5:05 pm: Antetokounmpo will indeed return tonight, the Bucks announced (via Twitter), but he’ll be on a minutes restriction, head coach Doc Rivers said (Twitter link via Eric Nehm of The Athletic).
12:36 pm: Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to play on Monday in the Bucks’ home game against the Celtics, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t suited up since Jan. 23 due to a right calf strain. He has missed 15 games due to his latest injury but the Bucks have managed to hang around the fringes of the play-in tournament race without him, going 8-7 during that stretch.
Antetokounmpo has officially been listed as questionable to play tonight by the Bucks, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets.
Milwaukee currently trails the seventh- and eighth-place teams in the Eastern Conference, Orlando and Miami, by five games. Atlanta has a 3.5-game lead over the Bucks, while 10th-place Charlotte has a three-game cushion.
Antetokounmpo also missed three weeks of action in December. He’s averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists while appearing in 30 games. Having been out for 29 games, the two-time MVP is ineligible for postseason awards.
The Bucks theoretically could have improved their chances of making the lottery by having their star sit out the rest of the season, but that wasn’t on their agenda. How they finish up could determine their course of action regarding plans to continue to build around Antetokounmpo or whether he’ll be on the trading block this summer.
The superstar forward is signed through the 2027/28 season but holds a $62.8MM option on the final year of that contract. He’ll become extension-eligible this October.
Won’t change anything for Milwaukee. 11th seed for the season out of the play-in and Giannis and Thanasis trade in the summer
He’s going to pop that Achilles and have no trade value in the summer.
Sheeesh I hope you’re wrong
Me too man, me too.
Good thing you brought it up then.
I think it’s going to happen. Doesn’t mean I want it to happen. Do you think I have some kind of special powers or something?
It looks like you’re hoping it happens.
Smh!
Better hope for a top 5 pick…
Hawks get the better pick out of the Pelicans and Bucks so the Pelicans would have to get a better pick than the Bucks in that case
Bucks should not be playing Giannis if he hurts his ACL or Achilles then his trade value at 31-32 years old will take a huge hit
Giannis will go down as greatest 2Way PF in history.
link to yardbarker.com
20 NBA players who changed how the game is played
Posted 1 minute ago | By Derrick Rossignol
Depends on if you put Duncan at PF or Center. He started at PF for the majority of his career, slid to center in small ball lineups and settled in at center at the end of his career. If Duncan is a PF than I’d have to rate Giannis at number 2 all time. I’d also still put Garnett in the argument. While Giannis obviously has the edge on offense but Garnett was no slouch on that end and he was great defensively.
KD is a hybrid 3-4. Even as PF. Not a better 2way player than Giannis. Giannis when he is thru. Should get close to KD in scoring. KD is a good defender. Giannis can be DPOY first team defender.
I don’t consider Duncan a 4. Abd he’snot the defender Giannis is. Giannis can defend every position. Duncan can’t defend the perimeter. Most centers can’t today. It’s a team thing. Duncan is a great player. I always seen him as a center. A smart one.
Then David Robinson, Rasho Nesterović and Tiago Splitter were PFs? Giannis is better on the perimeter but Duncan was a better rim protector and could anchor a defense.
For the first couple seasons of his career Garnett played SF because the Timberwolves had traditional bigs like Gugliotta and Parks but then he switched to PF in his third season and stayed there the majority of his career. He could also anchor a defense but could guard anyone 1-5.
Don’t get me wrong Giannis is an All Time great and he’s still relatively young but like most players in NBA history he’s got quite a ways to go before he’s on Duncan’s level. I’d rank Giannis slightly higher at this point overall but if I needed a versatile defensive leader I’m still taking Garnett.
We are talking best 4s. You answered your own questions. I don’t consider Duncan a 4. KG could play the 4. He was also more a center and especially with Boston. They are nothing like Giannis.
It doesn’t matter if KnickerbockerAl doesn’t consider Duncan a 4. That’s what he mostly played and most people consider him the best PF of all time. KG could not only could play PF, he excelled at it. Especially on defense. KG was more of a center? Then what was Kendrick Perkins? He started next to Garnett nearly every game during Garnett’s tenure in Boston.
Truth be told Giannis plays more like a small forward then a power forward. He’s usually the secondary creator and at times runs the team on offense.
No two players are alike. Garnett is better on defense and the only players that come close to Duncan at PF overall are Malone and Barkley though neither has Giannis’ defensive acumen. Hence why I rank Giannis higher as a two way player.
Lets make it easy ok ………
Give me your top 5 PFs all time. Or top 10 if you want. Lets start there OK
Giannis isn’t even top four power forward in NBA history of all time. He’s literally competed against no power forwards. He’s not able to carry a team as we seen this year. For all that he’s a top five player. He’s not a top five player carries his team to the NBA playoffs. We’ve seen countless players do it. Jordan, LeBron, Allen Iverson Patrick Ewing I could keep going on and on and on. Giannis can’t even make the playoffs. He’s always hurt. He has no jumpshot no post-up game. He plays exactly the same way he plays when he was shut down by multiple teams in the playoffs. The only difference is he’s 3132 years old and he’s going to continue to always be hurt by his playing style.
At this point, Jalen Brown is showing that he’s better than Giannis. Giannis has one run in his NBA career. He’s not better than Tim Duncan who’s definitely a powerful or you spend his whole career as a power forward. He’s not better than Kevin Garnett. He’s not better than Dirk nowitzki, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone. Theses guys competed every single night night in and night out. Every team that they played had really great power four that you had to go up against and compete. We’re not even mentioning off nights when you would have to play Zach Randolph, Rasheed Wallace, Carlos boozer, paul gasol. Those were considered off nights and you’re still going off against a top-tier player that would be dominating in today’s game.
The only bragging rights this generation gets is the point guard position because the point guards of today especially from 2008- now. For having to compete the same way power forwards were having to compete in the early 2000s where every night you’re having a good matchup.
I’m so over the Giannis love. He literally doesn’t do anything but get hurt every single year. Like I said, he is a champion and that’s why he’s even mentioned in the top seven power forwards of all time. If he didn’t have that championship he wouldn’t even be top 10 in my book. This is literally the weakest error ever of power forwards, especially when you got guys like Jalen Johnson. Who and any other time would be a small forward. Giannis can’t carry a team anymore to a championship. He’s going to need other stars around him and I said this for the last 2 years and yet everybody continues to say look at this and give him excuses. He’s either hurt because of the way he plays or he doesn’t impact winning. The Bucks were just winning. He comes back they get blown out. If you’re such a better player and a top five player, you would all played Brown last night and again, he holds the ball drives against three or four players and he’s bigger than everybody else and he dunks the ball and that’s not going to survive his career going into his mid-30s
Your boring and have no clue. Nothing wrong with not liking Giannis as an all time great. But using terrible, made up facts and crazy takes to help is just hating. Something you are good at. Ewing had a team. AI had a team and LB. All contenders are teams. They might be led by a superstar. But it’s not one player. When you talk like this. It only says you don’t understand what team balling is. No contender is led by ONE player.
MJ had 5 HOFers on his teams and a HOF coach. Fact you bring him up. Just means you don’t get it. Respect for players is about respect for the game. You don’t have to like any player. You respect what they have done.
Most people take Magic at PG on all time team. I bet I can with Clyde as my PG.
Most will take Kareem at C or Wilt or Russell . I bet I can win with Jokic. Winning isn’t about one player in a TEAM sport. Greatest 4 ever doesn’t mean winner. Otherwise Russell can be ONLY center.
You look at ALL the best 4s ever. No one comes close to Giannis as a 2way dominant force. He might go down as greatest 2way player ever. Right now its Wilt to me.
Al, you’re making it personal and didn’t read my post. We’re not talking about competing for championships we’re talking about in the sport of basketball. One player is good enough to take a team to a playoffs. One player is good enough to get a high school to the playoffs. No win the full thing not a deep run. But if you read my post, I mention multiple players that have played a team into the playoffs that if that player wasn’t on the team they would not be in the playoffs.
What I’m saying is the fact that you’re touting Giannis as a top five player yet he cannot get his team into the playoffs. One because he’s hurt availability is the best ability. You cannot say a player is great. If they weren’t hurt, that’s a part of playing the sport is your health and taken care of your body. I didn’t just spill no facts. I actually said his game.
He has no post-up game. That’s facts, He has to reliable jump shoot. Those are facts. And his playing style for a 30-year-old driving all the time. No easy buckets using power and athleticism is why he is hurt and can’t stay on the court.
What does make him an all NBA player is his ability to get to the rim his defense because as you stated he is a two-way player, his rebounding and he has decent play making. He’s not a lockdown defender. I never agreed with that. He’s more of a health defender and he rebounds and closes out possessions so I wouldn’t say he’s an all-time defender on my list. But he does have the accolades to back that up so I wouldn’t even argue that if you want to make that point.
So I’m not getting where I’m not being truthful. The bottom line is to me. I wouldn’t pick him over Brown. I wouldn’t pick him over. Luka, Wemby, shi or Joker. Not even Curry to be honest. Giannis is a good player. Nobody saying that he’s not. What I’m saying is he’s not this top level player because a top-level player can get his team into the playoffs by himself. That was what I was saying. You picked a part of an argument that I wasn’t even making. Nobody saying you don’t need a team we can agree. But for what he is now to trade away the farm for him. Unless you have a team that you’re adding him and that puts you over the top. But if he’s coming in to be your best player and you don’t have two other stars on your team, he’s not winning a championship.
Last but not least, you are the one who said he’s better than Duncan, which is in the far from the truth. So I named five other power fours that competed at a high level against Dunkin and each other. I also named multiple power forwards that would be superstars in today’s game that all those power forwards I name had it compete against on a night and night out basis that you can’t refute. Who is giannis’s power for that? He has to go against in the NBA? Don’t worry, I’ll wait. There is none. There is a bunch of small forwards playing power for him because they want to play small ball. So if Giannis had to go up against Duncan kg. Dirk Karl alone, even as an old player Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber Jermaine O’Neal Pau gasol Zach Randolph. I don’t see him dominating the way he dominated now and that’s just the facts because he got shut down by kawhi Leonard and a bunch of other players when they put up the wall. So I’m confused how those aren’t facts
Nothing is personal to me. I don’t take it personal lol.
I am responding mostly to Chucktoad1. He gets into hating. What I said and stick to it. Is Giannis will go down as one of best 2way players EVER. And certainly the greatest 2Way PF ever. That si the take. That is what I am arguing ……so all these other players don’t mean anything. If they don’t play the 4. That is a whole other debate ok.
Look up greatest 4s ever. Then tell me who is better and why. There are only a few in conversation. And Webber isn’t one. A great player and a 2way player. Not better than Giannis. Giannis when thru will be top 5 in scoring. Only Wilt is in conversation as great 2way players. And winning isn’t a barometer on greatness. Teams win titles not players. Any great player will get you in playoffs. Only teams win it all. And Giannis still has 7 yrs to win more.
The greatest two-way player in NBA history is definitely Jordan. Hands down. Then you got kawhi. Giannis isn’t even in the top five to me is two-way players. You have Wilt you have Jordan. You have kawhi, Duncan, KG. All these players played against people in their position. I’m not even putting them over. Kobe like I said, Giannis is a pretty good defender. He’s not a lockdown defender. He hasn’t had a guard anyone in his position. So all the years he wins. Defensive player of the years is from playing health Defense. Kind of like Rudy gobert where I think both of them are good defenders to me they would not win defensive player of the year if they were playing in an error where they had to go up against people in their same position
He looked bad last night – clearly far from 100%.
David Robinson last yr was 2002-03. He played 6yrs with TD. This was a two center offense and defense. This was two smart centers that could play together. And they did it to up against Shaq. Cause that’s what it took. Has this ever worked for other teams ?????
Rudy and Towns ????? You ever wonder why ????
David and Tim played 6 yrs together. And Duncan played center when David sat down. Then Duncan played center for the next 13 yrs. After David retired. So how exactly is he a 4. If 70% of his playing mins was at CENTER …,. Two Center scheme doesn’t make one a 4. Just like today. A wing offense doesn’t make a 2 a 3 or a 3 a 4. There is a reason for positions in NBA. C, PF, SF, SG, PG ….. Hart on Knicks is barely 6’ 5”. Yet he is listed as a PF. Which is nonsense. OG is one who plays more like a 4. Knicks really don’t have a true 4 on starting team. Duncan never played the game like a true 4. He was smart enough to be able to play with Robinson. Two centers with big IQ that watched eachother back.
Bottom line is Duncan played the power forward his whole entire NBA career except for the end of it when they were going against Golden State and they were applying small ball by then. It was kwai Leonard’s team. Tiago splinter David Robinson were the centers on those teams. Then they converted lamarcus August from a power forward to center and he wasn’t a true center.
He played 13 yrs a CENTER. And was interchangeable with Robinson for 6 yrs. He doesn’t have a PF game. And he played 70% if his mins at center …..