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It's been a turbulent offseason for the Milwaukee Bucks, who have fended off Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors by waiving Damian Lillard and signing Myles Turner using the cap space they cleared up. It remains to be seen if that alone will be enough to keep the Bucks above water in the Eastern Conference, but if it's not, it won't be for lack of trying.
Recently, Bucks general manager Jon Horst spoke on how the team has exhausted every resource in trying to keep Antetokounmpo in a Milwaukee uniform.
“We’ve done everything, I’ve done everything within my human possible power this offseason. I feel like our group works our butts off,” said Horst, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “…We do everything we can to put the next version of this thing out there, to give Doc and Giannis and Bobby and Scoot (Kevin Porter Jr.) and the guys on our team every chance that they can to win every night.”
Horst also acknowledged that he can't say for sure whether his efforts have been enough to keep Antetokounmpo around for the long haul.
“…have we done enough? I don’t know. We’ll find out. Have we done everything that we possibly could? Absolutely,” said Horst. “And have we done more than anyone else could possibly do? I believe we have. And that’s not an arrogant thing to say. In a very humble way. I think we’ve done as much or more than anyone else could possibly do, and I’m proud of that.”
Can the Bucks compete this year?
At one point earlier this offseason, it looked like a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade was more or less an inevitability after the Bucks' third straight first round postseason exit.
However, the current injury-riddled state of the Eastern Conference may give Antetokounmpo motivation to try to run it back one more time in Milwaukee before looking for greener pastures.
Turner will certainly be an upgrade at the center position over what Brook Lopez had been the last couple of years, but the Bucks don't have a ton of help outside of that for Antetokounmpo, particularly at the guard spot.
Milwaukee's season will begin in late October.
