The Portland Trail Blazers can certainly learn a lot from the 2020-2021 Milwaukee Bucks. Not only did Giannis Antetokounmpo make his team world champions, he also made them a champion of small-market teams in the league.
As the Blazers continue their most crucial off-season in a long time, they’ll look to mimic the way Milwaukee took advantage of their situation and built a squad ready for contention around the Greek Freak.
Here are three encouraging similarities from last year’s Portland team with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Giannis era.
#1. The Portland Trail Blazers and the 2020 Milwaukee Bucks had playoff flameouts
The Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2021 postseason coming off a sizzling run to secure the sixth seed, overcome a slow start riddled with injuries, and avoid the dreaded play-in tournament.
The 2019-2020 Milwaukee Bucks decimated everything in their path in the regular season. Unfortunately, both teams suffered the same fate in the playoffs.
Both squads lost early in the postseason to an opponent they were favored over. The Bucks advanced to the second-round before getting thoroughly exposed by Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat, but only had to get past a weak Orlando Magic team to get there.
While the Blazers were the lower seed to begin their series against the Denver Nuggets, they opened as favorites due to the injuries on the opposing roster.
The Bucks future was thrown into question as the team suffered another embarrassing flameout in the playoffs in the Giannis-Mike Budenholzer era. Coach Bud’s abilities to perform in the playoffs was scrutinized. Giannis’s ceiling as a number one option was thoroughly dissected.
Despite the rumors and criticism, the Bucks did not fold in the 2020 off-season. Instead, they assessed the weaknesses in their roster and addressed them.
The result? A banner in the rafters. The Portland Trail Blazers will look to do the same this off-season.