National Team next year.”

This is certainly disappointing news for Greece and Antetokounmpo, as he is one of the best basketball players in the world and had helped put his country in a position to compete against the world's best. However, this is a decision the Bucks played a role in, as they cannot afford their two-time MVP and 2021 Finals MVP to be sidelined entering the 2023-24 NBA season.

The Bucks are preparing for the new year after an eventful offseason. Adrian Griffin is replacing Mike Budenholzer on the sideline, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez are both back with new contracts and the Bucks are coming off a season in which they owned the league's best record during the regular season.

Losing the way that they did in the first-round of the playoffs last year, Milwaukee has set some high expectations for themselves. There is a lot on the line for the Bucks as the new season approaches and their star dealing with some knee problems is the last thing they need right now.

Many players around the league go through some type of offseason clean up surgery, especially if they had been dealing with an ailment over the course of the season. The fact that Giannis had a left knee procedure done in June is not too concerning and it should not come as a shock to see the team take an extremely cautious approach with him sitting out of the World Cup.

Without him on the floor, the Bucks are not championship contenders and they are not a team who can compete for the best record in the NBA, a title they held a season ago. While there does not seem to be a lot of concern surrounding his availability for the start of the new season, Milwaukee needs to be somewhat worried that these injury updates have been dragged out into the month of August.

The start of training camp is just over a month away and if Antetokounmpo is still dealing with some sort of soreness and pain management then, this offseason surgery could have lingering effects well into the 2023-24 season. Injury management appears to be part of the game today and as a result, Giannis will be given some days off and he will not play in all 82 games during the regular season. The thought of his knee still being a problem, though, is troublesome when looking at this franchise's immediate future.

Should the season not go as planned for the Bucks and they fail to reach the Eastern Conference Finals yet again, there are going to be serious conversations about whether or not Antetokounmpo will contemplate leaving Milwaukee.

As things stand right now, Giannis is under contract with Milwaukee for two more seasons, three if you include his $51.9 million player option for the 2025-26 season. It does not appear as if he is having thoughts about asking for a trade, but he is going to be eligible for a contract extension on September 22 and early indications are that the seven-time All-Star will not negotiate a new deal at this time.

Still having time left on his current contract, there really is no rush for a new contact to be agreed upon. Then again, Giannis waiting to sign a new deal with the Bucks could lead to alternative thoughts if the team was to have another major collapse like they did against the Heat in the playoffs.

Everything for the Bucks and their future depends on what transpires during the first few months of the new season. Antetokounmpo's availability and his injury could cause him to miss some games early on in year and you never know if a player is truly healthy or not. The waiting game begins for Giannis and the Bucks, as they cannot afford to play games with him on the sideline.