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

[MickeyDavis]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

[yb90]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

I wonder if they could get a LaRavia using the $7.2m exception. Yabusele would be another guy I would go after. I'm not sure it will take the full $7.2m but who knows.

[German Athens]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

I wonder if they could get a LaRavia using the $7.2m exception. Yabusele would be another guy I would go after. I'm not sure it will take the full $7.2m but who knows.

Get Pritchard from Boston.

[yb90]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

I wonder if they could get a LaRavia using the $7.2m exception. Yabusele would be another guy I would go after. I'm not sure it will take the full $7.2m but who knows.

Get Pritchard from Boston.

Their fan base would probably boycott them worse than the Dallas fans did after the Luka trade. Lol.

[German Athens]

Realistically, I think Dean Wade could be a good target for the TPE if Cleveland sweats the apron status.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

2023 - Giannis thpinal
2024 - Giannis and Dame injured; dumb coach
2025 - Dame injured; dumb coach

The logical solution to this definitely isn't selling the most difficult thing to obtain.

giannis injuries/wear and tear/style of play..... have to be baked into this now more than ever. giannis is about to begin his westbrook post durant/harden/george tenure in OKC. he will put up amazing stats when he plays. we will not win much and he will be at huge injury risk every time he steps onto the court with his style and usage. the entire franchise future will reside solely on whether he stays healthy or not quite frankly.

that is a very scary gamble. the gumby version of giannis is long gone in fact. theres nothing logical about either way. its all just gut feel at this point.

giannis is special. the bucks with giannis are not special in any way. an injury would be catastrophic. these three statements are not unrelated. they are all very related.

if we dont have a pathway to improve NOW and quickly with him..... he should be traded imo

again... its not logical to trade him. its not logical to keep him. LUCK plays far to great a role in the outcome to logic as it relates to winning. This is risk management at this point. you use your logic as it relates to risk. you dont gamble the the entire future of the franchise on a single player when the return on a trade could be so historic. you have to at least consider it

Then by this logic, how would we get good value?

youd have to explore it. i think youd know it when you saw it?

to me if you could reload something that could be collective, and younger, and just as good expectedly within 1-2 years....how do you turn that down?

a younger, healthier collective version of upside...with salary room to boot....would be far more exciting than this thing we have now?

i will always love that guy....never turn my back on him....but if a national nonstop narrative is that hes on the fence then screw that. that would be on him. i'll back him unconditionally only if he publically and unconditionally views us the same way himself. thats how true marriage works during the tough times.

thats my take anyway.

nows not the time for fans to turn on each other. we need each other bad. its just a take. im your side as much as his. its just brainstorming. weve gone back and forth now on this but know id give you a sidehug or buy a beer if we were discussing this together

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

id also like to remind folks that all these picks we have "swap rights" too are with the effing trailblazers and pelicans.

these mfing teams suck and have literally no upside any time soon. if we lose our "swap rights" so the **** what. were still getting dudes. i would trade our upside with giannis a million times out of a million with what wed get for him compared to status of those two orgs

those two teams good luck with their "swap rights"...... worst case what are we dropping two slots ffs?

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

and third...then im done.... screw the celtics and cavs. build a deep team that can defend and shoot. anybody can win in this league if they have depth and can play like a deep well balanced HS team. the singular star aint worth **** anymore....... or at least like it was.... its nothing like it was....nothing

[tedbrogen]

We have Early Bird rights on Rollins, no need to use an Exception on him.

What’s the most they can offer him? Not saying they should offer that, just curious the amount. Sportrac says there is a $2.8M QO they can offer him. But really they should lock him up for four years on the cheap if they can.

And I assume that they still have to ensure they stay below the first apron so they can use the full MLE.

Bucks project to be ~$28M below the first apron if Bobby, PatC, and KPJ all opted in. If Bobby and KPJ opt out, Bucks are ~$44M below the apron. $14M goes to the full MLE. $2M goes to the second round pick as they need a 13th rostered player although that is baked into the math above so don’t count it here. If you re-up Bobby at the equivalent of the full MLE that’s another $14M. Use the BAE on KPJ that’s another $5M. That leaves you with $11M to retain Sims (bird rights) and Rollins.

The alternative if you got a big on the MLE and were granted an injury exemption is to let Bobby walk and keep GTJ with the injury exception.

But it’s pretty clear, for flexibility you have to let Brook walk unless he’ll take a min salary. And you can’t do anything until you either release his cap hold or sign him to a smaller salary because he cap hold blocks you from using the MLE.

The QO is just too make him a RFA. The Bucks can offer a 175% raise. With almost no cap space around the league, and numerous teams that can't even use exceptions, I don't see a team putting themselves on a 7 day waiting period by signing Rollins to a RFA offer to try to steal him.

A tight market is going to help us this offseason.

Edit: German Athens is right, the Bucks can do a 175% raise, or 105% of the league average salary, whichever is greater. In this case, the latter is significantly more.

Okay, so they can pay him far more than anyone else would even consider. What’s the max number of years they can give him and how many can be team options or nonguaranteed?

[tedbrogen]

Can teams use both the full non tax MLE and then the BAE in the same offseason? If so, giving KPJ the BAE at $5M with a player option in year two makes the most sense for him and the team and preserves the MLE for outside players.
Sims is bird rights. Rollins is early bird rights.
GTJ is gone or kept via injury exception.
Bobby is gone or retained via bird rights.
Prince should be gone.
Brook should be gone.
Kuz should be traded.

[Karsenmitsche]

I don't see Trent returning

All you need is a handshake deal with one of KPJ or Trent on an extension next season and you retain both

[th87]

The league is in the age of parity and it’s amazing. You don’t need much to tip you over the edge to title contention if you have a superstar. We can get back to title contention with a few moves on the periphery as long as we keep Giannis and fire Doc. No way I’m trading Giannis unless he demands out.

Once again, what if there is no firing of Doc? What if they legitimately own to let him coach the next two years, make him POBO, he gets a say in roster decisions, and make Darvin coach after that? That locks you into bad coaching/non-contention for three to four years.

The reports were Doc will stay UNLESS there are MAJOR personnel changes.....

They'll always stay until they don't. Larry Harris and Terry Porter would "sink or swim together", Larry Drew was at Jabari Parker's photo shoot IIRC, and so on.

[tedbrogen]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

Obviously the best use of those is to take on a player a team needs to dump for apron purposes but can they also use them in a S&T for a player? Can they use them to outright sign a player? Or in combination with other players to aggregate salary in a larger deal?

[RiotPunch]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

Obviously the best use of those is to take on a player a team needs to dump for apron purposes but can they also use them in a S&T for a player? Can they use them to outright sign a player? Or in combination with other players to aggregate salary in a larger deal?

Justin Garcia seems to think you can use a TPE to sign a player, but I don't trust him. emunney? GAD?

[th87]

giannis injuries/wear and tear/style of play..... have to be baked into this now more than ever. giannis is about to begin his westbrook post durant/harden/george tenure in OKC. he will put up amazing stats when he plays. we will not win much and he will be at huge injury risk every time he steps onto the court with his style and usage. the entire franchise future will reside solely on whether he stays healthy or not quite frankly.

that is a very scary gamble. the gumby version of giannis is long gone in fact. theres nothing logical about either way. its all just gut feel at this point.

giannis is special. the bucks with giannis are not special in any way. an injury would be catastrophic. these three statements are not unrelated. they are all very related.

if we dont have a pathway to improve NOW and quickly with him..... he should be traded imo

again... its not logical to trade him. its not logical to keep him. LUCK plays far to great a role in the outcome to logic as it relates to winning. This is risk management at this point. you use your logic as it relates to risk. you dont gamble the the entire future of the franchise on a single player when the return on a trade could be so historic. you have to at least consider it

Then by this logic, how would we get good value?

youd have to explore it. i think youd know it when you saw it?

to me if you could reload something that could be collective, and younger, and just as good expectedly within 1-2 years....how do you turn that down?

a younger, healthier collective version of upside...with salary room to boot....would be far more exciting than this thing we have now?

i will always love that guy....never turn my back on him....but if a national nonstop narrative is that hes on the fence then screw that. that would be on him. i'll back him unconditionally only if he publically and unconditionally views us the same way himself. thats how true marriage works during the tough times.

thats my take anyway.

nows not the time for fans to turn on each other. we need each other bad. its just a take. im your side as much as his. its just brainstorming. weve gone back and forth now on this but know id give you a sidehug or buy a beer if we were discussing this together

I just don't see value coming back. Teams won't do Flagg for an aging player who has missed 2 of the last 3 playoffs, is reliant on athleticism, and cannot really be trusted for the last shot of the game.

No multiple top 2 picks, no point. Anything less than that gives us a bunch of Tobias Harris-level players.

All good, brother! We're definitely in this together. I also see your golf buddy might be getting an NBA job, so maybe you can pull some strings.

[soxperry]

We have 4 trade exceptions that expire 2/6/25.

$7.2 million
$2.1 million
$793k
$266k

"Exceptions are essentially "grants" offering teams an additional way to sign players. Exceptions can be split up for multiple player signings, however only one of these exceptions may be used in a season and they cannot be combined."

Obviously the best use of those is to take on a player a team needs to dump for apron purposes but can they also use them in a S&T for a player? Can they use them to outright sign a player? Or in combination with other players to aggregate salary in a larger deal?

Justin Garcia seems to think you can use a TPE to sign a player, but I don't trust him. emunney? GAD?

Im pretty sure this is true, big however: no matter what we do, if we use the non taxpayer mle then we are hard capped at the first apron. Ill do my best to post a breakdown of the room we have left after all obvious moves are made, but i dont think there is much left over after the full mle and bobby re sign.

The Dame one year mle is separate from all of this though and potentially allows us to get someone in the door and get crafty

[soxperry]

Upon looking at our salary table, the big pivot point is whether we get that injured player exception for Dame or not. If we do, it makes things very simple and we have a lot of flexibility. If not, we are likely to lose one of them. Making a trade of kuzma or pc to dump salary doesn't help this at all since we dont have bird rights on kpj or trent. It would only impact being able to pay our bird rights players more...and im not sure thats a huge priority. The one exception might be Brook if they deem him "still important."

Scenario 1: Dame is out the full year. Easy. You can now pay Kpj and Gary up to 14.1 each. One gets a multi year deal and the other gets a one year deal. There are good arguments for each, and theres an argument that we could ditch one of them if the right player is available in free agency. But thats too many variables for now.

Scenario 2: Dame thinks he can get back by playoffs and we dont access the exception. Now we can either split the mle between kpj and gary, give one the mle and the other the bae (assuming another team doesn't outbid), or give one the mle and let the other walk.

The rest of the table is pretty straightforward.

The following is Scenario 2, sans injury exception:

Guaranteed:

Giannis: 54M
Dame: 54M
Kuzma: 22M
Pat: 9M
AJ: 2.3M
Andre: 2.2M


If we assume the following (just to get a feel)

Bobby: 15M
Brook: 7M
Rollins: 5M
Sims: 2.4M
Mle: 14.1M (kpj or trent or fa)
Bae: 5.1M (fa)
One Vet Min: 2.4M

This puts us less than 100k under the first apron which we are now hard capped at due to mle and/or bae usage. So you can see how helpful the injured player exception would be, especially if we use it on kpj or gary instead of a fa. That way, it serves as a bridge to an off-season where they are now early bird eligible rather than a free agent who we would then struggle to keep.

I hope this was coherent enough. The more tried to explain the situation the more i realized how open ended it is.

[pifhluk23]

and third...then im done.... screw the celtics and cavs. build a deep team that can defend and shoot. anybody can win in this league if they have depth and can play like a deep well balanced HS team. the singular star aint worth **** anymore....... or at least like it was.... its nothing like it was....nothing

The league sucks right now as conditioning and speed are as important as skill. It's a low IQ league now, just run and gun and pray the variance shines on you. Built for 13 year old viewers.

[-Jragon-]

Our D was elite. We played against a team in the finals that looked a lot like the current contenders - great perimeter play and shotmaking, and 5 guys who could all contribute. They ran into Giannis and he ripped their heart out. The following year, they ran into Luka and he ripped their heart out.

If you took that Bucks team and transported them to today, they’d be in the second round right now giving Cleveland all sorts of problems.

They were really really good.

We won that title because we were big, leaned on our size and beat the **** out of teams. We made it difficult to score in the paint, and murdered teams on the boards closing defensive possessions and extending offensive ones.

I know it’s a copycat league, but when you have someone like Giannis or Jokic you don’t have to copy everyone else’s strategy. You have the unique force that other teams can’t replicate. In the case of Giannis, he’s very versatile, we could play big like that 2021 squad, or we could lean more into quickness in space.

If you think about the teams that beat Bud regularly (playoffs included); Indy has all the tools that would have given us fits.. Yes, Bud is a better coach than Doc but he also had his warts when it came to adjusting. Bud would have played Brook 40 min/game and Portis 30 and we would have been ran off the court.

Indy wouldn't have had to score inside.. the fast break points and 3's would be enough. Giannis would miss half his free throws.

Bud gave Bobby multiple DNP’s against the Nets, and then in the closing game against the Suns pulled Brook and had Bobby close it out with the starters. He was stubborn in his approach at times, but he wouldn’t have done what you said, either.

Good point... being fair, I was not happy we fired Bud.. especially right after what happened to his brother. But also he never helped Giannis solve "the Wall" Also, I wanted Nick Nurse who probably developed said Wall and I think we'd have been better this year with him instead of Doc.

[-Jragon-]

Trading Giannis would hurt me in the nads... idk how to pull that trigger... get draft picks and I have zero confidence we get anyone close to a Giannis. Still feels like you keep building around him as he gets better and better in the post/pick and roll.. we probably never win another series unless he becomes 75+% free throws. It's too hard to win down the stretch when the opponent is scoring 3 at a time and they can come back anytime they want and foul Giannis and we get 0 or 1 too often.