Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. How a sense of urgency from ownership to trade for Jrue Holiday led Giannis to sign long term with the Bucks and it could change the NBA for the foreseeable future
Players around the league respect Antetokounmpo's loyalty and now see that a winner can definitely be built in a smaller market and without a superteam.
Last offseason NBA fans were speculating whether Giannis Antetoukounmpo would sign a Supermax contract with the Bucks, or wait for the following year’s free agency to test the waters and probably sign long-term in a bigger market that is determined to win ASAP and has the resources to do so. After Antetokounmpo voiced his frustration with ownership failing to build a winner around him, the Bucks ownership and Antetokounmpo had a meeting discussing how both sides could figure out the situation and be content with the results.
Fast-forward a couple of days and the Bucks make a blockbuster trade for then Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday, who the Bucks ownership and Giannis agreed in the meeting, could be the missing piece to bring a title to Milwaukee. The Bucks were also supposed to get Bogdan Bogdanovic and were willing to send Donte’ DiVincenzo as a part of the deal, but both sides could not come to an agreement. Either way, it turns out that Jrue Holiday was the missing piece in bringing a title to Milwaukee, a small market team not accustomed to winning many championships.
A trend in recent years for Superstars has been to use their power to force a trade to a better situation with more opportunities to win faster, or just sign with a bigger-market team in free agency and form a Superteam. LeBron James and Kevin Durant signed with bigger market teams twice in free agency as they thought the destinations would yield more on and off-court success. Some recent examples of demanding a trade while still under contract are Anthony Davis when he forced New Orleans to trade him, James Harden, when he forced Houston to trade him, and Kawhi Leonard when he forced San Antonio to trade him.
However, even with the substantial amount of injuries hurting many projected championship contenders chances(Lakers, Nets, Clippers, Nuggets), the Milwaukee Bucks came out on top and there is a serious argument that even if the Nets and Lakers specifically were fully healthy, they would still have beaten these teams. Now even though I don’t believe this to be the case, the Bucks title as a smaller market team is extremely impressive and the same would have been said for the Phoenix Suns had they won it all. A smaller market NBA Finals clinched a smaller market champion, but the Bucks winning it all after an offseason of uncertainty last year proves that loyalty, urgency, and success is indeed possible in the organization that drafted you and/or in a smaller market with less resources like Milwaukee.
This Bucks title could be a game-changer for the NBA and the rising Superstars in this league. Although there has been continued speculation that Damian Lillard wants out of Portland, he now sees that even without a Superteam or a big market franchise, it is possible to win a championship if you are good enough and if the organization backs you and at least gets you a little bit of help. Portland is not doing this at the moment and they will never be able to win a title with simply Lillard, Mccollum, and Nurkic. They need more, and if the Trailblazers front office can’t get what Lillard wants, then he should demand a trade and the Blazers can take a chance on trading for a younger All-Star with potential like a Ben Simmons or a Jaylen Brown.
Devin Booker will almost certainly stay in Phoenix long-term as he is already a legend there, but it remains to be seen whether Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns will stay in Minnesota, whether LaMelo Ball will stay in Charlotte, whether De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton will stay in Sacramento, and whether Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram will stay in New Orleans.
However, this Bucks championship will most certainly make these young stars think long and hard about staying put and trying to bring a championship to the team that drafted them, because we have finally seen again, that a non-Superteam championship is a possibility, similar to the LeBron James led Cavs in 2016, the Kawhi led Raptors in 2018, the San Antonio Spurs dynasty in the 2000s and 2010s, and the Dirk Nowitzki Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Now we wait and see how the chips fall in the coming years.