Bucks News, Transactions, Trade Ideas - Sign Pete Nance to 2-way

[humanrefutation]

If the KPJ deal doesn't go through then there's no spinning this as a positive deadline at all. It's sad that we're in this position but he made it palatable

It's strange that your assessment of this deadline is dependent on trading for Kevin Porter Jr.

[BucksFanSD]

Confusing deadline. We definitely had to move Middleton. Sure we got "younger and more athletic" with Sims and Porter, Jr. but if both guys are going to see the floor that means our rotation just grew by two players. Weird timing for that with the playoffs approaching. And you don't trade for a serial abuser to just sit at the end of the bench. We didn't get any better defensively. Banking on Giannis and Dame unlocking their respective God-modes I guess.

There were better players available but that would have started a conversation with the 2031 1st, which I'm personally glad they didn't trade. Our assets had no value, little value, or negative value. Basically Sims and Porter were giveaways but still have some use on this team. So there's that. For Kuzma, he is on a salary declining contract, which is rare to find. We came out of this with some small flexibility and tax avoidance. The real annoyance to me are the moves that happened a long while back, leading up to the current situation.

[humanrefutation]

I can give Kuz a pass for those Washington years. That was a dumpster fire. Hopefully he's grown up a bit and his mentality will change playing next to two HOFers.

Kuz is a Buck now. Hopefully he can slide in and be a versatile contributor. I'll be rooting for him to succeed.

[BUCKnation]

As an aside, both marjon and kpj went to the same high school. Has there ever been a 1 for 1 trade where both guys went to the same high school before? Maybe one of those academies like oak hill, but Rainer Beach isnt that.

[BUCKnation]

Seems like the MarJon KPJ trade may not have actually happened?

Marjon sure seems to think it did

I wonder if the hold up is kpj contract restructure of some type

Yeah but he's on the Bucks' injury report today.

Think they have to do that until its official. Khris and AJJ were on it yesterday

[SupremeHustle]

I honestly question the hoops intuition of anybody who doesn't think Kevin Porter Jr. is an all-star level talent. I'm just not excited that watching Bucks basketball has joined the same ambivalent family of experiences as watching Chinatown and listening to Ignition (Remix).

Excellent analogy. I've always called it the Annie Hall dilemma.

[rilamann]

It's funny, I am known as the pessimistic guy around here.

But I am also one of the few people around here who seems to thinks that Kuzma just might benefit and have more enthusiasm to play better basketball playing with Giannis & Dame as opposed to suiting up every night for the Washington Generals....I mean Wizards.

Windhorst said that the Mavs offered 2 first round picks for Kuzma a year ago.

I am willing to give it a chance, I also like that we got a guy who is physically capable of playing B2Bs. That's pretty neat.

[-Jragon-]

If the KPJ deal doesn't go through then there's no spinning this as a positive deadline at all. It's sad that we're in this position but he made it palatable

It's strange that your assessment of this deadline is dependent on trading for Kevin Porter Jr.

lol, must be tired of MB's mug.... if we are getting a 15 min per game ball handler for a DNP... that's big for a playoff run though.. and there are guys that see KPJ as having all star level talent and just need to put it together with some discipline/coaching/etc

[skbucks1985]

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I’ll be honest, Kuz seems like a good dude and I always kind of assumed he was a douche.

kuzmas reputation was and always will be affected by how lebron maneuvered for years to dump him in deals. imagine being a young guy with a little talent being so openly shopped/trashed/shamed by your team captain.

i think it altered his perception permanently with the casuals. its similar but perhaps the worst of reeves and caruso and russell and shroder and almost anybody out there and how it worked out. if lebron doesnt win any given year his cast is shamed and devalued. even westbrook and davis reputations were harmed compared to how other places would be.

so to go from that situation to the tanking mess in washington plaing with the likes of poole and others where he continued to be shopped and go thru the motions.... reputation wise hes had a cursed career....im happy we may give him his first real shot of ever being in a situation where he can feel wanted on a winner with an important and supported role. i think theres a similarity to bobby portis here with how these next couple seasons go. hes obviously a talented guy. i really hope were getting the very best and experienced and grateful version of him yet

He also fed into the perception with the way he comported himself, that it seemed like he was a guy who cared just as much if not more about living the LA lifestyle as he did about basketball. That said, as someone who wasn't his biggest fan when he was with LA, it always seemed much more like immaturity that he would inevitably grow out of than anything else. And by all indications he seems to have done that.

[paulpressey25]

Have no idea if Kuzma will fit in and be a positive contributor. But again he's not going to be a 3rd guy like pre-2022 Khris was. And there only are a few people still out there pretending he will be.

His talent puts him as a fourth or fifth guy. And we need badly a 4th or 5th guy with some athleticism.

This was a Joe Smith type acquisition. Smith was damn good for us for a couple years in his role.

[CharityStripe34]

Biggest gripe is that we still feel 1-2 players short when Brook/Bobby aren't playable against some of the top playoff teams, and/or we have to play 4-on-5 offense with Andre out there.

Dame
Green/Trent/KPJ??
Prince
Kuzma
Giannis

Is that what our "small-ball" lineup looks like? We still don't have a real perimeter stopper right now on defense and it's not like you upgraded the perimeter shooting much at all. If the goal was to just dump Khris for a warm body that can soak up 28-30 minutes a night, then mission accomplished I guess. Because we did absolutely nothing beyond that to address any the roster weaknesses.

Prince is fine as a spot up shooter when others create space for him. He’s brutal otherwise when he tries to play outside of his skill set. I guess he’s fine as a defender but I don’t have much confidence there either. That small ball lineup is atrocious imo. Giannis at center just isn’t the recipe for success, sorry not sorry. He’s developed so many habits over his career that make it impossible for him to settle into that role. Small ball or traditional or whatever you want to say, when Giannis is the lone defensive anchor, we lose those minutes much more often than not. Horst did jack **** to soften that stance. If major changes are coming, Horst being canned should be 1st on the agenda. Having Brook Lopez as a “spacer” still on the roster makes no sense. We should change that whole ideology with him and call him a “camper” or a “trailer” because that’s all he ever does.

Giannis at C lineups is what won the title. PJ Tucker was playing important minutes averaging zero points. He's evolved now to coasting on defense and rebounding to save his legs for offense because the offense has cratered this season. Even under Griffin we couldn't stop anyone but could put up 120 points like it was nothing. The issue is that the good teams consistently force us to play small-ball when they go small and space everyone out, asking Brook to guard a 6'5 dude who can shoot. No series more evident than the ECSF series in 2022 against Boston when Horford looked like Bob McAdoo lighting us up in the pick-and-pop game.

I also agree that having a mobile and somewhat athletic big who can rim run, cut, rebound and play decent defense is really what's needed. You'd rather have perimeter guys from the 3 on down that can space the floor (and attack a closeout). It took how many years and Doc F'N Rivers to actually use Brook's size in the dunker and play some high/low action with Giannis that could work occasionally.

[Ron Swanson]

i think the fact that we ended up trading for Kuzma tells us that there probably weren't.

Yep. In my opinion there were exactly zero teams that wanted to have Khris Middleton on their roster next year at $34 million.

They only way he was going to get moved is if you took back some bad money or attached an asset. We sort of split the difference. We attached an asset (AJ Johnson) and took back some meh money ($40 million owed to Kuzma).

Which is arguably the dumbest thing we could have done. We've talked for years on this board about "picking a direction" and how being stuck on the treadmill is the worst place to be. His contract is bad but not terrible, he's technically a "shot-creator" but not a good one, he's not old but he's not young, and profiles as a versatile defender in theory, just not in practice. Kuzma feels like the treadmill option here. You just pray that playing next to Giannis and Dame turns him into FTD John Salmons.

[paulpressey25]

If the KPJ deal doesn't go through then there's no spinning this as a positive deadline at all. It's sad that we're in this position but he made it palatable

My assumption is Kevin Porter Jr didn't get his physical yet. This will happen.

[Packbuckman]

Andre has to go to the bench now right?

Prince will go to bench kuzma starting sf I would keep Ajax in starting lineup to see how it looks if you need more shooting then go with AJ or Trent or even Porter

[Prez]

Andre has to go to the bench now right?

Prince will go to bench kuzma starting sf I would keep Ajax in starting lineup to see how it looks if you need more shooting then go with AJ or Trent or even Porter

Dre and Kuzma as the starting wings would be an abomination offensively lol. We absolutely need AJ to be one of the two starters in those positions.

[paulpressey25]

Which is arguably the dumbest thing we could have done. We've talked for years on this board about "picking a direction" and how being stuck on the treadmill is the worst place to be. His contract is bad but not terrible, he's technically a "shot-creator" but not a good one, he's not old but he's not young, and profiles as a versatile defender in theory, just not in practice. Kuzma feels like the treadmill option here. You just pray that playing next to Giannis and Dame turns him into FTD John Salmons.

The primary purpose of that trade was dumping the $34 million owed Khris Middleton next year. There was never going to be any significant talent coming back.

Am I happy we lost AJ Johnson in this? Hell no. But the decision to draft AJ Johnson versus using that pick in a trade last June is where I'd focus my anger.

[fansinceforever]

If the KPJ deal doesn't go through then there's no spinning this as a positive deadline at all. It's sad that we're in this position but he made it palatable

It's strange that your assessment of this deadline is dependent on trading for Kevin Porter Jr.

I agree it's strange but the reality of the situation is that he improves our moves on the margins and brings potential upside. The Kuz for Middleton deal makes zero sense on its own if you're attempting to win a championship this season.

[crowhead76]

If the KPJ deal doesn't go through then there's no spinning this as a positive deadline at all. It's sad that we're in this position but he made it palatable

My assumption is Kevin Porter Jr didn't get his physical yet. This will happen.

Weather could have delayed flights.

[Bernman]

We have less of a need for Ajax's rebounding at the 2 w/ Kuzma at the 3/4. As it was Ajax posted a -2.2 in the Starting V.

BTW, I've noticed there's little interest in talking about rebounding fit, until we can't grab a board. O & D take all focus.

[fansinceforever]

If the KPJ deal doesn't go through then there's no spinning this as a positive deadline at all. It's sad that we're in this position but he made it palatable

It's strange that your assessment of this deadline is dependent on trading for Kevin Porter Jr.

lol, must be tired of MB's mug.... if we are getting a 15 min per game ball handler for a DNP... that's big for a playoff run though.. and there are guys that see KPJ as having all star level talent and just need to put it together with some discipline/coaching/etc

Exactly. KPJ has accomplished a whole lot more in this league than several players we're currently relying on and will have playoff roles. I think it's pretty fair assign importance to his arrival.