To get us through the late-Summer doldrums of the NBA, we’re reviewing teams from around the league and how their offseasons went.
Milwaukee Bucks
Key Additions:
Gary Trent Jr.
Delon Wright
Taurean Prince
A.J. Johnson
Tyler Smith
Anzejs Pasecniks (Two-Way)
Stanley Umude (Two-Way)
Key Losses:
Thanasis Antetokoumpo
Malik Beasley
Patrick Beverley
Jae Crowder
Danilo Gallinari
Jaylin Galloway
TyTy Washington Jr.
Offseason Review and 2024-25 Season Outlook:
The Bucks had one of the more interesting offseasons last year when they took a swing for the fences and traded Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and multiple picks for Damian Lillard. They had also fired their longtime head coach Mike Budenholzer and promoted assistant Adrian Griffin to take his place. That swing quickly started to look like a foul ball even early on in the season. Griffin made it just over half the season before being fired and replaced by Doc Rivers. Lillard struggled to fit in and while he still averaged 24.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds, did so with some of the worst efficiency of his career. Milwaukee’s defense, their calling card, cratered from 4th the year before to 19th in the 23-24 season. Bad timing on an injury to Giannis and then Dame led them to flaming out in the first round to the Indiana Pacers in six games, and with another year under their belts, that championship window looks smaller and smaller.
The Bucks didn’t have nearly as exciting of an offseason this year but they did make some solid depth signings. The Bucks managed to get Gary Trent Jr. and Delon Wright on premium one-year deals as both hope to recoup some of their value by playing for a playoff team. Trent is an excellent shooter and capable of scoring 20 points on any given night. Wright injects some needed defensive energy and playmaking, but it still feels like this team is lacking. Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the best players in the world, but he can only do so much, and the supporting cast around him keeps getting older. Lillard is 34 years old and coming off a season where he shot worse than he has since he was still on a rookie contract. Brook Lopez is going to turn 37 by the end of the season and Khris Middleton is 33 and hasn’t been able to stay healthy for two seasons now. This is a team badly in need of depth or an injection of youth and it’s hard to see how they come out of an Eastern Conference featuring far deeper teams like the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers or New York Knicks. Still, superstars are the ultimate gamechanger, and Giannis Antetokounmpo has shown us more than once that he is capable of carrying a team all on his own.
Why We Hate Them:
Because freaking Dame had to go vintage Dame Time against us this last season and hit that 40 foot buzzer beater. One more win would have put us in 8th and needing just one win in the Play-In tournament to make the playoffs.
Prediction:
Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard will continue to haunt this Milwaukee squad as will Doc Rivers for Mike Budenholzer.
I am Khris Middleton fan. Mostly because I see Keegan Murray as the younger, faster to develop version. Of the comps for Keegan (who celebrated birthday 24 yesterday) there is Paul George as another (hopeful) comp – that is All-Star level talent. We continue to hope Keegan takes another step this, only his third, season.
Agreed. They fell victim to the trap of favoring offense over defense. I’m sure 9 out of 10 GMs would take Dame over Holiday, but it’s a team game and Holiday is a sum is greater than it’s parts kind of player that helps on both ends of the court in ways that Dame cannot. Last time I checked, defense still wins championships.
I don’t think the Celtics win a title without Holiday and I don’t think Dame will be winning one in Milwaukee.
I think Doc is better than Griffin was, but I still don’t think Doc is a good coach.
That Gary Trent Jr signing was an absolute steal though.
Another reason to bemoan the 2018 NBA Draft.
Kings select #2 – You Know Who
Kings select #37 – Gary Trent, Jr. who was shipped to Portland for 2 second rounders. The future second round picks used to acquire Gary Trent Jr. from Sacramento are the better of the Lakers/Timberwolves seconds in 2019 and the Heat 2021 second. Try and look up what happened to these picks.
Once again, thank you GM Vlade!
That does sting.
We didn’t need Gary Trent Jr, we had Frank Mason and Yogi Ferrell!
Ugh.
Badge Legend