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

[ABucksFan]

Preference is to roll with Giannis to the end no matter what.

But..if we do move him. The org will surely want someone who can sell seats..Flagggg.

[slos]

Here is my offseason plan..

1. Keep Giannis. Fire Doc. Hire Jenkins. No need to explain these.

2. Keep Dame. Don't stretch the contract. Just apply for a disabled exception which will be as much as the non tax MLE Bucks already have access with the difference that this can only be used for 1 year contracts.

3. Offer the 4/60 full MLE to Santi Aldama. Jenkins guy, just 24, stretch big that fits next to Giannis, has taken a leap this season defensively. He is a RFA, Memphis can match, but if they do they will only have 5 mil under the cap to renegotiate and extend expiring at 23,4 mil JJJ.

4. Resign Porter with 1/14,1 (DPE) and Trent with 2/10,5/PO (BAE) both with the promise they start and get their extensions as soon as they get eligible for Milwaukee to extend them with Early Bird rights.

5. Bobby can opt in and keep his 6th role. If there is market for him at MLE I wouldn't mind giving him an extension.

6. Resign RFA Rollins on a bargain 4y/20ish. Fix his shoulder in offseason. He is my 7th at least until Dame returns.

7. Trade nothing for Dieng (Midds TPE) and #44. Oklahoma already holds 15 contracts and has no room to sign #15, #24 and possibly another lotto from Philly.

.. and some additional cost controlling moves

8. Trade Kuzma for Williams. Bulls take the two year shorter bad contract and probably owe some SRPs here. Bucks save 7,4 mil and 5,4 mil against the aprons in the next Dame years with a younger forward that might just need a change of scenery.

9, Talk Connaughton into opting out his 9,4 mil to get a 2y/min. He is at 10+ years, which means this deal will secure him 7,6 mil. Make it 3y/min and it is 12 mil. Bucks and Pat have a good relationship, they can work it out.

10. Cut Livingston.

2025-2026 roster

Porter........Rollins........Lillard (inj)
Trent........Jackson......#44
Green........Dieng........Connaughton
Giannis......Williams.....Smith
Aldama......Portis........#47

2025-2026 payroll

1. Giannis...... 54,1
2. Lillard....... 54,1
3. Williams.... 18
4. Aldama..... 14,1
5. Porter....... 14,1
6. Portis....... 13,4
7. Dieng........ 6,6
8. Trent......... 5,1
9. Rollins....... 5
10. Green...... 2,3
11. Pat.......... 2,3
12. Jackson.... 2,2
13. Smith...... 1,9
14. #47......... 1,3
15. #44......... 1,3
total............ 195,8
1st apron....... 195,9

[fansinceforever]

So you guys who want to trade him because Horst can't build another contender with the current roster think Horst can pull off a trade with productive players and picks that he hits on in return? The same Horst that botched the Kuzma trade and whiffs on picks?

Yes, he's capable of moving a guy with a laundry list of suitors who probably has a top 5 valuation in the league.

Well of course he can move Giannis. So could you or I. The question is what the return is. And given Horst's track record on trades and draft picks why would anyone expect anything other than a disaster in return.

Fair, I'm not going to hold water for Jon Horst but this will be a highly competitive bidding war that many teams have probably prepared for since the Bucks started wilting a couple years ago.

The stakes are extremely high but he's sitting in a position of strength that he's never negotiated from. He could still screw it up, absolutely.

But I'm positive he cannot build a legit playoff team out of nothing in the next two years.

[BUCKnation]

We need to get rid of the black antler jerseys and go back to the first green home court before it got ruined. We've been cursed since debuting them lol.

Bring back the black ones from 21

[German Athens]

If that deal floated on the trade board could be done for Dame, I’m doing it:

Mke: Dejounte, Olynyk
Nop: Dame

Compete the best you can this year. I think you could probably still make the playoffs and maybe have a second round ceiling with a good coach.

Go into next off-season, Olynyk will have expired. If Lauri still hasn’t been traded, offer that mid-first, ‘31 1st, and ‘32 swap.

Dejounte KPJ
Trent Rollins
Dairy
Lauri
Giannis

That team could absolutely contend.

[rilamann]

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).

I think the Bucks are capable of getting to the 2nd round and pushing tier 1 contenders to a 6 or 7th game as they are currently constructed. You just need a competent coach.

But I do agree that to get over that hump and be a team that actually beat a tier 1 contenders and get back to the finals is not going to be easy. But I think a good GM could get us there in 2 years if he's slick and we get a little luck on our side. It's not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you start with Giannis. Although with Giannis turning 31 next season, the clock is ticking.

If Porter JR can reach a near all star level every night, I think we would be 80% there. Assuming we keep him around.

Some people will call me crazy, but I think Porter is capable of playing at an all star level with great coaching and if he has the commitment to work his ass off and get himself locked in. It's too late now, but a guy like Porter would have probably blossomed and thrived under a coach like Kenny Atkinson.....had we hired him.

[tedbrogen]

If that deal floated on the trade board could be done for Dame, I’m doing it:

Mke: Dejounte, Olynyk
Nop: Dame

Compete the best you can this year. I think you could probably still make the playoffs and maybe have a second round ceiling with a good coach.

Go into next off-season, Olynyk will have expired. If Lauri still hasn’t been traded, offer that mid-first, ‘31 1st, and ‘32 swap.

Dejounte KPJ
Trent Rollins
Dairy
Lauri
Giannis

That team could absolutely contend.

That deal doesn’t seem possible. Dame makes like $15M more than Murray and Kelly combined, Pels don’t have cap space to take on that extra salary, and are they that desperate to get rid of Murray one year early that they’ll pay Dame more over the next two years to not suit up? (Murray is due $96M and Dame is due $122M)

[soxperry]

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).

I think the Bucks are capable of getting to the 2nd round and pushing tier 1 contenders to a 6 or 7th game as they are currently constructed. You just need a competent coach.

But I do agree that to get over that hump and be a team that actually beat a tier 1 contenders and get back to the finals is not going to be easy. But I think a good GM could get us there in 2 years if he's slick and we get a little luck on our side. It's not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you start with Giannis. Although with Giannis turning 31 next season, the clock is ticking.

If Porter JR can reach a near all star level every night, I think we would be 80% there. Assuming we keep him around.

Some people will call me crazy, but I think Porter is capable of playing at an all star level with great coaching and if he has the commitment to work his ass off and get himself locked in. It's too late now, but a guy like Porter would have probably blossomed and thrived under a coach like Kenny Atkinson.....had we hired him.

if porter hits, it changes a lot. He has a "great guy at the 6 or 7 slot in a contending rotation" floor and an all star ceiling.

Theres a sub floor though, too, and thats more like a basement

[tedbrogen]

Kuz and Pat for Murray works if the Bucks want to hope for a dead cat bounce from Murray and get rid of Kuz. Maybe that can also get back the 26/27 swaps, especially if the Bucks are keeping Giannis.

[German Athens]

Would you guys trade a later swap for one of our earlier swaps?

[tedbrogen]

Think we saw the foundations last night of how to field a competitive team the next few years to avoid handing over top draft picks. Giannis as the big surrounded by athletes who can shoot. I know many still think about big 3 type setups but you can build really good teams around one elite star. Sure, it probably won't win a title but it can be good, entertaining, and at least have a punchers chance, plus maybe get lucky on a move that gets you another 'star'. Say something along the line of KPJ were to take a step up, or if somehow you do get your hands on like a 17th pick and that guy pans out. Or whoever you trade a Portis or Kuzma for somehow clicks here.

As a simple example, put Giannis on Indy and even take away Hali. Giannis surrounded by all those mid level solid good players that can dribble/shoot sure could do a lot of damage. Its feasible to build a team like that here. You have some possible starting points in KPJ, Green, Trent, maybe Portis. Come up with 4 more playable guys, not stars just solid, with an emphasis on ballhandling/shooting/D and get a good technical coach and that team can be fun to watch and win 45-50 games if Giannis healthy. Sure, it can't win a title barring massive luck but its better than the alternatives of sucking without your own picks.

Its time to make Giannis be the primary 5 in order to keep up with the speed of todays game. The banging argument doesn't hold much weight to me as almost no one has a down low banger anymore and it is the least physical era ever in the nba. Lebron would I guess technically be the primary 5 these days on the 3 seed in the west.

Rollins is another solid playable guy. Just because some a$$hat didn’t play him last night doesn’t mean he’s not playable.

Sims looked very playable.

Tyler Smith might be playable if given actual meaningful regular season minutes.

I still think a good coach could find ways to use AJJ for 5-10 minutes per game of chaos.

PatC is also playable for a very small handful of minutes.

Kuz is the least playable player I’ve ever seen.

[rilamann]

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).

I think the Bucks are capable of getting to the 2nd round and pushing tier 1 contenders to a 6 or 7th game as they are currently constructed. You just need a competent coach.

But I do agree that to get over that hump and be a team that actually beat a tier 1 contenders and get back to the finals is not going to be easy. But I think a good GM could get us there in 2 years if he's slick and we get a little luck on our side. It's not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you start with Giannis. Although with Giannis turning 31 next season, the clock is ticking.

If Porter JR can reach a near all star level every night, I think we would be 80% there. Assuming we keep him around.

Some people will call me crazy, but I think Porter is capable of playing at an all star level with great coaching and if he has the commitment to work his ass off and get himself locked in. It's too late now, but a guy like Porter would have probably blossomed and thrived under a coach like Kenny Atkinson.....had we hired him.

if porter hits, it changes a lot. He has a "great guy at the 6 or 7 slot in a contending rotation" and an all star ceiling

Yeah, if Porter hits, the Bucks instantly become a serious threat in the east. I honesty think he can, I am optimistic about it. I think he really just needs a good coach who can get him locked in and make the commitment to reach his full potential. Doc isn't getting anyone locked in.

If Porter hits and if Horst can pull off another Marjon for Porter type of deal, we are back in the mix as a team that can win the east. It's not impossible.

Although none of this works of course if we don't fire Doc and replace him with a competent head coach.

Get Bud back, yes I am serious. After the Doc experience I would welcome Bud back.

Plus one of my issues with Bud wasn't that I thought he was a horrible coach or anything, a big part of my thing with Bud was I thought the Bucks just needed a fresh voice. Bud coming back after 2 years away, would be a fresh voice now lol.

[rilamann]

Just to warn you guys.

This off season is going to be alternate universe where Rilamann will be advocating for the return of coach Bud.



And the plot twist is that I will probably be shot down by the people who once advocated for Bud when I was calling for his head....lol.

A lot can change in 2 years, I guess.

It's probably all moot though because I highly doubt Doc is getting fired.

[bucksfansince88]

I think the Bucks are capable of getting to the 2nd round and pushing tier 1 contenders to a 6 or 7th game as they are currently constructed. You just need a competent coach.

But I do agree that to get over that hump and be a team that actually beat a tier 1 contenders and get back to the finals is not going to be easy. But I think a good GM could get us there in 2 years if he's slick and we get a little luck on our side. It's not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you start with Giannis. Although with Giannis turning 31 next season, the clock is ticking.

If Porter JR can reach a near all star level every night, I think we would be 80% there. Assuming we keep him around.

Some people will call me crazy, but I think Porter is capable of playing at an all star level with great coaching and if he has the commitment to work his ass off and get himself locked in. It's too late now, but a guy like Porter would have probably blossomed and thrived under a coach like Kenny Atkinson.....had we hired him.

if porter hits, it changes a lot. He has a "great guy at the 6 or 7 slot in a contending rotation" and an all star ceiling

Yeah, if Porter hits, the Bucks instantly become a serious threat in the east. I honesty think he can, I am optimistic about it. I think he really just needs a good coach who can get him locked in and make the commitment to reach his full potential. Doc isn't getting anyone locked in.

If Porter hits and if Horst can pull off another Marjon for Porter type of deal, we are back in the mix as a team that can win the east. It's not impossible.

Although none of this works of course if we don't fire Doc and replace him with a competent head coach.

Get Bud back, yes I am serious. After the Doc experience I would welcome Bud back.

Plus one of my issues with Bud wasn't that I thought he was a horrible coach or anything, a big part of my thing with Bud was I thought the Bucks just needed a fresh voice. Bud coming back after 2 years away, would be a fresh voice now lol.

I think Giannis likes what he saw from KPJ hes already a loyal dude but seeing that he has a guy with breakout potential and is a dog like him might help our chances at keeping him happy and here. He has the greece connection too, get Kostas and TA here and lets run it back with a legit coach.

[Dick Tate]

Oh good, now the 3rd-person comes out.

[MickeyDavis]

The starters, who played great in a road elimination playoff game (sans a couple of brain farts), made a total of ~$68 million this year. And Giannis made about 75% of that. The rest made over $100 million. I wish we could keep those 5 and cut bait on everyone else.

[RiotPunch]

Oh good, now the 3rd-person comes out.

Truly the Monta Ellis of posters. Have it all.

[pifhluk23]

So you guys who want to trade him because Horst can't build another contender with the current roster think Horst can pull off a trade with productive players and picks that he hits on in return? The same Horst that botched the Kuzma trade and whiffs on picks?

I want to trade him because he has 2 years before his player option and imo there is a 0% chance we can compete for a title over the next 2 years. So the only logical decision you can come to from that is we need to move him now while he has max value before he walks or his value is 60% of what it is now.

Clear as day for me but so was trading Midds for Butler bitd and wanting off Lopez years ago and nearly everyone was against me there too.

[paulpressey25]

Just a note. Porter has already “hit”.

What you saw last night is who he is. Talented but inconsistent guy. Maybe a starter for us but an 8th man on deeper teams. He’s not growing into a top three core guy. That ship sailed. Valuable contributor though

[pifhluk23]

Here is my offseason plan..



Porter........Rollins........Lillard (inj)
Trent........Jackson......#44
Green........Dieng........Connaughton
Giannis......Williams.....Smith
Aldama......Portis........#47

What's the plan next year after that team loses in the 1st round and Giannis now has 1 year left before he can opt out?

1st round is the ceiling of that team BTW, any injuries and thats a play in team at best.