Milwaukee Bucks are holding on to potential play-in tournament hopes after finishing with a 23-30 record in the first half of the season.

The Bucks won five of their last six games going into the All-Star break, giving them an opportunity to potentially move up if they have a strong second half. However, Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes believes the Bucks won’t have a lot of success in the second half of the season, finishing the year with a 32-50 record.

“Giannis Antetokounmpo lasted through the deadline and is again professing his undying loyalty to the Milwaukee Bucks. Stay tuned for the offseason when we’ll undoubtedly re-enter the “will he, won’t he?” cycle of trade agitation that never quite rises to the level of a demand,” Hughes wrote.

“Antetokounmpo’s calf strain is a wild card. Nobody’s sure how long he’ll be out or how the Bucks will react if he says he wants to go full throttle whenever he returns. They need to maximize their draft position, and Giannis has proved this season that he can lift this mess of a team to respectability when healthy. They’re 15-15 with Antetokounmpo in the lineup but perform like one of the two or three worst teams in the league when he isn’t.

“This downgraded record is a bet on Antetokounmpo playing relatively little down the stretch, and on Milwaukee looking completely overmatched for most of the games he misses.”

Bucks Projected to Miss Playoffs

With 32-50 being the final record, Hughes believes the team will only win nine more games this season. That being said, the Bucks still have a shot to make it to the play-in tournament. They only sit one and a half games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the number 10 seed. The Hawks lost their last three games going into the All-Star Break, so there is potential for some shakeups in the standings.

The Bucks have some tough games down the stretch and will have to pull off some upsets in order for them to move up in the standings. They will also need Antetokounmpo to make a return from his calf strain. If Antetokounmpo can get healthy, the Bucks’ chances of making it to the playoffs are much higher; however, there is not a lot of confidence in a possible return.

The Bucks return to the court for the second half of the season against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday at 7 p.m. CT inside the Smoothie King Center. Fans can watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network or stream it on NBA League Pass.

More Milwaukee Bucks Stories

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — The Menomonee Falls Village Board approved tax incentives Monday night for Milwaukee Tool as the company continues to plan a massive expansion to its facility off Good Hope Road.

The board approved one tax incremental district and amended another, laying the financial groundwork for Milwaukee Tool’s multi-phase, nearly $206 million expansion across almost 92 acres of land.

According to the deal, Milwaukee Tool will remodel an existing 164,000-square-foot building into an electric lab and research and development facility. The company will then construct new buildings over four phases, totaling 750,000 square feet by 2038.

The new development will be located in wooded land just northwest of their current facility off Good Hope Road.

Watch: Milwaukee Tool secures tax incentives for $206M expansion in Menomonee Falls

Milwaukee Tool secures tax incentives for $206M expansion in Menomonee Falls

“We are continuing to invest in and grow our Menomonee Falls campus, and the agreement provides flexibility to support that growth over the long term,” a Milwaukee Tool representative said in an email to TMJ4 Monday evening.

The contract also allows the company to build a private road connected to Fond du Lac Avenue if the development reaches 2,000 permanent employees, though that is not a minimum requirement for the development.

Both tax districts were passed by unanimous vote from the Village Board.

This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip

• Several top Milwaukee-area high school boys basketball teams are competing for conference titles and top seeds.
• Brookfield East is named team of the week after two key conference wins put it in contention for the Greater Metro Conference title.
• West Allis Central dropped in the rankings after its star player, Yusef Gray Jr., was reported to be out for the season.
• Wisconsin Lutheran remains undefeated and holds the top spot in the area rankings.

It is a big week for several top high school boys hoops teams in the Milwaukee area, as programs make their final cases for top seeds and clinch conference titles.

Slinger and Whitefish Bay, locked in a dead heat for the North Shore title, are ranked just as close in our area rankings this week. Brookfield East earns our team of the week nod after a sweep of conference opponents gave it the inside track for a Greater Metro Conference title. West Allis Central kept winning last week, but the news that Iowa State commit and 6-foot-5 senior guard Yusef Gray Jr. is reportedly out for the season dropped the Bulldogs another couple spots.

Wauwatosa West dropping a barn-burner to Brookfield East drops it out of the top 10 this week, while Milwaukee Audubon Tech (13-7) has lost three straight games to drop out of others considered.

Here are our full area rankings, team of the week and games to watch in the week ahead.

AREA RANKINGS

Team (W-L), last week

1. Wisconsin Lutheran (21-0), 1
2. Port Washington (20-1), 2
3. Milwaukee Juneau (19-1), 5
4. New Berlin West (19-2), 3
5. Brookfield East (17-4), 9
6. Slinger (17-4), 4
7. Whitefish Bay (16-5), –
8. West Allis Central (19-2), 6
9. Golda Meir (16-2), 8
10. Howard Fuller Collegiate (18-2), 10