Bucks News, Transactions and Trade Ideas - 2025 Off-season

[soxperry]

The Dame injury potentially has some hidden benefits.

First: Kpj has every opportunity here now. This is the ideal spot for him to not only build on last year but to take the next step in showing he is worthy of a huge contract. Play next to Giannis and have every chance to earn a starting spot in a situation where they want you to be you. Barring some team throwing him a monster offer, he would be stupid to pass that up.

Also: If youre a free agent, youre seeing the exact same thing and youre competing with KPJ for second fiddle, not Dame.

If we can find the right guys and carve out an identity, it will at least be a fun season.

[slos]

Horst should do anything in his power to sign Porter into a 4 yeal contract. With Dame out his value will explode. I will say the same exact thing for Rollins. Horst should keep KPJ with a 4/60 and Rollins with 4/30 to start making worth his own extension.

Looking at that KPJ/Rollins combo they both seem to fit with Giannis. We saw Giannis working better with a combo guard that can do well many little things (Jrue) than a pure ball dominand PG (Dame). KPJ/Rollins can be effective off ball and that lets Giannis go back to his pre-Dame comfort.

Trent is obviously another keeper. Along with Green I think Bucks can have a damn good basis to restructure their roster. If the 5 mil BAE isn't enough for GTJ, Bucks will have access to the 14 mil DPE from Dame. Trent can happilly have that 1 year "prove it" contract with a promise that he will be taken care off when his Bird rights kick in.

Bobby is the last keeper. He showed up again in the playoffs. Good culture guy, always provides from the bench. Extend him too at 13-14ish money.

What happens with Dame? I don't believe he is tradeable in summer. Maybe in the deadline. Easier next offseason as an expiring. Whenever it can happen I'm just splitting his money into multiple rotation players. Bucks have long tried pairing Giannis with All stars. It worked once with Jrue/Midds. It backfired since then.

There is too much parity in the league right now, which makes it extremely hard to form Big 3s. Entering his 30s I would like to see a Milwaukee team with Giannis and younger good role players that fit with him.

Porter/Rollins
Trent/Green
XXX/XXX
Giannis/Portis
XXX/XXX

That's the blueprint I have in mind. I know that Horst has extremely limited assets to fill the gaps. I don't remember though spending anyting of value for Porter, Rollins, Trent, Green, Bobby. It can be done. Just stop praying for Giannis trades!

[yannisk]

1) We keep Giannis, we build a contender in two years, Giannis resigns and we have another 2-3 years to fight for a championship after 2027 (then Giannis gets old)

2) We keep Giannis, we go nowhere for two years, Giannis leaves as free agent. Bucks in purgatory for 2+5 years

3) We keep Giannis we go nowhere for two years, Giannis nevertheless resigns and stays a Buck till retirement.

4) We trade Giannis but Horst wastes all picks Bucks are mediocre

5) We trade Giannis and Horst builds a young team which is a contender

6) We trade Giannis and Horst builds a fun young team that is not quite a contender

Best scenarios are 1 and 5. Most probable scenarios are 2 and 6. This is for the Bucks, but for basketball the best scenario is that a great player in the later part of his prime plays for a contender.

[soxperry]

Horst should do anything in his power to sign Porter into a 4 yeal contract. With Dame out his value will explode. I will say the same exact thing for Rollins. Horst should keep KPJ with a 4/60 and Rollins with 4/30 to start making worth his own extension.

Looking at that KPJ/Rollins combo they both seem to fit with Giannis. We saw Giannis working better with a combo guard that can do well many little things (Jrue) than a pure ball dominand PG (Dame). KPJ/Rollins can be effective off ball and that lets Giannis go back to his pre-Dame comfort.

Trent is obviously another keeper. Along with Green I think Bucks can have a damn good basis to restructure their roster. If the 5 mil BAE isn't enough for GTJ, Bucks will have access to the 14 mil DPE from Dame. Trent can happilly have that 1 year "prove it" contract with a promise that he will be taken care off when his Bird rights kick in.

Bobby is the last keeper. He showed up again in the playoffs. Good culture guy, always provides from the bench. Extend him too at 13-14ish money.

What happens with Dame? I don't believe he is tradeable in summer. Maybe in the deadline. Easier next offseason as an expiring. Whenever it can happen I'm just splitting his money into multiple rotation players. Bucks have long tried pairing Giannis with All stars. It worked once with Jrue/Midds. It backfired since then.

There is too much parity in the league right now, which makes it extremely hard to form Big 3s. Entering his 30s I would like to see a Milwaukee team with Giannis and younger good role players that fit with him.

Porter/Rollins
Trent/Green
XXX/XXX
Giannis/Portis
XXX/XXX

That's the blueprint I have in mind. I know that Horst has extremely limited assets to fill the gaps. I don't remember though spending anyting of value for Porter, Rollins, Trent, Green, Bobby. It can be done. Just stop praying for Giannis trades!

What has Rollins done to earn 7M per year? I think we are so starved for young talent that we are massively overinflating his value. Hes not even really that you g for a guy who is very much still developing.I dont think he would get real minutes on many teams. Bucks can and should low ball him and see what other offers he gets before raising it. His strength is defense and in a series where we needed defense he was unplayable. Idk...

Youve posted about us signing NAW a lot in the past, do you still think thats possible?

[pifhluk23]

Horst should do anything in his power to sign Porter into a 4 yeal contract. With Dame out his value will explode. I will say the same exact thing for Rollins. Horst should keep KPJ with a 4/60

That's a massive overpay lol. No one in the league is offering him more than 10 per, even 10 seems like a lot and I doubt he can get that. Locking him up for a few years isn't a bad idea but for something like 3/20 or 3/25 max.

[BigO]

I wouldn’t define the last two year’s of watching the Bucks as “amazing”.

As I said after Bud was run out of town, the odds of getting a better coach were statistically very unlikely.

Of course we could have hired Kenny “Mr. adjustments” Atkinson. He’d know how to not collapse against the Pacers. Oh wait.

I don't think this is close to true, especially after the job Bud did in Phoenix.

I'm not saying you could get a great coach (not many of them), but certainly you could get one not as rigid as Bud or Doc.

You have Frank Vogel sitting out there who was canned in LA after doing a good job and who was canned in Phoenix after doing a good job. Both replacements for him were abysmal.

So I'd take Vogel in a heart beat or I'd try and find someone who has some hstory of changing defenses and offenses and isn't tied to lineups (all of these are the definition of Spoelstra).

Of course, having flexibility, while a prerequisite, isn't sufficient. Otherwise, we should have hired Nurse.

[BigO]

It appears that everyone is now getting off the Atkinson bandwagon.

That's what happens when you use won/loss record as your sole criteria for analyzing coaches.

The Cavs had one of the top starting lineups and top reserve in the league, so they should have been expected to win a lot of games.

Now they are missing two top starters and the top reserve, so their lineup is pretty bad. Not the coaches fault.

Atkinson isn't as bad as Bud or Doc and isn't as good as Spoelstra.

[soxperry]

Horst should do anything in his power to sign Porter into a 4 yeal contract. With Dame out his value will explode. I will say the same exact thing for Rollins. Horst should keep KPJ with a 4/60

That's a massive overpay lol. No one in the league is offering him more than 10 per, even 10 seems like a lot and I doubt he can get that. Locking him up for a few years isn't a bad idea but for something like 3/20 or 3/25 max.

I think the most we can give him is 4/56.4 which is 14.1 per year. You may not want to do that but...

I just did a deep dive on kpj a bit ago and the end result was that there are only two guards who are at a per 36 of at least 20/6/6 over the course of 82: Bane and Cade.

Kpj was at 21/7/6 per 36 (no other guard met this line) over his 30+ games as a Buck. While Cade obviously has more points and assists, Porter's statistical profile is extremely similar to Bane's and Bane makes 30+ per year.

I hope it doesn't cost us the full mle but i will not be surprised if it does. I could definitely see a team like Sacramento (thinking about their roster no idea what their cap situation is) taking a chance on him for the same reason we would. Would a team like Brooklyn use cap space to give him more? I doubt it. But you never know

[German Athens]

The NTMLE does have a 5% annual raise, so it would be more like 4/60.8.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

In 2050, no one will remember or care whether the 2031 Bucks went 47-35 and got bounced by Boston in 5, or that they went 40-42 and got bounced by Boston in 4 a round earlier.

What they will remember is Giannis valiantly carrying the team for as long as he could and maybe breaking through when we hired a good coach.

i mean....we havent even been competitive in the first round for 3 years and recently have had those types of records anyway? nobody cares NOW? were a very embarrassing franchise right now and Giannis, like it or not, is kinda a big part of that and not all in a good way with how this has played out?

id also suggest like im not waiting until 2031. i think if we pulled off the right couple deals we could be better a whole lot sooner than 2031.

i guess i could see it both ways. im sooooo 50/50. If Giannis commits in blood than he stays. If he doesnt or I sense any waffling whatsoever then Im listening big time out there

2023 - Giannis thpinal
2024 - Giannis and Dame injured; dumb coach
2025 - Dame injured; dumb coach

The logical solution to this definitely isn't selling the most difficult thing to obtain.

giannis injuries/wear and tear/style of play..... have to be baked into this now more than ever. giannis is about to begin his westbrook post durant/harden/george tenure in OKC. he will put up amazing stats when he plays. we will not win much and he will be at huge injury risk every time he steps onto the court with his style and usage. the entire franchise future will reside solely on whether he stays healthy or not quite frankly.

that is a very scary gamble. the gumby version of giannis is long gone in fact. theres nothing logical about either way. its all just gut feel at this point.

giannis is special. the bucks with giannis are not special in any way. an injury would be catastrophic. these three statements are not unrelated. they are all very related.

if we dont have a pathway to improve NOW and quickly with him..... he should be traded imo

again... its not logical to trade him. its not logical to keep him. LUCK plays far to great a role in the outcome to logic as it relates to winning. This is risk management at this point. you use your logic as it relates to risk. you dont gamble the the entire future of the franchise on a single player when the return on a trade could be so historic. you have to at least consider it

[pifhluk23]

Horst should do anything in his power to sign Porter into a 4 yeal contract. With Dame out his value will explode. I will say the same exact thing for Rollins. Horst should keep KPJ with a 4/60

That's a massive overpay lol. No one in the league is offering him more than 10 per, even 10 seems like a lot and I doubt he can get that. Locking him up for a few years isn't a bad idea but for something like 3/20 or 3/25 max.

I think the most we can give him is 4/56.4 which is 14.1 per year. You may not want to do that but...

I just did a deep dive on kpj a bit ago and the end result was that there are only two guards who are at a per 36 of at least 20/6/6 over the course of 82: Bane and Cade.

Kpj was at 21/7/6 per 36 (no other guard met this line) over his 30+ games as a Buck. While Cade obviously has more points and assists, Porter's statistical profile is extremely similar to Bane's and Bane makes 30+ per year.

I hope it doesn't cost us the full mle but i will not be surprised if it does. I could definitely see a team like Sacramento (thinking about their roster no idea what their cap situation is) taking a chance on him for the same reason we would. Would a team like Brooklyn use cap space to give him more? I doubt it. But you never know

I'd feel gross about that, feel gross paying GTJ or Prince too. Guys in contract years always play to their max ability and then more often than not they sign a 3 or 4 year deal and drop off heavily.

[th87]

i mean....we havent even been competitive in the first round for 3 years and recently have had those types of records anyway? nobody cares NOW? were a very embarrassing franchise right now and Giannis, like it or not, is kinda a big part of that and not all in a good way with how this has played out?

id also suggest like im not waiting until 2031. i think if we pulled off the right couple deals we could be better a whole lot sooner than 2031.

i guess i could see it both ways. im sooooo 50/50. If Giannis commits in blood than he stays. If he doesnt or I sense any waffling whatsoever then Im listening big time out there

2023 - Giannis thpinal
2024 - Giannis and Dame injured; dumb coach
2025 - Dame injured; dumb coach

The logical solution to this definitely isn't selling the most difficult thing to obtain.

giannis injuries/wear and tear/style of play..... have to be baked into this now more than ever. giannis is about to begin his westbrook post durant/harden/george tenure in OKC. he will put up amazing stats when he plays. we will not win much and he will be at huge injury risk every time he steps onto the court with his style and usage. the entire franchise future will reside solely on whether he stays healthy or not quite frankly.

that is a very scary gamble. the gumby version of giannis is long gone in fact. theres nothing logical about either way. its all just gut feel at this point.

giannis is special. the bucks with giannis are not special in any way. an injury would be catastrophic. these three statements are not unrelated. they are all very related.

if we dont have a pathway to improve NOW and quickly with him..... he should be traded imo

again... its not logical to trade him. its not logical to keep him. LUCK plays far to great a role in the outcome to logic as it relates to winning. This is risk management at this point. you use your logic as it relates to risk. you dont gamble the the entire future of the franchise on a single player when the return on a trade could be so historic. you have to at least consider it

Then by this logic, how would we get good value?

[emunney]

I wouldn’t define the last two year’s of watching the Bucks as “amazing”.

As I said after Bud was run out of town, the odds of getting a better coach were statistically very unlikely.

Of course we could have hired Kenny “Mr. adjustments” Atkinson. He’d know how to not collapse against the Pacers. Oh wait.

I don't think this is close to true, especially after the job Bud did in Phoenix.

I'm not saying you could get a great coach (not many of them), but certainly you could get one not as rigid as Bud or Doc.

You have Frank Vogel sitting out there who was canned in LA after doing a good job and who was canned in Phoenix after doing a good job. Both replacements for him were abysmal.

So I'd take Vogel in a heart beat or I'd try and find someone who has some hstory of changing defenses and offenses and isn't tied to lineups (all of these are the definition of Spoelstra).

Of course, having flexibility, while a prerequisite, isn't sufficient. Otherwise, we should have hired Nurse.

I truly hate to jump to Doc's defense here but I don't think he's rigid. I know it was obvious to all of us, but in the world of NBA coaching, changing the lineup and rotation like he did vs Indiana in reaction to the *April* emergence of a synergistic lineup is actually pretty radical. End of year interviews, I'm getting to the bottom of who pushed him to do that, and they're on my shortlist for next HC.

[Iheartfootball]

I wouldn’t define the last two year’s of watching the Bucks as “amazing”.

You'll miss these days once we're back in Kohl territory.

The end results have been disappointing the past few seasons.

But I still stop before every Bucks game and appreciate the fact we have a player as great as Giannis. I never take Giannis for granted and appreciate his greatness every time he steps on the court. I said it the other day and I will say it once again, I feel like I am in a fever dream reading posts of people thinking it is a good idea to trade Giannis.

Some of us are old enough to remember staying up late on school nights only to watch the Bucks of Todd Day and Eric Murdock lose to the 0-16 Clippers....lol. I am holding on to Giannis for as long as I can.

This is where I'm at too. This last season was the least engaged I've been as a fan since I can remember. Now, I didn't expect much for a multitude of reasons - and that gave me space to not be so angry when they lost this year. The rest of the NBA landscape and teams remaining do not have incredible and unattainable rosters. But they all have veteran superstars who know how to win. Trading Giannis doesn't mean we will get a Steph, Butler, Brunson, ANT, Jokic, Halliburton (god that's gross to type). It does mean that we have a super duper star willing to do what he needs to win. He may not have the BBIQ that those players do but maybe surround him with one or two that do. Would Atkinson have put us over the top? Maybe. Would drafting and developing put us over the top? Maybe. I know that GTJr. showed out in the playoffs - regardless of fumbling that pass. AJG hit lots of 3's and was hamstrung by some bias officiating on defense (fight me). When Prince, Brook, and Kuzma were on the bench the team worked better. KPJr. may also not have a high BBIQ but he flashes and is effective when utilized correctly (see Doc). So the roster isn't in as bad of shape as I came into the season thinking. Definitely needs tweaks and is Horst saavy enough to make them? Has he ever had the autonomy to make those decisions? These are questions that need to be answered.

What I think I know is it's easier to find a better coach than Doc, pickup a few hungry FA's with some bounce, and start to actually keep some of our draft picks and develop them then dump Giannis for god knows what and if that person will even develop into Him.

Now, does that align with ownership's timeline, vision, ROI? I dont' know. There's so much nuance to running an organization/system and they have to be humming together in harmony at the right time for something like the Pacers or GS or NYK have to function optimally.

Bottom line, all hope is not lost, but adding further uncertainty to the biggest known positive the organization has (Giannis) is incredibly risky and doesn't feel like something the front office has the skill set to accomplish. He's the only valuable person in that org right now.

[Iheartfootball]

As I said after Bud was run out of town, the odds of getting a better coach were statistically very unlikely.

Of course we could have hired Kenny “Mr. adjustments” Atkinson. He’d know how to not collapse against the Pacers. Oh wait.

I don't think this is close to true, especially after the job Bud did in Phoenix.

I'm not saying you could get a great coach (not many of them), but certainly you could get one not as rigid as Bud or Doc.

You have Frank Vogel sitting out there who was canned in LA after doing a good job and who was canned in Phoenix after doing a good job. Both replacements for him were abysmal.

So I'd take Vogel in a heart beat or I'd try and find someone who has some hstory of changing defenses and offenses and isn't tied to lineups (all of these are the definition of Spoelstra).

Of course, having flexibility, while a prerequisite, isn't sufficient. Otherwise, we should have hired Nurse.

I truly hate to jump to Doc's defense here but I don't think he's rigid. I know it was obvious to all of us, but in the world of NBA coaching, changing the lineup and rotation like he did vs Indiana in reaction to the *April* emergence of a synergistic lineup is actually pretty radical. End of year interviews, I'm getting to the bottom of who pushed him to do that, and they're on my shortlist for next HC.

How about Doc's not rigid, but he's stubborn? You gotta have an ego to coach in this league and it can get the best of him often.

[buckboy]

Sheppard/Thompson/2025 PHX 1st / 2026 HOU 2nd / 2028 HOU 1st / 2030 Hou 1st - Does anyone say no to that?

Immediately.

[PG Graveyard]

Sheppard/Thompson/2025 PHX 1st / 2026 HOU 2nd / 2028 HOU 1st / 2030 Hou 1st - Does anyone say no to that?

Immediately.

I would say no and then immediately fly down to Houston and beat the **** out of that GM over there for proposing that

[emunney]

Sheppard and Thompson is my favorite of all the Trade Cores I've seen so far sans Flagg, but it needs a lot more. That's one that could get us to that 80s Bucks 2nd tier glory GoS and PP want.

[jschligs]

Here's another interesting thing to look at. I mentioned winning a championship is hard. And someone else mentioned nobody will look back in 20 years and remember us getting bounced in the first, or semis, or ECF. People will only look at championships. The last champions have all been different teams going back

Celtics
Nuggets
Warriors
Bucks
Lakers
Raptors

The last 6 years we have had a different champion every year. The parity is at an all time high. You move Giannis, you won't even sniff a championship again. Even if Flagg turns out to be half as good as Giannis. You keep the one thing that might be able to get you back there and also understand that many of these teams are going to have cap hell/difficult decisions to make in the next year or two.

[DanoMac]

Here's another interesting thing to look at. I mentioned winning a championship is hard. And someone else mentioned nobody will look back in 20 years and remember us getting bounced in the first, or semis, or ECF. People will only look at championships. The last champions have all been different teams going back

Celtics
Nuggets
Warriors
Bucks
Lakers
Raptors

The last 6 years we have had a different champion every year. The parity is at an all time high. You move Giannis, you won't even sniff a championship again. Even if Flagg turns out to be half as good as Giannis. You keep the one thing that might be able to get you back there and also understand that many of these teams are going to have cap hell/difficult decisions to make in the next year or two.

Yep to the bolded. Boston is going to look much different next year