HartfordWhalers wrote:HartfordWhalers Review
Key Losses:
Jerryd Bayless
He shot 101/231 on 3's, and could be the nominal 'pg' while Giannis actually initiated. There is a value in that. However, health concerns, questionable defense and an age that is past the window of the rest of the team made his loss understandable.
Losses:
O.J. Mayo
Greivis Vasquez
Damien Inglis
Johnny O'Bryant
OJ Mayo was once traded for Kevin Love. Besides that, he has chronically underperformed and now is out of the league for quite a bit. Not good. The Grevis Vasquez trade was absolutely horrible the instant it happened, and seeing Vasquez leave for nothing might even add to that sentiment, if possible. On the other hand, Vasquez isn't anything special. Damien Inglis was a high 2nd rounder that obviously didn't develop.
Draft:
#10 Thon Maker
#36 Malcolm Brogdon
#38 traded to GSW
Well, I disliked this draft a lot. Thon did feel like a massive reach at #10, and based upon the age stuff on him I feel really bad about his development curve. WHo would I have rather seen go here? A trade. Besides that, they could have grabbed Malcolm Brogdon might turn out a solid pick, but I would have liked McCaw there as a perfect guy to play the Bayless role only with more size and defense. Or at #38.
Trades:
#38 Pat McCaw to GSW for $2.4m
Rights to Albert Miralles for Dellavedova S&T and 200k cash
Selling a pick there when they need to upgrade Ennis and replace Bayless/Mayo/Vasquez in the guard rotation (or roster) feels just a horrible move. And only getting 2.4m and no future 2nd feels really bad on value. This feels like one of the low key horrible trades that can get lost in the shuffle, but shouldn't. And in general that was the stance of people on here, with 70% finding it good only for GSW McCaw trade. What would have been better, besides getting fair market value? Patrick McCaw/Demetrius Jackson/Isaiah Whitehead/(Cornelie or Cordinier stashed) all made a world more sense.
Getting 200k cash to do a S&T for Dellavedova enabled Cleveland to take Dunleavy for free. (Which enabled Chicago to take Wade.) Apart from following the small waves from there, it is worth pointing out that the Bucks did 2 small trades, each helping GSW and CLE strengthen their benches in case league parity was becoming possible for next season. Well played Milwaukee.
Free Agency:
Jason Kidd (HC) to contract extension
Miles Plumlee 4/$50m
Matthew Dellavedova S&T 4y/$38.4m
Mirza Teletovic 3/$31.5m
Thon Maker rookie scale
Malcolm Brogdon 3/3m last year nongtd
Jason Terry 1 year vet min
Steve Novak 1 year vet min
J.J. O’Brien and Orlando Johnson 1 year nongtd deals
I'm not sold on Kidd long term all that much, especially if he gets any GM like controls. Think Doc RIvers. Novak and Terry move zero needles. Mirza might be a fit at backup pf, but Milwaukee just came into free agency with a bunch of money and a very questionable guard rotation besides only Middleton. They left free agency with a roster already over 100m, and a very questionable guard rotation besides only Middleton. Dellavedova might be an okay backup pg, and he might start.
But they didn't address the real needs, added to the log jam of expensive bigs that aren't great. I would be hard pressed to find too many less spectacular usage of 120m than Plumelee/Teletovic/Dellavedova (although Plumlee was with Bird Rights and not full cap space).
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Michael Carter-Williams, Matthew Dellavedova, Jason Terry, Tyler Ennis
SG: Khris Middleton, Rashad Vaughn, Malcolm Brogdon, Orlando Johnson
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steve Novak, J.J. O’Brien
PF: Jabari Parker, Mirza Teletovic, Thon Maker
C: Greg Monroe, John Henson, Miles Plumlee
I moved Rashad Vaughn back to sg, as he isn't really a sf. And then Thon to pf. And then Terry to pg.
But regardless of where you put the guys, this depth chart looks razor thin.
Needs:
Defensive meshing with Monroe. Or a Monroe trade. John Hensen to look worth his contract. Or a Hensen trade. Miles Plumlee to look worth his contract. Or a Miles Plumlee trade. So, basically to sort the big man rotation.
Besides that? A competent starting pg (at least in name) to emerge from MCW, Dellavedova or trade.
A competent backup sg and backup sf.
Additional Thoughts:
The light at the end of the tunnel needs to be a trade. Things could get better if Monroe opts out next year, and there is some 15m to fix all the holes. But that 15m shouldn't go very far even then and that is letting MCW walk as a restricted free agent. Obviously there are a lot of scenarios where this gets worse next year. Jabari/Giannis will really need to look absolutely amazing going forward, and that feels like a lot of expectations to put on at least one of them.
Projected Win/Loss: 35-47 So, back to exactly the zone that the Bucks don't want to be stuck in.
Off-Season Grade: F I could have gone incomplete. Or a D. But there are no incompletes here, it is a judging of what has been done. Milwaukee hasn't done what they need to do, and what they have done I disliked a lot. That is an F.
bondom34 wrote:bondom34 Review
Key Losses:
None
Yeah, Bayless. Not a huge deal to me.
Losses:
O.J. Mayo
Greivis Vasquez
Damien Inglis
Johnny O'Bryant
Jerryd Bayless
Draft:
#10 Thon Maker
#36 Malcolm Brogdon
#38 traded to GSW
Wasn't a big fan of the Thon pick, but he looked good in Summer League. I guess its a wait and see thing. As for the age debate, I don't know what to make of it but am of the opinion if he's good it doesn't matter all that much.
Trades:
#38 Pat McCaw to GSW for $2.4m
Rights to Albert Miralles for Dellavedova S&T and 200k cash
Free Agency:
Jason Kidd (HC) to contract extension
Miles Plumlee 4/$50m
Matthew Dellavedova S&T 4y/$38.4m
Mirza Teletovic 3/$31.5m
Thon Maker rookie scale
Malcolm Brogdon 3/3m last year nongtd
Jason Terry 1 year vet min
Steve Novak 1 year vet min
J.J. O’Brien and Orlando Johnson 1 year nongtd deals
Delly was a good pickup for a good fit on this team. That's way too much money for a 3rd center in Plumlee and unless/until Monroe's gone, I don't like it. Solid deal for Teletovic as well, and the rest are end of bench vets/rookies/not that big. The Kidd extension's a show of faith, no problem there.
Current Depth Chart
PG: Michael Carter-Williams, Matthew Dellavedova, Tyler Ennis (I don't know who starts)
SG: Khris Middleton, Jason Terry, Malcolm Brogdon, Orlando Johnson
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rashad Vaughn, Steve Novak, J.J. O’Brien
PF: Jabari Parker, Mirza Teletovic
C: Greg Monroe, John Henson, Miles Plumlee, Thon Maker
Needs:
Development, and a Monroe trade. Just anywhere, but I'd think they really need to get that done if there's a taker. Maybe find a backup SG/SF combo or a PG upgrade.
Additional Thoughts:
Overall they disappointed last year, and I'm not sure what to expect this season. They could mesh and be back in the playoffs, or similar to last year. I'm thinking somewhere in between is about right, but could see them being higher. But I'm sure they're a great watch and with Giannis, Middleton, and Parker they look to have a pretty bright future.
Projected Win/Loss: 40-42
Off-Season Grade: B-
dbrandon wrote:dbrandon Review
Key Losses:
Jerryd Bayless
Bayless was a useful combo guard for the Bucks. He'll probably be missed a bit—I would have kept him over going for Terry. He's a solid player on both ends and can hit the 3, which is a useful thing to have around.
Losses:
O.J. Mayo
Greivis Vasquez
Damien Inglis
Johnny O'Bryant
How the mighty have fallen. OJ was the next big thing...now he's out for a "drug of abuse". Problems, man.
None of the rest of these guys are that useful. O'Bryant's probably worth someone taking a flier on, but that's about it.
Draft:
#10 Thon Maker
#36 Malcolm Brogdon
#38 traded to GSW
I kind of like both of these rookies. As most people do, I think Maker was probably overdrafted, and he's INCREDIBLY raw. But he's got a fantastic attitude and apparently works super hard, and I tend towards those guys over the low-motor high-potential prospects.
Trades:
#38 Pat McCaw to GSW for $2.4m
Rights to Albert Miralles for Dellavedova S&T and 200k cash
OK. Why would you trade away McCaw? I really like him—think he's going to be the kind of mistake that comes back and bites you.
Delly S&T will be touched on below.
Free Agency:
Jason Kidd (HC) to contract extension
Miles Plumlee 4/$50m
Matthew Dellavedova S&T 4y/$38.4m
Mirza Teletovic 3/$31.5m
Thon Maker rookie scale
Malcolm Brogdon 3/3m last year nongtd
Jason Terry 1 year vet min
Steve Novak 1 year vet min
J.J. O’Brien and Orlando Johnson 1 year nongtd deals
Kidd is a decent enough head coach, sure. I guess that's fine. I don't like him as a person that much, but w/e.
Plumlee hasn't shown enough to be worth near that amount of money. For real? His beard is good, I guess. But unless literally no one else wants to come, it feels like MIL was bidding against themselves.
I LOVE the Delly signing. He's been one of the better backup PGs, and unless you can get your hands on PatBev somehow, don't think there's another guy that fits as well next to Milwaukee's stable of big wings as a 3&D secondary ballhandler.
Mirza is a great signing too. One of the best guys at spreading the floor from PF.
Terry and Novak are both good vet signings. Terry probably still has a tiny bit left in the tank, but I hope not too much is expected of him.
The last two guys I don't know enough about to have an opinion either way.
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Matthew Dellavedova, Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis
SG: Khris Middleton, Jason Terry, Malcolm Brogdon, Orlando Johnson
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rashad Vaughn, Steve Novak, J.J. O’Brien
PF: Jabari Parker, Mirza Teletovic
C: Greg Monroe, John Henson, Miles Plumlee, Thon Maker
I moved Delly to starter because I'd be shocked if he's not.
This roster really looks a little thin on the wing TBH. They've got to pray Terry has something left and/or Brogdon and Vaughn are ready to contribute.
Needs:
Giannis and Jabari need to take the next step. Giannis getting a little bit more consistency on his jumper would be great, and Parker being better defensively would help as well.
Wing depth. They're thin there. Terry and Vaughn are not going to cut it long-term.
Moving Monroe should be high on the priority list. Can Henson fill that spot? He's been a terrific rim protector in low minutes, but can he scale production up and contribute in other ways?
Additional Thoughts:
This is a young and very talented team. Can they put it together? IDK, but it'll be fun to watch.
Projected Win/Loss: 42 wins
Off-Season Grade: C
Slava wrote:Slava Review
Key Losses:
Jerryd Bayless
Bayless' departure would hurt even with the arrival of Dellavadova as their new options at combo guard include a 39 year old Terry and some unproven young players.
Losses:
O.J. Mayo
Greivis Vasquez
Damien Inglis
Johnny O'Bryant
Nothing really grievous here and you gotta wonder if this is the end for OJ Mayo's NBA career. Between bad conditioning, poor work ethic and a substance abuse issue, its hard to find a team that would give him a second look even 2 years from now, when he'll be 30.
Draft:
#10 Thon Maker
#36 Malcolm Brogdon
#38 traded to GSW
Maker is a risk not just because his age might be underreported but mostly because he is tremendously raw in terms of adapting to organised basketball despite his physical gifts. However MIlwaukee is one of two teams in the top 10 that could afford to take that risk, the other being Denver. If he works out, him and Giannis in the frontcourt would make for a nightmare of a match up problem. If not, well the Bucks might lose out on a rotational guard who might have addressed some immediate needs but I like that they took the risk and his summer league play was certainly encouraging.
Brogdon is a fundamentally strong guard who lacks the athleticism/burst to create his own shots at the NBA level and his questionable shot mechanics make translating his jumper, which he worked very hard over in college to the pros quite difficult. He has some craftiness while being a smart defender but I think they could have benefited investing in a back up PG prospect like GP2, Cousins or Jackson or a reserve SF like Zipser who have higher chance of finding a niche in the league.
Trades:
#38 Pat McCaw to GSW for $2.4m
Rights to Albert Miralles for Dellavedova S&T and 200k cash
I would have liked it better if they trumped the Jazz offer for George Hill with their pick as he can guard both guard positions and adds consistent spacing but Delly, a luxury tax casualty in Cleveland is a fine acquisition to play the off guard in line ups featuring either MCW or Giannis as the primary ball handlers.
Considering their weak swing man depth here, I'd have kept McCaw who has some raw potential as a combo guard on both ends but there's only so many players to develop at once so taking the cash seems understandable. I do however think they'll regret this if he fulfills his potential on the Warriors.
Free Agency:
Jason Kidd (HC) to contract extension
Miles Plumlee 4/$50m
Matthew Dellavedova S&T 4y/$38.4m
Mirza Teletovic 3/$31.5m
Thon Maker rookie scale
Malcolm Brogdon 3/3m last year nongtd
Jason Terry 1 year vet min
Steve Novak 1 year vet min
J.J. O’Brien and Orlando Johnson 1 year nongtd deals
So far so good for Kidd here, he hasn't picked a fight with the GM or ownership (yet) and he's not been afraid to experiment with line ups or challenging his players to adapt to new roles. Running Giannis at point seems exciting even if we don't have a full season's worth of evidence to know how feasible it might be in the longer run. As such its a well deserved extension to preserve continuity.
Teletovic is an established shooter who you can draw out of time out plays for in tight game situations and he is signed to a fair deal in the current market place. Given a choice between him and Ryan Anderson, I'd choose Teletovic 10/10 times as he is usually reliably healthy and less of a defensive culprit. So getting him for half the price and a year less in free agency is a nice move.
The Plumlee extension makes little sense. From what I read and understand they made him available for cheap last season around the trade deadline, while on his rookie deal and couldn't find a taker. So I'm not sure what changed between then and the summer that made them rethink he either fits in their plans or they could move him under a more expensive deal.
Current Depth Chart
PG: Matthew Dellavedova, Michael Carter Williams, Tyler Ennis
SG: Khris Middleton, Jason Terry, Malcolm Brogdon, Orlando Johnson
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rashad Vaughn, Steve Novak, J.J. O’Brien
PF: Jabari Parker, Mirza Teletovic
C: John Henson, Greg Monroe, Miles Plumlee, Thon Maker
I'm going to go ahead and assume that Delly starts here as the nominal PG with Giannis being the primary ball handler and they run a second unit loaded with shooting to make things easier for MCW. As such the swing man depth is pretty weak here, so they might want to address this in the trade market or may be Ray Allen might indeed become a possibility.
Needs:
1. Better health and development from Jabari Parker.
2. Finding a consistent defensive unit that doesn't handicap the offense.
3. Acquiring swing man depth through trade, preferably including one of the misfits on the roster in MCW/Monroe.
Additional Thoughts:
Milwaukee took a step back last season, especially defensively while struggling with injuries and inconsistency. They start approaching Giannis' extension time this season and Parker is up for one soon so its time they get a better read on what they have on their hands.
The addition of proven shooting is going to smoothen a lot of creases in the offense but while there is a lot of versatility here, there's not much proven elite talent outside of Middleton and Giannis. I actually had to do a triple take to see where the money is going when I saw a $101M payroll while arguably their 3 best players are either on rookie or below market deals. A Giannis max extension coupled with Monroe picking up his player option could make money very tight here and it would be awkward if they have to pay luxury tax to keep a non-playoff team together next summer.
PS: If Chicago's season goes tits up with an untimely Wade injury and Jabari Parker plays up his value, I'd want the Bucks to explore a deal for Jimmy Butler.
Projected Win/Loss: 37-45
Off-Season Grade: B-
