Bucks Extend Giannis Antetokounmpo: What This Means for Bulls

Things get really thin on the NBA newswire in September, thankfully there is no offseason for a good Woj Bomb. Monday was no exception: The Milwaukee Bucks extend Giannis Antetokounmpo.

There are a lot of interesting implications for the extension given to the Greek Freak. Each new contract that is handed out helps set the market for the remaining extension candidates and future free agents. The Antetokounmpo signing is no exception. The obvious name that comes up next is Victor Oladipo. What Oladipo and his agent expect, even demand, will be influenced by this deal.

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The Giannis signing also speaks to the player and the Bucks front office. Milwaukee was able to get Giannis extended for a cool $100 million that will keep the sensation that is Antetokounmpo under team control until 2021. This is huge because the Bucks didn’t have to max Giannis to keep him. That fact is something that can’t be lost on anyone. Jabari Parker is setting himself up to have the same type of discussions with Milwaukee next year.

Even if this is a slightly less than max deal, it is still an absolutely huge pay raise for the young Buck. Antetokounmpo is set to earn $2,995,421 in 2016-17. That figure is going to jump approximately $21 million in 2017-18.

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Now, we aren’t a Milwaukee site. This is Pippen Ain’t Easy, the home of your content for the Chicago Bulls. However, if you think that this signing doesn’t impact the Central Division and life in general for the Bulls over the next several years, I respectfully pose the possibility that you don’t have a grasp on life within the division.

Primarily, this signing signals a difficult life for the Bulls. Stan Van Gundy already has the Pistons back in the playoffs. The Pacers turned the separation with Frank Vogel into Nate McMillan on the bench, and then added Jeff Teague and Al Jefferson on the court. The Warriors just blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. That means that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to be a nightmare for anyone to deal with whenever LeBron James feels like trying hard. And now, the Milwaukee Bucks have added Matthew Dellavedova, signed Giannis to a huge extension, have Khris Middleton through 2020, and still have the max offer to use. Oh yeah, and Parker.

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Are you starting to see why this matters for the Bulls? If you still don’t get it, I’ll come right out and say it – the Bulls just might be the worst team in the Central Division. By mid-year, depending on how everything breaks for each team, they might be not just the worst team in the division, it might not even be close.

Yes, Dellavedova does look like he’s jumping out of a cake. Sure, they haven’t quite figured out what to do with Greg Monroe. Milwaukee is still sitting pretty. Monroe is still a good center. If he doesn’t mesh with the Bucks, he still carries good to great trade value. The Middleton-Antetokounmpo pairing is a huge win. Now, it’s all down to Parker. If Jabari can take a big step forward this season, he’ll be in line for an extension offer from Milwaukee. This is particularly important because the willingness of Giannis to take less than a max offer leaves them with more room to work with. That means any number of things, but does include having the ability to more aggressively pursue Parker.

The Bulls made the move to add a lot of fluff this summer, signing Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade. Adding those pieces isn’t doing anything to make Chicago a winner now or in the future. The plan that seems to be unfolding for the Bulls front office is this: Draft a few role players, but never get high enough on the board to draft an actual franchise-changing prospect, and assume that will be enough to lure players like Blake Griffin in free agency.

There are a dozen problems with that particularly ineffective strategy, but even if the Bulls get it right and land a big name next summer it isn’t enough. It isn’t enough because of today’s extension of Giannis. Because of the deal they gave to Khris. Because of the deal they will give to Jabari.

By the time that Van Gundy wears out his welcome in Detroit, McMillan reaches the three-year coaching limit of Larry Bird, and LeBron gets tired of winning the Eastern Conference, there will still be the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are talented and still nowhere near their maximum potential. On Monday, they took one step closer to securing a future that the Bulls aren’t ready to compete against.