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

[paulpressey25]

Remember our last big FA spree? In 2016 we had to overpay to get Delly, Telly and keep Plumlee.

It doesn’t work in Milwaukee.

How about when we signed Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis?

Those are guys you don’t necessarily need tons of cap space for. Sometimes allocating the MLE works fine. Just like we got two great years out of Mike Dunleavy Jr on a bargain contract during the Kohl era.

My assumption was the belief we’d need $30-$40 million of cap space for guys demanding bigger paydays.

[Bernman]

Our last big FA spree w/ real cap space was Greg Monroe, who was coveted around the league at the time, whatever you may have thought of him. Shows Giannis had some pull, even then.

And in recent seasons we've done great in FA w/ what we had to work with. It wasn't much. This is the 1st time we've had the MLE even in a while. Begs the question what we could do w/ real cap space again. I doubt we'd get premium FA's, but 2nd tier.

[MickeyDavis]

Our last big FA spree w/ real cap space was Greg Monroe, who was coveted around the league at the time, whatever you may have thought of him. Shows Giannis had some pull, even then.

And in recent seasons we've done great in FA w/ what we had to work with. It wasn't much. This is the 1st time we've had the MLE even in a while. Begs the question what we could do w/ real cap space. I doubt we'd get premium FA's, but 2nd tier.

Horst has done a good job in FA for sure.

[FlagsFlyForever]

I'm thinking if Dame was healthy, we're favorites in the ECF right now and the narrative is completely different.

[ShootingtheJ]

Remember our last big FA spree? In 2016 we had to overpay to get Delly, Telly and keep Plumlee.

It doesn’t work in Milwaukee.

How about when we signed Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis?

Those are guys you don’t necessarily need tons of cap space for. Sometimes allocating the MLE works fine. Just like we got two great years out of Mike Dunleavy Jr on a bargain contract during the Kohl era.

My assumption was the belief we’d need $30-$40 million of cap space for guys demanding bigger paydays.

Yeah, not even advocating for big ticket free agents. Just pushing back against the idea that no one would want to be here.

[tedbrogen]

Remember our last big FA spree? In 2016 we had to overpay to get Delly, Telly and keep Plumlee.

It doesn’t work in Milwaukee.

How about when we signed Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis?

Both small salary reclamation projects. So essentially arguing cap space doesn’t matter because you can find guys on the scrap heap if you have a good coach and culture.

[Bucknado]

Bring me Kostas ans 15th man and Thanasis as strength and conditioning coach.

Also, GTJ on a reasonable deal would be ideal. The real question is who replaces Brook?

[ShootingtheJ]

Bring me Kostas ans 15th man and Thanasis as strength and conditioning coach.

Also, GTJ on a reasonable deal would be ideal. The real question is who replaces Brook?

We have 2 centers that helped us more than Lopez. I'd love to add a young prospect as the 3rd stringer, but center isn't a major concern.

[Baddy Chuck]

Remember our last big FA spree? In 2016 we had to overpay to get Delly, Telly and keep Plumlee.

It doesn’t work in Milwaukee.

How about when we signed Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis?

Both small salary reclamation projects. So essentially arguing cap space doesn’t matter because you can find guys on the scrap heap if you have a good coach and culture.

So the argument is that good culture can bring in reclamation projects (Brook, Beasley, Trent and Bobby), veteran signings (Delly/Telly) and premier guys (Monroe) if you have the money available. Got it. Just choose the right ones and you're rolling.

[soxperry]

Short-sighted, pressure moves is how we got here. Meanwhile, other teams sat back and got better when the right opportunity came along (see Butler), sometimes as a result of our situation (see Jrue).

I think its time to be patient. Giannis isnt 34, hes 30. We cannot just trade the 31 1st, swap out Kuz and think we are contenders. We will need some luck, but we also need time to let the league unfold and let other teams' anxieties become our opportunities.

If Giannis wants to be a Buck for life, he's going to have to understand that. Or, we will be having these same conversations in two years and seeing what the 33 1st can do

[SirChurros]

Nico isn’t rebuilding lol. If anything he’s the exact type of guy who would trade the Flagg pick.

[pifhluk23]

Winning the chip is all about just not getting injured now so we probably just need to sign as many decent 5-20M players as possible. Dame trade killed us.

And we need a coach...

[ShootingtheJ]

Winning the chip is all about just not getting injured now so we probably just need to sign as many decent 5-20M players as possible. Dame trade killed us.

Not cashing in Dame at the deadline killed us. It was so obvious

[aboveAverage]

I think if Indy wins the title then it’s clear that a very successful model can be one superstar plus a bunch of good role players and a good coach. Hell, they don’t even have a superstar.

We will have to trade Dame and use his salary on two-three solid high level role players. I think that was the plan this summer but then he got injured. We need Giannis to wait one more season and grow with the young guys we have and then we will see a big retool next summer.

[fansinceforever]

The Knicks were taking it to Boston and were on their way to a 3-1 lead before Tatum went down.
The Pacers have an incredibly balanced team of guys who know, understand and consistently fulfill their role.

Who the role players are matters A LOT. There's more to it than signing some guys and remaining healthy.

[ShootingtheJ]

Most importantly, don't bring in vets this year. Doc proof the roster. Young, healthy, and versatile is the way

[soxperry]

Most importantly, don't bring in vets this year. Doc proof the roster. Young, healthy, and versatile is the way

Vets are fine. But the right kind of vets.

Problem is, Doc is part of the decision making group. He verified that when he was talking about off-season targets this past free agent cycle. He was using the word "we" a lot.

[Ron Swanson]

Really hard to keep running with the "we're old and slow" narrative after being eliminated in a game where the oldest guy getting rotation minutes was Giannis. Mentioned it in the Giannis thread, but the trade deadline should have showed everyone what a lot of us have been postulating about for years now, i.e. how you don't need to dump your best assets and players just to get younger rotation dudes.

I guess a lot of people here have a much rosier view of what the tax-payer MLE and BAE roster exceptions are actually gonna net us than I do. Banking on some 3rd tier free agent to come in and save this roster is a pretty hard sell IMO. At best we're looking at another Gary Trent type dude to, what.....replace Gary Trent after he leaves for a bigger payday? It's why I think the obvious move to improve the roster is probably gonna be taking advantage of a 1st/2nd apron team looking to shed a still useful player on a bloated salary.

It's why I posited the Kuzma/Jrue trade with us getting a 1st or some 2nd's in addition. It's risky, but Dejounte Murray is another guy I'd be willing to entertain once it becomes clear that Giannis is staying and that 2026 pick swap becomes useless to New Orleans (so they can just include it and some 2nd's). LaVine is still a guy I'd target if they can make the salary work. Sacramento actually has a few dudes (Murray, DeRozan, Monk) that could be buy-low candidates because I can't imagine even Vivek wants to be a tax team with that 35-win roster. I get that it's Horst and he's probably just gonna throw the '32 pick swap at whatever JAG rotation wing that's available, but now more than ever we need to get creative.

[Bernman]

Really hard to keep running with the "we're old and slow" narrative after being eliminated in a game where the oldest guy getting rotation minutes was Giannis. Mentioned it in the Giannis thread, but the trade deadline should have showed everyone what a lot of us have been postulating about for years now, i.e. how you don't need to dump your best assets and players just to get younger rotation dudes.

That's a laughable point. We out-played them on the road in the 1 game we deployed the lineup. Ended up technically losing by 1 in OT because a guy didn't catch a ball right in his hands on account he choked a lead Brook, Prince, & co. never had, since they put us in 20 pt holes; the other group had to dig us out of. And a few of those guys still ended up in the positives in the disqualifying game, series.

It doesn't mean every move is justified, and younger player is better than an older one. There are exceptions to rules. And part of the reason why that Kuz trade was dumb was the youngest player on the roster who had upside went out in addition for a badly performing player this yr.

[soxperry]

Im trying to come up with offers for us to get Tatum as is, distressed asset, style, and it turns my stomach
I cant stand the thought of rooting for him. I literally want to vomit thinking about it