Middleton/Johnson to Wash for Kuzma/Baldwin

[emunney]

Have we really reached these critical levels of Khris apologism? His body's cooked dude. It'll only become more evident with time, and Suki and Co. are still widely considered to be one of the best in the business.

Yes. I think Suki and Troy have done wonders for this team the past ten years. They've kept guys like Lopez going and got Jabari back from two ACL's. Far better than what we had in the Kohl years.

They were in charge of Jabari's rehab, and they did such a good job he blew out out again. How is this possibly viewed as a positive?

A lot of ACL recons fail. The fact that he came back from the first one twice as athletic as he'd been and dunking on people like the second coming of Shawn Kemp was absolutely nuts. A testament to Suki's rehab expertise and how hard the poor guy worked.

[bucksfansince88]

where is Jabari at now, hed be a nice combo forward to bring back in

[kanyon]

I think when PJ Tucker said "We Dogs" he meant someone that only tries when he's not on a bad team, right?

[jimmybones]

Bucks' Moves/Non-Moves influenced by ankle problems:

- Ray Allen for Gary Payton
- Andrew Bogut for Stephen Curry
- Khris Middleton/AJ Johnson for Kyle Kuzma....

For my money, Khris hasn't looked right physically as far as running, jumping and any lateral movement since his hamstring ripped off his leg. We just kept signing him so he can hobble around. Still glad we got him a ring and he was a big part of it but his physical and injury limitations have been there for 9 years.

An astute observation. You know what else impacts lateral movement? Knee injuries. You know what effects it more than one knee injury? Two knee injuries and subsequent surgery on one of them. You know what else effects lateral movement even more than having two **** knees? Having two **** ankles.

It's pretty impressive how good he was in last years playoffs with two bad knees but two bad knees and two bad ankles means that guy we saw in the playoffs doesn't exist anymore. Other teams know it and we saw that in his market value being far below the quality of skill he has as a player. The beginning of the end was the knees, mainly the right one, but the ankles just snowballed that into something worse.

I hope he sits the rest of this year and the offseason to get an extended time to try to patch all that up, but even with that I would not bet on him ever being close to what he was for any reliable period of time.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

theres no practical doubt khris was done imo. but as all unknowing ever hopeful fans.....i think we need to watch him from here on out to all know that with absolute certainty. im just choosing to assume the simple fact that he was traded at all.... and giannis seems behind it.... that everybody in that organization knew what we all suspected and in the lockerroom it was commonly understood.....

khris. was. done.

and if were going to trade him for a guy. and you give me a couple options like butler or lavine for middleton and everything else on our farm..... or just middleton more or less straight up for a guy like kuzma then i'll take kuzma. we got him cheap and he comes with a fair contract and upside on the floor.

dealing middleton and every last chicken on the farm for a lavine or butler id feel so much more worry. these dudes aint luka or tatum or durant or ja ffs. so what happens next if they dont work out and everything else is gone? i'll tell you what.... nothing happens. it wouldve been totally over. that would have been the end. jimmy fricking butler or lavine or whoever in that category is who we were supposed to bet the entire ranch on? no thanks.

im glad we did what we did. this can flop and we still have options....this can be a minor improvement and we still have ways to build. it was a good move

[Wonka]

Went to the Pro Shop after a meeting downtown. Asked the employees what their thoughts on the trades were and they’ve been told they aren’t allowed to give their thoughts lol. I guess that’s in line with any large business but that being a memo all the way down to the shop employees is pretty telling.

[Turk Nowitzki]

Went to the Pro Shop after a meeting downtown. Asked the employees what their thoughts on the trades were and they’ve been told they aren’t allowed to give their thoughts lol. I guess that’s in line with any large business but that being a memo all the way down to the shop employees is pretty telling.

I mean that's a nothingburger. I guess I'm not in the pro shop much but I can't imagine they encourage the employees from actively **** on any team transactions to the customers.

[Wonka]

Went to the Pro Shop after a meeting downtown. Asked the employees what their thoughts on the trades were and they’ve been told they aren’t allowed to give their thoughts lol. I guess that’s in line with any large business but that being a memo all the way down to the shop employees is pretty telling.

I mean that's a nothingburger. I guess I'm not in the pro shop much but I can't imagine they encourage the employees from actively **** on any team transactions to the customers.

One hundred percent lol. Like I said. It’s in line with any large business. Their non-verbal reactions were just very very defensive. Like I was a reporter or something

[BUCKnation]

Kinda want to grab a Khris jersey on sale. Why not?

[emunney]

Kinda want to grab a Khris jersey on sale. Why not?

Hell yeah dude. Instant throwback.

[ShootingtheJ]

Kuzma hasn't been efficient, but he's always been amongst the worst in the league in shot quality. His shot quality will skyrocket next to Giannis.

[-Jragon-]

I think I forget that in HS a lot of big dudes and good athlete's picked basketball over football because they hated the weight room. At some point an NBA player, especially now that the game is so fast and tough on the tendons, a guy HAS to dedicate himself to hard weight training to play deep into their 30s and still be physically relevant... the league gets so young so fast because 2 or 3 vets take up the whole salary cap and teams can't keep all the guys they want -- even if they are marginally better than the young cheaper player. So now these 2 or 3 expensive vets have to run and run with these kids lol.. it's rough

[-Jragon-]

Kuzma hasn't been efficient, but he's always been amongst the worst in the league in shot quality. His shot quality will skyrocket next to Giannis.

Good point,
I hope so ... if he's another yolo dude hhhhh

[Dick Tate]

Dunks and layups are quality shots. He'll be getting a lot more of those now.

[bucksfansince88]

Kinda want to grab a Khris jersey on sale. Why not?

Picking up one on Sunday for sure

[bucksfansince88]

Coming around on Kuz after watching more of him

[bucksfansince88]

https://youtu.be/A1HdMS4fnJw?si=SuBFA5e7y56O89-_

[engelmartin]

Kinda want to grab a Khris jersey on sale. Why not?

I bought my Ersan Ilyasova jersey at the same moment in his career. If you ever see a guy wearing a sick Ersan jersey at a game it’s probably me

[-Jragon-]

https://youtu.be/A1HdMS4fnJw?si=SuBFA5e7y56O89-_

He's on ball a lot there but there's a lot of video showing him thriving off ball. Creative angles on cuts and passes, even some bully ball layups bumping dudes out of the way.. this could be fun.. he'll never shoot like KM but he definitely does more little things.. reminds me of Franz, from the Magic, idk why.. he's just switched on more than our current role players which are pretty robotic

[Fotis St]

On paper, the best fit for Kuzma is him at the 4, Giannis at the 5, when he can match-up (v. multiple opponents atop the east). Doc's less inclined to do it, & it hasn't worked lately. But Giannis has copped to being spent.

At the 3, there are iffy stats compared to the 4, most seasons, for Kuz. + he's gotten thicker. So it's suspect how he projects. But maybe he could guard 4's & Giannis 3's in that setup. And you need good d boaders in the lineup if you're going to play Brook. 7.4 d boards his 1st season w/ DC intrigues. He could post career highs here, the same way w/ shooting playing off Giannis & Dame.

I really really.want to try Giannis on a full good rebounding team where Giannis has less rebounding duties and gets the 1st pass on transition or the 2nd pass when 1st pass is on Dame.

In order to try this ....

Giannis plays the 5. Portis plays the 4 and Kuz the 3. When Giannis guards the pick n roll action on the perimeter he can stay up there putting pressure on shooters while Portis and Kuzma get the boards.
AJ Green or T. Prince or Porter Jr fill the SG position.
I think it will work, Giannis up in the perimeter could help us bring our opponents 3pt % down.
We have to try it.

Another lineup I want to see is with Sims starting and be like Lively. We have missed a lob threat too many years. Sims will help Dame, it opens up his game. Let's see if Sims can get us 8p (4 dunks) and 8-12 rebounds ?

We really need to figure out a line working without Portis.
I am assuming Brook is benched till he retires, he has no business eating up minutes and shots from others at this point.

So a lineup without Portis .... Maybe Sims at the 5 ... Or Giannis at the 5 and Kuzma at the 4.

Another thing we need to figure out is our 2 -3 spot.

I think cutting all Brook's minutes solves us alot of problems while we are experimenting with lineups we can use come playoffs.

I saw Porter Jr in Greece , exclude the off court issues ... He can become a 15 points player off the bench, that creates his own shots. He can be like our future Portis , a Manu type of player, he is leftie too.

The last thing I want to post is a message to Brook himself..........

Brook, your jersey will be retired on Fiserv Forum... OK ?

Now go tell Doc Rivers the truth ... Like ' Coach, I can't keep up with the modern NBA pace, just bench me till summer so I can retire with pride "

Tell Doc Yourself BROOK. ... Tell him to bench you.... You know you are hurting the team, get yourself benched already... Have the pride to do it.