Would the Play-in be Considered a Successful Season for the Milwaukee Bucks?

When you have a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team, the goal is always to win a championship.

After he won his first MVP for the 2018-19 season, the championship window loudly opened for the Milwaukee Bucks and the franchise realized they had an realistic opportunity to win a championship with Antetokounmpo on the roster.

That same season, the Bucks fell short in the Eastern Conference Finals and lost to the eventual champions, the Toronto Raptors in six games. A year later, Antetokounmpo added another MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year to his trophy case, but couldn't add the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy as they fell in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Miami Heat in five games.

Milwaukee finally got over the hump in 2021 after defeating the Phoenix Suns in game six where Antetokounmpo scored 50 points to win the NBA Finals. He proved he could do it given a championship roster and the Bucks were hopeful to add to it.

However, that would be the last time Milwaukee would even get pass the second round of the playoffs. The defending champs fell in seven games to the Boston Celtics in the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals and made history becoming the sixth No. 1 seed to lose in the first round in 2023 to the Heat.

Following the disappointing loss, the window began to shut. To help keep it open the Bucks tried to salvage it by making a blockbuster trade for Damian Lillard, but it was a short lived experience as Milwaukee lost to the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs back-to-back years and Lillard would eventually be waived in 2025.

Recently it was Antetokounmpo to end his tenure with the Bucks as he was traded to Miami earlier this offseason. Milwaukee will be heading with a drastically different roster from the trade and from the NBA Draft heading into next season.

Though the Bucks have acquired a few intriguing pieces, the expectations have been low around the league with some people even predicting Milwaukee to be the worst team in the league. The window to win a championship was practically closed this past season, but that came to reality once one of the greatest players of all time is no longer on the team.

Milwaukee Bucks updated roster:

PG: Ryan Rollins
SG: Tyler Herro
SF: Jaime Jaquez Jr.
PF: Kyle Kuzma
C: Myles Turner

Bench:
Kevin Porter Jr.
Kasparas Jakucionis
Brayden Burries
AJ Green
Caris LeVert
Ousmane Dieng
Nate Ament
Bogoljub Markovic
Kel'el Ware
Jericho Sims
— Jake Weinbach (@JWeinbachNBA) July 8, 2026

As the Bucks try to navigate life without Antetokounmpo, a successful season is no longer winning a championship, but what about making the NBA Play-In Tournament?

While the top six seeds are locked into the playoffs for both conferences, seeds seven through 10 compete in a single-elimination games to fight for the last two spots. The No. 7 seed will play the No. 8 seed and the winner clinches a playoff berth, while the loser plays the winner the of the No. 9 and No. 10 game.

Introduced during the bubble and made a permeant part of the league in 2022, it's a format that allows those teams in the hunt to compete for a chance to make the playoffs.

For a Bucks team that's going through a rebuild, the answer to the question of, "Would the Play-in be Considered a Successful Season for the Milwaukee Bucks?" is an yes.

Jul 16, 2026; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) speaks to reporters during his introductory press conference at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Proving doubters wrong

With the way the league has viewed the Bucks since the Antetokounmpo trade, the consensus is that this season is already decided before it's even started. Milwaukee is a young team with a new coach and doesn't have a clear direction even with the addition of players like Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis and Kel'el Ware.

The Eastern Conference saw teams reload with talent such as the Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks, while having teams already in contention like the Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and the defending champions New York Knicks.

Those eight teams alone could all be in the playoffs, and there's still the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Hornets who made the play-in last year.

The Pacers are also bound to bounce back once Tyrese Haliburton returns, and if the Bucks can manage to sneak in and steal a spot from one of these teams with high expectations, then it would surely be a successful season after moving on Antetokounmpo

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