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

[ReasonablySober]

I get it guys. GA is my favorite athlete ever and I doubt he’s surpassed in my lifetime. And if he is adamant about staying, you probably keep him. But there is zero chance we can build a title contender with our current situation. And if you do wait, you are looking at probably the longest turnaround to contention in NBA history.

How quickly everyone wants to return to what this franchise was like pre Giannis is amazing to me. I'll hold onto the best Bucks player in franchise history as long as he wants to be here.

So many younger fans who have no idea what its like being the a team without any real chance at being legitimate. Either that or lots of fans with memory loss. Even with the hypothetical top tier return and somehow managing to hit on picks still won't be able to keep a core together. 8 don't think Bucks fans will truly understand the gift Giannis was until decades of obscurity have happened. Do you not get it if he can be convinced to stay you do whatever is necessary. So sad for the rotten luck the past few years brought but a rebuild is theoretically achievable quickly. Players will come to Milwaukee for Giannis the right coach and true ground up Giannis 4 out switching line up has potential. With the right players it could be greater than the sum of their parts. Not easy and I don't know Giannis will be able to remain patient. But try to get him on board at least. If he doesn't bring forth trade desires the Bucks FO better not even think about it

We've got the new Realists vs Optimists War, folks.

[th87]

Worry about that when the time comes. I don't think Giannis asks for a trade unless he feels slighted or disrespected. He's not built the same as a Lebron or Durant. Community and family matter to him, and we are his community.

And if we are dumb enough to do this, the best realistic case is that we become Pacers west, a frisky non-contender. And in the worst case, the picks don't work out, and downtown Milwaukee becomes a wasteland and Haslam packs up and leaves.

What is the rush here? We just saw that we can give the Pacers everything they can handle despite being weighed down by a moron of a coach.

Regroup, hire smart people, find more undervalued cast-offs (like we did with Trent and KPJ), and see what happens.

It's not about worrying he asks out. That arguably fixes the problem. It's that he just leaves for nothing at the end of his contract & the franchise is cooked. Can we at least get a verbal commitment he'll sign the extension in a year so we can clear real cap space by then & get plenty for him?

I still don't think I prefer that route because we're not contenders for at least 2 yrs. But if he says yes, it's palatable & I guess I'd go with it. The smart $ is still on trade. The better pundits all suggest it has to be done. Many here have an emotional tie to Giannis though.

The franchise is cooked anyway if we become current Orlando/Detroit after the picks we trade for develop after 2-3 years (and that too is an "if"). And no, I don't think the lottery winner would trade 10 years of Flagg for a few more years of Giannis.

It's better to keep the superstar we waited 50 years for and see if we can develop some role players and ride it out.

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

[bucksfansince88]

Trent earned his paycheck, someone is going to give it to him hopefully it’s the bucks

[MickeyDavis]

How quickly everyone wants to return to what this franchise was like pre Giannis is amazing to me. I'll hold onto the best Bucks player in franchise history as long as he wants to be here.

So many younger fans who have no idea what its like being the a team without any real chance at being legitimate. Either that or lots of fans with memory loss. Even with the hypothetical top tier return and somehow managing to hit on picks still won't be able to keep a core together. 8 don't think Bucks fans will truly understand the gift Giannis was until decades of obscurity have happened. Do you not get it if he can be convinced to stay you do whatever is necessary. So sad for the rotten luck the past few years brought but a rebuild is theoretically achievable quickly. Players will come to Milwaukee for Giannis the right coach and true ground up Giannis 4 out switching line up has potential. With the right players it could be greater than the sum of their parts. Not easy and I don't know Giannis will be able to remain patient. But try to get him on board at least. If he doesn't bring forth trade desires the Bucks FO better not even think about it

We've got the new Realists vs Optimists War, folks.

Many times, especially in sports, the term "realist" is often a misnomer. We'll see how everything plays out.

[ReasonablySober]

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

Detroit won 30 more games this season with that guy Cleveland fired. He was pretty good too.

[ReasonablySober]

So many younger fans who have no idea what its like being the a team without any real chance at being legitimate. Either that or lots of fans with memory loss. Even with the hypothetical top tier return and somehow managing to hit on picks still won't be able to keep a core together. 8 don't think Bucks fans will truly understand the gift Giannis was until decades of obscurity have happened. Do you not get it if he can be convinced to stay you do whatever is necessary. So sad for the rotten luck the past few years brought but a rebuild is theoretically achievable quickly. Players will come to Milwaukee for Giannis the right coach and true ground up Giannis 4 out switching line up has potential. With the right players it could be greater than the sum of their parts. Not easy and I don't know Giannis will be able to remain patient. But try to get him on board at least. If he doesn't bring forth trade desires the Bucks FO better not even think about it

We've got the new Realists vs Optimists War, folks.

Many times, especially in sports, the term "realist" is often a misnomer. We'll see how everything plays out.

I'm gonna put a poll up anyway. Gonna be fun to see who's on which side.

[MickeyDavis]

We've got the new Realists vs Optimists War, folks.

Many times, especially in sports, the term "realist" is often a misnomer. We'll see how everything plays out.

I'm gonna put a poll up anyway. Gonna be fun to see who's on which side.

Instead of optimist vs. realist you could also do pessimist vs. realist

[th87]

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

Cleveland won 30 more games this season with that guy Cleveland fired. He was pretty good too.

Detroit, yes.

So if the Bucks can win 48 with absolute incompetence at the helm, then they can easily get into the upper 50s with an innovative mind who isn't dreaming of golf.

So why are we in a rush to sell on that? To top out at 48 in 2-3 years if the picks hit?

[rilamann]

How quickly everyone wants to return to what this franchise was like pre Giannis is amazing to me. I'll hold onto the best Bucks player in franchise history as long as he wants to be here.

It's going to be much worse than it was pre-Giannis, if Giannis leaves for nothing. And it's better than it was pre-Giannis if they actually commit to a rebuild. They literally never did. Didn't have more than 1 1st in any draft for nearly 35 yrs. Even this iteration they built from a singular 15th pick & a trade throw-in during one offseason. Caught lightning in a bottle. Giannis isn't the only outstanding player, he can't do it alone, & we need a team.

Worry about that when the time comes. I don't think Giannis asks for a trade unless he feels slighted or disrespected. He's not built the same as a Lebron or Durant. Community and family matter to him, and we are his community.

And if we are dumb enough to do this, the best realistic case is that we become Pacers west, a frisky non-contender. And in the worst case, the picks don't work out, and downtown Milwaukee becomes a wasteland and Haslam packs up and leaves.

What is the rush here? We just saw that we can give the Pacers everything they can handle despite being weighed down by a moron of a coach.

Regroup, hire smart people, find more undervalued cast-offs (like we did with Trent and KPJ), and see what happens.

100% agree.

If we trade Giannis, our peak/ceiling if we get the best possible value for him, is likley we end up with a team that makes it to the 2nd round once or twice.

If the Bucks keep Giannis, they could be that team next season by simply just replacing Doc with a competent head coach.

Doc finally did the common sense thing tonight and it took a massive choke job by the Bucks for the Pacers to beat us by 1 in overtime.

Imagine the Bucks going into the playoffs with a good coach who does the common sense things and builds good habits with these guys every night for 6 months.

[ReasonablySober]

Many times, especially in sports, the term "realist" is often a misnomer. We'll see how everything plays out.

I'm gonna put a poll up anyway. Gonna be fun to see who's on which side.

Instead of optimist vs. realist you could also do pessimist vs. realist

I'm willing to hear an argument why the realists and pessimists aren't one in the same.

To me the optimists are the ones who want to keep Giannis and hope that things just work out despite Lillard's injury and age, virtually no tradable assets, no cap space, no guarantee Giannis signs an extension, and being well below the rest of the East in the conference's pecking order.

[ReasonablySober]

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

Cleveland won 30 more games this season with that guy Cleveland fired. He was pretty good too.

Detroit, yes.

So if the Bucks can win 48 with absolute incompetence at the helm, then they can easily get into the upper 50s with an innovative mind who isn't dreaming of golf.

So why are we in a rush to sell on that? To top out at 48 in 2-3 years if the picks hit?

Detroit, my bad, yes.

[Bernman]

The franchise is cooked anyway if we become current Orlando/Detroit after the picks we trade for develop after 2-3 years (and that too is an "if").

Only if they don't evaluate well, which any professional personnel dept has realistic potential to do.

And no, I don't think the lottery winner would trade 10 years of Flagg for a few more years of Giannis.

Brooklyn already indicated they would. Any win now team would because Flagg's going to take a few yrs to make an All NBA impact, if he even does in the end, as much as I'm a fan. Giannis helps you now. And it's 6 years w/ an extension. Flagg may only stay 7, w/ a few to develop.

It's better to keep the superstar we waited 50 years for and see if we can develop some role players and ride it out.

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

They had a lot more resources/a team. We have 1 core player, several solid role players, no picks nor prospects. And the Cavs showed more the prior season. There was like a 15-20 game stretch where they were the best team in the NBA, w/out Garland & Mobley iirc.

[th87]

It's going to be much worse than it was pre-Giannis, if Giannis leaves for nothing. And it's better than it was pre-Giannis if they actually commit to a rebuild. They literally never did. Didn't have more than 1 1st in any draft for nearly 35 yrs. Even this iteration they built from a singular 15th pick & a trade throw-in during one offseason. Caught lightning in a bottle. Giannis isn't the only outstanding player, he can't do it alone, & we need a team.

Worry about that when the time comes. I don't think Giannis asks for a trade unless he feels slighted or disrespected. He's not built the same as a Lebron or Durant. Community and family matter to him, and we are his community.

And if we are dumb enough to do this, the best realistic case is that we become Pacers west, a frisky non-contender. And in the worst case, the picks don't work out, and downtown Milwaukee becomes a wasteland and Haslam packs up and leaves.

What is the rush here? We just saw that we can give the Pacers everything they can handle despite being weighed down by a moron of a coach.

Regroup, hire smart people, find more undervalued cast-offs (like we did with Trent and KPJ), and see what happens.

100% agree.

If we trade Giannis, our peak/ceiling if we get the best possible value for him, is likley we end up with a team that makes it to the 2nd round once or twice.

If the Bucks keep Giannis, they could be that team next season by simply just replacing Doc with a competent head coach.

Doc finally did the common sense thing tonight and it took a massive choke job by the Bucks for the Pacers to beat us by 1 in overtime.

Imagine the Bucks going into the playoffs with a good coach who does the common sense things and builds good habits with these guys every night for 6 months.

Exactly. This team won 48 with the coach pressing all the wrong buttons. Even without Dame it can get to 50 with a smart coach and smart role players.

I have negative interest in going back to get excited about Bogut scoring 27 against the Bobcats.

[ReasonablySober]

Exactly. This team won 48 with the coach pressing all the wrong buttons. Even without Dame it can get to 50 with a smart coach and smart role players.

They're not going to win 50 games next year with a new coach and no Dame. It's not like the Bucks had bad role players this year. If anything they're probably going to lose a few.

Next season the talent will be worse and Giannis is going to be a bit older.

But let's say the Bucks hit the lottery on a genius coach and all the best role players. They're still not beating Boston or Cleveland. Maybe they can challenge Indiana. But Detroit and Orlando are only getting better. The Knicks are still going to be a 50 game winner.

The Bucks' days of contending are way done.

[MickeyDavis]

I guess it's all perspective but one could say an optimist is wanting to trade away a generational talent who just had one of his best seasons in the hope that some unknown throws at the draft dartboard might hit and we get a decent player or two. A realist wants to keep that great player, get a competent coach (number one priority) and retool (not simple I know, but no path forward is simple).

[rilamann]

Worry about that when the time comes. I don't think Giannis asks for a trade unless he feels slighted or disrespected. He's not built the same as a Lebron or Durant. Community and family matter to him, and we are his community.

And if we are dumb enough to do this, the best realistic case is that we become Pacers west, a frisky non-contender. And in the worst case, the picks don't work out, and downtown Milwaukee becomes a wasteland and Haslam packs up and leaves.

What is the rush here? We just saw that we can give the Pacers everything they can handle despite being weighed down by a moron of a coach.

Regroup, hire smart people, find more undervalued cast-offs (like we did with Trent and KPJ), and see what happens.

100% agree.

If we trade Giannis, our peak/ceiling if we get the best possible value for him, is likley we end up with a team that makes it to the 2nd round once or twice.

If the Bucks keep Giannis, they could be that team next season by simply just replacing Doc with a competent head coach.

Doc finally did the common sense thing tonight and it took a massive choke job by the Bucks for the Pacers to beat us by 1 in overtime.

Imagine the Bucks going into the playoffs with a good coach who does the common sense things and builds good habits with these guys every night for 6 months.

Exactly. This team won 48 with the coach pressing all the wrong buttons. Even without Dame it can get to 50 with a smart coach and smart role players.

I have negative interest in going back to get excited about Bogut scoring 27 against the Bobcats.

It's funny, I have the reputation as the pessimistic guy around here.

But I think that when you have Giannis. The line between losing 4-1 to the Pacers under Doc Rivers and getting back to the NBA Finals is a lot thinner of a line than a lot of people think.

Tonight Doc did the common sense thing and that made it appear that the Bucks might have very well won this series with the Pacers if Doc had done the common sense going into game 1. A Pacers team that IMO is going to give the #1 seed Cavs a run for their money.

Now imagine if the Pacers take the #1 seed Cavs to a tough 7 games. A Pacer's team that the Bucks likely beat if they simply had a competent head coach.

And a Cavs team that looked like the typical ''meh' # 4 seed only a year ago with the same personnel. They just upgraded their head coach.

I think Giannis retires a Buck. But entertaining the idea of trading him makes no sense.

[RiotPunch]

I question the Bucks' ability to make a title push if we move forward with Giannis and our current constraints, but they can sure as **** win 50 games with a good coach.

[th87]

The franchise is cooked anyway if we become current Orlando/Detroit after the picks we trade for develop after 2-3 years (and that too is an "if").

Only if they don't evaluate well, which any professional personnel dept has realistic potential to do.

And no, I don't think the lottery winner would trade 10 years of Flagg for a few more years of Giannis.

Brooklyn already indicated they would. Any win now team would because Flagg's going to take a few yrs to make an All NBA impact, if he even does in the end, as much as I'm a fan. Giannis helps you now. And it's 6 years w/ an extension. Flagg may only stay 7, w/ a few to develop.

It's better to keep the superstar we waited 50 years for and see if we can develop some role players and ride it out.

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

They had a lot more resources/a team. We have 1 core player, several solid role players, no picks nor prospects. And the Cavs showed more the prior season. There was like a 15-20 game stretch where they were the best team in the NBA, w/out Garland & Mobley iirc.

The vast majority of top 10 draft picks don't become superstars, especially outside the top 2. Typically, they'll top out at high-end role players and go down from there. So you're trading your top 2 superstar in hand for a very remote chance at another, but more likely a crew of solid role players at best.

For every Edwards, there are like 10 Wigginses.

I still think we can find an idiot to take Kuzma. There are always ways to pick up late picks or distressed assets teams give up on. They don't even have to be great to benefit from Giannis' gravity. Norman Powell got passed around for scraps - there will be opportunities for similar.

[th87]

100% agree.

If we trade Giannis, our peak/ceiling if we get the best possible value for him, is likley we end up with a team that makes it to the 2nd round once or twice.

If the Bucks keep Giannis, they could be that team next season by simply just replacing Doc with a competent head coach.

Doc finally did the common sense thing tonight and it took a massive choke job by the Bucks for the Pacers to beat us by 1 in overtime.

Imagine the Bucks going into the playoffs with a good coach who does the common sense things and builds good habits with these guys every night for 6 months.

Exactly. This team won 48 with the coach pressing all the wrong buttons. Even without Dame it can get to 50 with a smart coach and smart role players.

I have negative interest in going back to get excited about Bogut scoring 27 against the Bobcats.

It's funny, I have the reputation as the pessimistic guy around here.

But I think that when you have Giannis. The line between losing 4-1 to the Pacers under Doc Rivers and getting back to the NBA Finals is a lot thinner of a line than a lot of people think.

Tonight Doc did the common sense thing and that made it appear that the Bucks might have very well won this series with the Pacers if Doc had done the common sense going into game 1. A Pacers team that IMO is going to give the #1 seed Cavs a run for their money.

Now imagine if the Pacers take the #1 seed Cavs to a tough 7 games. A Pacer's team that the Bucks likely beat if they simply had a competent head coach.

And a Cavs team that looked like the typical ''meh' # 4 seed only a year ago with the same personnel. They just upgraded their head coach.

I think Giannis retires a Buck. But entertaining the idea of trading him makes no sense.

Essentially it boils down to whether it's easier:

1. To find a new superstar with a slew of non-top 2 picks...

Or

2. To find supporting role players with the limited assets we have.

Both paths are difficult, but I think not only is option 2 easier/more likely, it also doesn't require jettisoning the luckiest best thing to ever happen to Milwaukee (maybe even outside basketball).

[RiotPunch]

The franchise is cooked anyway if we become current Orlando/Detroit after the picks we trade for develop after 2-3 years (and that too is an "if").

Only if they don't evaluate well, which any professional personnel dept has realistic potential to do.

And no, I don't think the lottery winner would trade 10 years of Flagg for a few more years of Giannis.

Brooklyn already indicated they would. Any win now team would because Flagg's going to take a few yrs to make an All NBA impact, if he even does in the end, as much as I'm a fan. Giannis helps you now. And it's 6 years w/ an extension. Flagg may only stay 7, w/ a few to develop.

It's better to keep the superstar we waited 50 years for and see if we can develop some role players and ride it out.

Cleveland went from middling to contender by hiring a good coach, internal improvement, and smart moves on the margins. No reason we can't too.

They had a lot more resources/a team. We have 1 core player, several solid role players, no picks nor prospects. And the Cavs showed more the prior season. There was like a 15-20 game stretch where they were the best team in the NBA, w/out Garland & Mobley iirc.

The vast majority of top 10 draft picks don't become superstars, especially outside the top 2. Typically, they'll top out at high-end role players and go down from there. So you're trading your top 2 superstar in hand for a very remote chance at another, but more likely a crew of solid role players at best.

For every Edwards, there are like 10 Wigginses.

I still think we can find an idiot to take Kuzma. There are always ways to pick up late picks or distressed assets teams give up on. They don't even have to be great to benefit from Giannis' gravity. Norman Powell got passed around for scraps - there will be opportunities for similar.

I would love to see what our idiot could get from a different idiot for Kuzma.

EDIT: Those FILTHY little Wigginses!