THE NBA REMAINS CRAZY IN JULY: GIANNIS SHOULD LEAVE AFTER LILLARD IS WAIVED
The departure of Antetokounmpo seems certain after his running mate was cut loose by the Milwaukee Bucks, who have ruined a one-and-done championship team and should trade him to Golden State or Miami
This is a cold, uncommon way to treat a torn Achilles tendon. Jayson Tatum will wait and heal. Tyrese Haliburton will wait and heal. Damian Lillard has been disregarded as waste material by the men who pay his salary.
He was waived Tuesday.
Waived. Gutted. Trashed.
No tears are shed in Milwaukee for Dame, who never meshed with Giannis Antetokounmpo and will make the remainder of his $113 million over the next five years. He will recover on his own and seek his next employer — perhaps a reunion with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Bucks have signed center Myles Turner to a four-year, $107 million contract and hope it’s enough to restore faith in Antetokounmpo’s heart.
In truth, he is not happy, immediately posting an image from the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship celebration and informing insider Chris Haynes that he “is not pleased with the decision.” Later, Giannis wrote, “I don’t know what’s going on right now, man,” under a “Mood 100” signature. Without Lillard, without Brook Lopez, without Khris Middleton, why stay with a team that has no chance to win a title? It’s possible Antetokounmpo will be en route to a new destination in no time.
Will it be Golden State, to play with Steph Curry? Will it be San Antonio, to play with Victor Wembanyama? Will it be Miami, which has Wisconsin native Tyler Herro as a trade piece? Will it be New York? The Warriors and Heat make the most sense. Anywhere but Milwaukee, where Doc Rivers left his job as an ESPN/ABC commentator and might want the gig back, if the bosses want him.
Leave it to Adam Silver’s timetable to finish the Finals, conduct a draft and open free agency to a mother lode of possibilities. Imagine LeBron James on the trade block, with the possibility suggested here of a return to Cleveland. Then imagine Giannis, off to the Warriors in a deal for Jonathan Kuminga. Already, we’ve seen Kevin Durant traded to Houston. They are three of the sport’s all-time greats.
What’s sad is that Lillard, who demanded a trade from Portland after sensational clutch seasons, couldn’t find a championship track with Giannis. He tore his Achilles in Game 4 of the first-round series with Indiana, followed by Haliburton’s father getting in Antetokounmpo’s face. We’ve heard about franchises taking care of injured souls like family members. He was cut loose, by Bucks general manager Jon Horst, and was said to be “elated” about leaving and choosing where he lands as an unrestricted free agent.
He turns 35 in two weeks and will shoot the ball again. But he hasn’t come close to a title. Horst has ruined the team, starting with the firing of coach Mike Budenholzer and continuing with the trade of Middleton and the free-agent departure of Lopez.
Giannis is all alone with the brewery cans. There is no reason to stay there in his prime.
He is just 30. Return him to the big leagues, where tendons don’t rot.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.