Milwaukee begins 2026-27 at 0-0 after trading Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami in June, the second time in franchise history it has dealt away a transcendent big man. The last time it happened, in 1975, the rebuild took years; this one already has a new coach, two rookies and a Wednesday trip to Oklahoma City to show for it.
1971
Milwaukee won a coin flip for Lew Alcindor, who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then traded for Oscar Robertson. In the franchise's third season, that pairing went 66-16 and swept the Baltimore Bullets for Milwaukee's first championship, proof that a fast rebuild around one great player was possible.
1975
After the 1974 Finals loss to Boston, capped by Abdul-Jabbar's double-overtime sky hook in Game 6, Milwaukee traded him to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and David Meyers. The Bucks rebuilt without their franchise center once before; this year's roster is what that kind of reset looks like fifty years later.
2021
Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered the second title in 2021, averaging 35.2 points a game and 13.2 rebounds a game in the Finals, including a 50-point Game 6 at home against Phoenix. That is the core Milwaukee broke up this year, the same kind of decision that sent Abdul-Jabbar to Los Angeles in 1975.
This summer
On June 23, the Bucks sent Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, then drafted Brayden Burries at No. 10 and Nate Ament at No. 13. Taylor Jenkins, hired April 30 after running the Memphis Grizzlies, inherited a twenty-one man roster assembled almost entirely after that trade.
This week
The new-look Bucks lost their preseason opener 116-97 to Minnesota on Monday; Ryan Rollins scored 15 points in fourteen minutes before his fifth foul ended his night. Milwaukee waived John Butler Jr. and signed Johni Broome on Tuesday, then travels to face Oklahoma City on Wednesday for its second preseason game.
Did the Bucks trade Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Yes. On June 23, Milwaukee sent Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis.
Have the Bucks traded away a franchise center before?
Yes. In 1975, Milwaukee traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and David Meyers after the 1974 Finals loss.
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