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The biggest story of the offseason for the Milwaukee Bucks is undoubtedly whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will be traded and leave Milwaukee for the first time in his career. But there are several moves the Bucks could make, including saying goodbye to Bobby Portis.
Portis has some say in what happens this summer, as he has a player option he could exercise. If he chooses to do so or not, though, Milwaukee very well may use his salary to try and improve the roster, much like the Golden State Warriors did with Klay Thompson a year ago.
“And now, five years later, Portis may play the role of the Warriors' Thompson in making the Bucks better without him,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jim Owczarski wrote. “Portis has a player option for $13.4 million, but league sources have indicated to the Journal Sentinel that he plans to test free agency.
“At just 30 years old, Portis has value around the league – so there is an opportunity to agree to a sign-and-trade with him to acquire different players to reboot the Bucks. Golden State signed and traded Thompson to Dallas, which created outgoing money that allowed them to bring in sign-and-trade deals for Hield and Anderson.”
Portis, who can be a polarizing player among Bucks fans because his on-court effectiveness can wax and wane, has been on the roster for five seasons. In that time, his role grew from a 20-minute-per-game reserve to a starter averaging nearly 30 minutes who has a major impact on the team's success. In 2021, Portis played a key role coming off the bench in the Bucks' first NBA championship in 47 years.
Four years removed from that triumph, the Bucks seem incredibly far away from winning another title. In addition to an underperforming, expensive roster, Damian Lillard, a large part of the team and its salary cap, tore his Achilles tendon in the first round of the playoffs. The injury is expected to keep him out the entire next season, the first of a two-year, $100+ million contract extension. Lillard will be 36 years old when he is expected to return to action.
As a result of Lillard's injury and Milwaukee's general postseason shortcomings, Antetokounmpo may be on his way out of town. Antetokounmpo has spent his entire 12-year NBA career with the Bucks, but he is reportedly open-minded about the possibility of being traded elsewhere just as his own extension kicks in.
