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

[-Jragon-]

When is buyout szn? any idea whom the bucks may be able to target?

March 1st is buyout deadline for playoff eligibility.

If we're stuck with low salary guys, maybe we do a PJ redo.. if nothing else that dude was great for the bench.

His baggage is why the price for KPJ was so low, but you kinda see why he struggled getting minutes on the Clippers and why he's flourishing thus far here. The things he does well are not things the Clippers are lacking in and you can see why Amir Coffey, who is 12th in the NBA in 3-pt%, was ahead of him in the rotation even though KPJ has a wider skill set.

Good point.. Clips have a lot of ball handlers... we need 1 more for when they are trapping the ball from Dame.. we keep giving it to guys like Brook (who rightly gives it back to Dame) or GA (who swings the ball weakside before the D commits to any over-rotation, which leads to contested shots.. KPJ could attack off that Dame double under control and let Kuz slash and Giannis stay where he's dangerous as soon as he catches.

Green should start. I get the notion of starting KPJ to maximize the sheer talent of the starting group, and staggering minutes, etc. But a fresh KPJ off the bench in a very clear role as the creator with the 2nd unit is too valuable to mess with. Green has the best combination of A) Maximizing the spacing for Dame/Giannis to go to work and B) Being a solid, reliable team defender.

KPJ hurts the spacing, Trent takes too many risks, Prince is just a VIP chauffeur to the basket for opposing guards.

I think we're putting too much pressure on him by starting him. He's a sniper but can't really do anything else of offense, let him come off the bench as a weapon.. if he's hot and covering well, ride him longer those days.

[LUKE23]

If you start KPJ I think that allows too much sagging into GA from help defense with KPJ and Kuzma in starting five. Green is the guy that unlocks the starting five. That move needs to happen.

[-Jragon-]

Maybe Doc is containing KPJ's minutes to keep him focused on defense.

If he prioritizes developing that part of his game his potential jumps to a different tier as well.

I was going to say this except with the angle of maybe Doc is letting him earn more minutes slowly. I think these are 1st world problems that we have enough nice role players that we can debate which should start or not.. the difference here is that in the last few years noone has stood out as a 5th starter.. someone that has the physical ability, tools, talents, defense, etc to command that consistent starter role.. KPJ is standing out FINALLY as the one that can do that.

[RogerMurdock]

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[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Midds comments make it sound like a guy who knows he's done. wouldn't be shocked if he opts in, never dresses next year and is a buyout come Feb if not needed as salary for a trade

[Shaffty]

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pretty useless article basically just listing his rap sheet lmfao

[-Jragon-]

If you start KPJ I think that allows too much sagging into GA from help defense with KPJ and Kuzma in starting five. Green is the guy that unlocks the starting five. That move needs to happen.

I just don't think that's who we are anymore. I think we are defense, push the ball up, get downhill, draw fouls and try to get and 1s, get shots in the paint, dunks, cuts and chaos... let Dame be the 1 scraping around the 3 line off of defensive breakdowns that takes the 3s.. Brook will end up taking the 3s that we want Green to take anyways so just bring him off the bench. There's no one on the team that i'd rather shoot 3's ahead of Dame anyways because no one has the capability of getting scorching hot as he can get. Our main goal, honestly, every game should be trying to get Dame red hot and get 35+ every game.. it will never happen because Giannis needs the narrative to be that he's MVP of the whole league --- we will continue under-utilizing Dame.

[JayMKE]

Green seems like no brainer as starter with his defense, high pressure 3s, IQ. Trent and KPJ probably better off the bench, ride the hot hand tho. Mostly am just done with Ajax unless we’re getting killed in a match up and are just throwing **** at the wall. Prince should never play 2.

[crowhead76]

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pretty useless article basically just listing his rap sheet lmfao

After the Milwaukee Bucks’ acquisition of Kevin Porter Jr. via a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 7, general manager Jon Horst said the 24-year-old “checked everything off court-ordered and there’s no more legal pending issues.”

That is because on Jan. 23, before the Bucks traded for him, Porter’s criminal record was cleared after he fulfilled the terms of a plea agreement following a September 2023 arrest in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident in New York. Manhattan District Attorney office press secretary Doug Cohen confirmed the fulfillment of the plea arrangement to the Journal Sentinel.

In a statement to the Journal Sentinel, Porter's attorney Phillip Jobe said, “Mr. Porter successfully complied with all terms of his plea agreement. As a result, on January 23, 2025, the New York court vacated his prior plea to a misdemeanor, leaving only the harassment violation, which is not a crime.

“Mr. Porter accordingly has no criminal record from this case.”

[-Jragon-]

Green seems like no brainer as starter with his defense, high pressure 3s, IQ. Trent and KPJ probably better off the bench, ride the hot hand tho. Mostly am just done with Ajax unless we’re getting killed in a match up and are just throwing **** at the wall. Prince should never play 2.

Who are our best 5 players? .... It's overthink and maybe even mindgames to believe we should sit one of our best 5 players and then just insert reasons that may or may not play out from game to game. There will be more games that the best 5 players playing together is going to work best. The games that it isn't are the exception... get AJG off the bench early those games. If you think AJG is better than KPJ then start him, but he isn't... best 5 are Dame, KPJ, Kuz, Giannis, Brook

[raferfenix]

Maybe Doc is containing KPJ's minutes to keep him focused on defense.

If he prioritizes developing that part of his game his potential jumps to a different tier as well.

He is being asked to both create for himself and play point of attack defense. That’s not necessarily going to scale up with more PT, especially not efficiently.

This is where Doc could be taking it slow with KPJ even looking at how good he's been in spurts.

Over 25 games to see how much we can scale up KPJ's mins without sacrificing the defensive flashes he's been showing.

[JayMKE]

Green seems like no brainer as starter with his defense, high pressure 3s, IQ. Trent and KPJ probably better off the bench, ride the hot hand tho. Mostly am just done with Ajax unless we’re getting killed in a match up and are just throwing **** at the wall. Prince should never play 2.

Who are our best 5 players? .... It's overthink and maybe even mindgames to believe we should sit one of our best 5 players and then just insert reasons that may or may not play out from game to game. There will be more games that the best 5 players playing together is going to work best. The games that it isn't are the exception... get AJG off the bench early those games. If you think AJG is better than KPJ then start him, but he isn't... best 5 are Dame, KPJ, Kuz, Giannis, Brook

Way too small of a sample size with Porter to be making declarations like that. I just think his ball handling and shot hunting would be better suited off the bench in most match ups, also I want the best catch and shoot guy playing with Giannis/Dame.

[Turk Nowitzki]

Midds comments make it sound like a guy who knows he's done. wouldn't be shocked if he opts in, never dresses next year and is a buyout come Feb if not needed as salary for a trade

Yeah he'll collect his money next year one way or another but he basically laughed off the idea that he could play consistent starter level minutes again, at least for this year. It was such a **** way for his Bucks tenure to end and it's not what he deserved in a fair world, but sports aren't fair and break ups always hurt. I think Horst realized he just had to rip the band-aid off.

[Ron Swanson]

It's been difficult for me to take most of the lineup data at face value this season when we still don't have a single 5-man lineup that's played more than ~150-minutes together. I'll keep an eye on the Dame/Giannis/Kuzma 3-man pairing that's at +12.5 net-rating right now, but it's only a paltry 32-minutes and buoyed by a pretty unsustainable 124.6 offensive rating.

We know that Andre starting hasn't worked, but beyond that it's basically just the eye test and what "makes sense". I think Trent has always been the obvious dude mainly because he's more than just a catch & shoot guy, but still provides solid defense. Then Green, then Porter Jr. in that order. KPJ's defense has been "fine", but there were like 3-4 straight possessions yesterday where Herro absolutely cooked him. Doc then promptly subbed him out for AJ which was the right move.

[jute2003]

With Giannis and Kuzma as 2/3s of the current big3, I think it makes far more sense for kpj to come off the bench. Get him in there with some shooters and let him spin and flail his way through the other teams bench.

I dont believe Giannis needs 4 shooters surrounding him in the starting lineup. Only having two with one being brook is definitely not ideal though.

[-Jragon-]

Green seems like no brainer as starter with his defense, high pressure 3s, IQ. Trent and KPJ probably better off the bench, ride the hot hand tho. Mostly am just done with Ajax unless we’re getting killed in a match up and are just throwing **** at the wall. Prince should never play 2.

Who are our best 5 players? .... It's overthink and maybe even mindgames to believe we should sit one of our best 5 players and then just insert reasons that may or may not play out from game to game. There will be more games that the best 5 players playing together is going to work best. The games that it isn't are the exception... get AJG off the bench early those games. If you think AJG is better than KPJ then start him, but he isn't... best 5 are Dame, KPJ, Kuz, Giannis, Brook

Way too small of a sample size with Porter to be making declarations like that. I just think his ball handling and shot hunting would be better suited off the bench in most match ups, also I want the best catch and shoot guy playing with Giannis/Dame.

Right and even in that small sample we've seen him do things we never have and never will see AJJ, AJG, GTJ or Prince do

[Prez]

Prince starting at the 2 is just painfully stupid. And unsurprisingly that lineup has gotten murdered, though it’s a tiny sample size. I genuinely don’t understand what the thought process is. Prince isn’t even a good wing defender, let alone at the 2 where he’d have to keep up against quicker/shiftier guys. We have not one but three different 2 guards that could credibly start at that spot between Green/GTJ/KPJ but Doc is insistent on starting none of them. It’s like he’s intent on starting a suboptimal lineup.

Green or GTJ should start. Snipers from 3 who can play off ball and credibly guard 2s. We need KPJ’s ballhandling/shot creation more in 2nd units, much of it is wasted in the starting 5. He can always close games if needed.

[Bernman]

It's been difficult for me to take most of the lineup data at face value this season when we still don't have a single 5-man lineup that's played more than ~150-minutes together. I'll keep an eye on the Dame/Giannis/Kuzma 3-man pairing that's at +12.5 net-rating right now, but it's only a paltry 32-minutes and buoyed by a pretty unsustainable 124.6 offensive rating.

We know that Andre starting hasn't worked, but beyond that it's basically just the eye test and what "makes sense". I think Trent has always been the obvious dude mainly because he's more than just a catch & shoot guy, but still provides solid defense. Then Green, then Porter Jr. in that order. KPJ's defense has been "fine", but there were like 3-4 straight possessions yesterday where Herro absolutely cooked him. Doc then promptly subbed him out for AJ which was the right move.

If you care about bigger samples either, you wouldn't argue Trent's the obvious dude. Quite the opposite.

Trent's career d-ratings on teams w/ Dame:

115.1, 113.6, 115.7, 114 (this yr, Dame & him are bottom 2 on the roster)

Here are Green's 2 seasons on teams w/ Dame:

110.5, 109.2 (this yr)

[ShootingtheJ]

Horst should have moved Prince at the deadline.

[raferfenix]

I hadn't seen those Khris quotes until just now:

Nehm: From your perspective, did you feel like by the time the playoffs hit in mid-April you would be ready to play at least 30 minutes per game?

Yeah, that was the plan. I can sit here and confidently say that I definitely think by the time the playoffs started, I would be playing 30 minutes. I was close a couple times. We had to back it off, but I was 24, 25, 26 minutes. It’s only four to seven more minutes, somewhere in that range, during playoff time, I think I could handle that, for sure.

Nehm: Was it frustrating to you that you didn’t get to see that through? You had the ramp-up plan for the postseason, and you didn’t get to see it through. After all you’ve done for the franchise, that had to be frustrating for you.

I’ve had many opportunities. I mean, that’s the way I’ve kind of looked at it. My time ran out. Simple as that. I mean, I could say my time could have ran out a long time ago. They held onto me, believed in the potential, believed in the work that they saw. But I think this time, it was just, we think a different route is better for our team going forward. And I can’t do nothing but respect that.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6152732/2025/02/22/khris-middleton-wizards-bucks-giannis/