The Milwaukee Bucks did right by Giannis Antetokounmpo and every team should learn from that

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Gooooood morning, Winners! Thanks so much for reading this morning. We appreciate you. Let’s talk about that Damian Lillard trade because I’m still reeling from all this.

My first thought a few weeks ago when we heard Giannis Antetokounmpo talking about leaving Milwaukee was probably the same as everyone else’s.

“Oh, here we go again,” I said to myself. “It’s the small market superstar leaving the small pond for the ocean.”

And, honestly, you couldn’t blame Giannis for doing that. The Bucks needed to make a move. Since winning a title in 2021, Milwaukee just hasn’t been good enough. Their rivals in the East have shown them that over and over and over again.

The Celtics were better. The Heat were better. The Bucks’ direct competition bested them at every single turn. Antetokounmpo was tired of it — clearly. Otherwise, the thought of leaving probably doesn’t even enter his head.

But what was clear about the situation was that Giannis wanted to win. And he’d do anything to make it happen — even if it meant dipping out on the team that drafted him.

That presented us with a very familiar scenario. The NBA superstar looking to win multiple titles clashing against the small market team that’s normally just satisfied with one.

It’s a tale we’ve grown quite familiar with.

Just look back through the league’s history. Kevin Garnett with the Timberwolves. Anthony Davis with the Pelicans. LeBron James’ first stint with the Cavaliers. These franchises needed to go out of their way and acquire talent that could’ve helped their stars win titles. Instead, they rested on their laurels and ended up high and dry.

That’s what was happening with the Bucks here. And, even though Antetokounmpo had already won a title in Milwaukee, the vibe was still there. It’s the same story — just with different pieces under different circumstances. Since it seemed like the same story, I expected it to play out just the way those others did.

I thought Milwaukee would take the “we’re good enough” route with the core the team had already built. It’s proven. It’s battle-tested. It’s also very expensive. I don’t have to explain to you how owners typically get when more money is involved — you know the vibes.

Instead of, “We’re good enough,” though, Milwaukee said, “Not so fast.”

The Bucks didn’t just sit around waiting for something to happen. Milwaukee got active. The team made the biggest deal of the NBA’s offseason when absolutely nobody expected it to by trading for Damian Lillard. Now, the Bucks will likely be championship favorites.

RELATED: Trade grades from the Damian Lillard trade

I shouldn’t be shocked. Milwaukee was in a similar place for the 2020-21 season, too. Giannis was up for an extension that he wasn’t about to sign because the Bucks couldn’t get over the hump. Milwaukee then traded for Jrue Holiday and the rest is history.

We’ll see what happens here with this one. There are still questions that need to be answered about how Lillard fits in defensively and whether this means Antetokounmpo will actually stay.

There’s also a question about whether Lillard will be happy. He’d clearly been pushing for the Heat for a while. Winning solves everything, sure. But is this truly where he wants to be? We’ll find out.

But, regardless, the Bucks have done right by Giannis Antetokounmpo. Twice now. That’ll go a long way in keeping him around for the rest of his career.

Good for you, Milwaukee. Good for you.

The other side with Jrue Holiday

When a trade of this magnitude is made, it truly shifts the entire NBA. Every player involved has his life drastically changed. Jrue Holiday is chief among them in this case.

Holiday was just talking about how he wanted to be a Milwaukee Buck for the rest of his career with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Literally, this was a couple of days ago. Cory Woodroof has more here.

The quote is kind of devastating to read now.

“Would love to,” [Holiday] said in regard to staying with Milwaukee for his career. “Before I even won here I think I said I’m a Buck for life and I mean that like deep in my heart. I don’t want to play for any other team. I think we have a chance to continue to do great things as the Bucks team and organization so I want to be in Milwaukee.”

Now, he’s a Portland Trail Blazer. And he’s probably going to be flipped again.

The Bucks absolutely got better here. But was incredibly important to this team. Without him, the Bucks simply do not win a title. This tweet outlines it perfectly.

When the Bucks needed to keep Giannis, they got Jrue Holiday.

When they needed a stop, they had Jrue Holiday.

He changed the trajectory of the franchise, forever a Bucks legend. pic.twitter.com/aop4vAypok

— Jonathan Gauthier (@jgauthier_23) September 27, 2023

Holiday is forever a legend in Milwaukee. Don’t you forget it.

Ronald Acuña’s own personal club — again

If Ronald Acuña Jr. isn’t the National League MVP, I don’t know who is. There’s a reason he’s atop the For The Win MVP ladder right now.  This dude has been running circles — or diamonds, I guess? — around teams all season.

He created his own exclusive club — again — this season. On Wednesday night, he stole his 70th base of the year. That makes him the only player – I repeat, the only player — to ever hit 40 homers and steal 70 bases in a single season. That’s just incredible.

The next closest player with at least 40 home runs only has 46 stolen bases, according to ESPN (Alex Rodriguez, 1998). Inversely, the next closest 70-steals player to him in homers only has 28 (Ricky Henderson, 1986).

Acuña is quite literally in a league of his own with this one. And I don’t feel like anybody will be joining him anytime soon.

Quick hits: The Heat need redemption … The most watchable games in Week 4 of the NFL … and more

— The Miami Heat really fumbled the Damian Lillard thing. The team might be able to make up for it with Jrue Holiday. Prince Grimes has more.

— Charles Curtis has you covered on the most watchable games of Week 4 this NFL season. Tap in.

— Blake Schuster has you covered on Heisman odds so far through Week 5 and, uh, Shedur Sanders is not in the top 10. Sheesh. Oregon did that.

— Speaking of Ronald Acuña Jr., the Cubs announcers were hating on my guy. Charles Curtis has more.

— Bryan Kalbrosky has the Bucks’ projected starting lineup with Damian Lillard included here. This is an NBA 2k team, man.

—  We’ve finally got a new name for the Eagles’ “tush push” and it’s actually good.

That’s all, folks! Have a good Thursday.