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The Bucks called around to see if they could upgrade their roster, with the complication that their assets were burnt hot dogs and a pair of mismatched shoes. Antetokounmpo聽didn鈥檛 ask for a trade, though. Loyal man.

Then came July 1: The Bucks waived Lillard and stretched his contract buyout over five years, which will cost about $22.5 million (U.S.) in dead money on the NBA鈥檚 murderous cap for each of the next five years. They signed Indiana Pacers centre Myles Turner to a four-year, $170-million contract. And they traded wing Pat Connaughton and two second-round picks for 31-year-old Charlotte guard Vasilije Micic to create some space.

So looking at Milwaukee鈥檚 depth chart, it appears to be anybody who鈥檚 in the gym on time at point guard, Gary Trent Jr. or A.J. Green at shooting guard, Kyle Kuzma or the $22.5 million in dead money at small forward,聽Antetokounmpo surrounded by four defenders at power forward, and Myles Turner as a young Brook Lopez at centre.

Look, I know the NBA鈥檚 Eastern Conference most closely resembles a series of insurance scams. The Pacers lost Tyrese Haliburton for the year and now Turner as well; Boston lost Jayson Tatum for the year and is selling off the furniture. That leaves Cleveland, Orlando with Desmond Bane, Atlanta pretending to be serious, New York without a head coach, and Detroit hoping everyone else falls over. Honestly, LeBron James should force his way back to the East and make his 11th trip to the NBA Finals.

So while聽Antetokounmpo might tell himself he can win playoff rounds by himself, at some point acceptance should kick in. It may have started already: NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Giannis was not pleased by the ritual sacrifice of Lillard, and he聽 a picture of himself celebrating the Bucks title with the caption, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on right now, man.鈥� It鈥檚 almost like he had that meme handy, just in case.

So maybe Antetokounmpo, finally, will ask out. And if he does, he will decide where he goes.

And Ujiri will be watching from the sidelines after MLSE owner Edward Rogers pushed him out the door last week with one year left on his contract, a few days before a $1-million payment to Ujiri鈥檚 charity Giants of Africa was due. The contract extensions MLSE CEO Keith Pelley announced for the Raptors front office, per sources, are only for one year. As colleague Dave Feschuk noted, if agency giant CAA is running the search, you might expect CAA guys to be hired at the other end. James Dolan鈥檚 New York Knicks, the black sheep of the league, did the same thing.

Now, Antetokounmpo was no guarantee, even had Ujiri stayed. Sure, Ujiri was the one who arranged his documentation to leave Greece to play basketball; he had a relationship with the man, the entourage, and the family. At one point, it seemed like Kevin Durant was interested in linking up with Giannis, maybe in Toronto. (Durant鈥檚 stubborn refusal to learn how the new salary cap makes such a move impossible is almost inspiring.)

So, yes, it would have been tricky. If you could do an聽Antetokounmpo deal without moving Scottie Barnes 鈥� so, say, for contract purposes, R.J. Barrett and point guard Immanuel Quickley 鈥� you would then have to move Barnes in a separate deal, since the Raptors extended centre Jakob Poeltl at a reasonable number, and a giant front court that can鈥檛 shoot wouldn鈥檛 have worked. It would not have been simple.

But Giannis would have been possible, because of Ujiri. That was the promise of the former Raptors president. That was what some of this rebuild was predicated on, in an era where nailing the draft, managing the cap, and making the biggest trades can create routes to contention. Ujiri has relationships with big players, and can swing for big deals. He only nailed one; he wanted to nail another.

That鈥檚 over now, though, because Rogers wanted to save some money and expedite some spite, and if there are Giannis sweepstakes 鈥� if this is finally, finally the time 鈥� they will happen elsewhere. Some dreams live forever. Some just die.