NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The 2020-21 NBA season is a wrap and for the Milwaukee Bucks, it ended the way they wanted. However, for the NBA as a business, it could not have ended any worse. Yes, Giannis Antetokounmpo and crew deserved the title but what the next offseason may bring is something the NBA is not ready for or needs.
Giannas is a two-time MVP, A Defensive Player of the Year winner, and now a champion. To make things worse, he’s only 26 years old. So why is this a problem for the NBA?
For starters, at the beginning of the year, there were rumors that Giannis may look to force his way out of the small market that the Bucks play in. Khris Middleton was struggling, Brook Lopez was past his prime, and the bench was not producing. But then the playoffs came and everything clicked. While the argument will still come that the Bucks struggled with a weakened Brooklyn Nets team, the fact still remains that they will hold the title of NBA Champion heading into the new season.
With that distinction comes the possibility of yet another “Super Team”. And the Bucks can do things that no other Super Team has been able to do in recent years. Think about the level of competition, especially in the Eastern Conference. The Philadelphia 76ers are spiraling out of control. The Miami Heat will go as far as Jimmy Butler takes them, and the Brooklyn Nets are an injury or unvaccinated player away from destruction, again.
But these Milwaukee Bucks are young and they won without the foundation of Hall of Fame players. Now, all eyes will be on free agents as they will have another team to look at other than the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets. A small-market team ended the season as the best in the league, what player didn’t take notice? Hell, what agent didn’t take notice?
The Miami Heat formed their team to win a title. The Boston Celtics did the same, and so did the Los Angeles Lakers. The Golden State Warriors built their team from the draft aside from Kevin Durant but even their pre-Durant title came against an injured Cavaliers’ team.
For a player searching to win a title, he could take less money much as Carmelo Anthony did with the Lakers this offseason. This is what the Bucks winning a title means for the NBA. To see new blood celebrate is always good but as a business, Adam Silver must be kicking himself.
Say what you want, but teams are now loading up to beat the Bucks this season. But what happens if they can’t? What will happen the next offseason if the Bucks hoist another Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season? Silver’s idea has always been to spread the talent around. But how can that be done when players no longer want that level of competition, just dominance?
Now, we may have just 4-5 teams with the top-tier talent necessary to win a title. Each team with at least 3-4 max players and the rest of the league just fighting for unused reserves. No one saw Milwaukee as a hot destination but if they were to win another, they could very well replace the Lakers as the next hot destination for talent.
This is exactly what the NBA is afraid of. The Nets, Clippers, and Lakers are already in big market cities and are expected to draw top interest from free agents any offseason. Now you add in the Bucks, and who wouldn’t want to play for a team that could become the next NBA dynasty?
And the process starts all over again.
