Bucks News, Transactions, Trade Ideas

[Bernman]

From Jim

I watched a workout between Khris and Tyler when Middleton was getting ready to come back, and Khris just manhandled him. Smith couldn't move. They had to stop the drill and restart it. Like that can't happen for him to be a real contributor. Not to say he can't get there, but that's the physical development they need.

I've been of the mind he's a pretty overrated prospect in Bucks' nation. A player shows anything there's no ceilings. Even if he develops he's a role player. Horst loves his role player projects at the draft. That's why I predicted we'd draft him in the 1st. Turned out it was the second.

I'd happily use him in conjunction w/ our 2nd this yr to move back up into the 30's. Right now our draft pick is pretty worthless. I'd also deal Smith for an affordable mid-aged vet rotation guy, or as sweetener in a big move (Reaves for '31 1st, Smith, Brook/Bobby let's say).

[Frank Nova]

S&T Brook for Rui

Kuzma and Pat for Dejounte Murray

Sign NAW

Bobby opts in

Resign KPJ, Rollins and Thanasis

KPJ/Rollins/*Dame
Green/*Dejounte
NAW/Jackson Jr/Thanasty
Bobby/Rui/Smith
Giannis

[JayMKE]

The only thing Tyler Smith has shown is that he can shoot, pretty much everything else is bad. Bad g-league stats too. Think he’s a future CBA player.

[Baddy Chuck]

We'll see where he progresses but Tyler Smith was literally drafted out of the G-League, got removed from the 2 win AAU G-League team and thrown into an NBA organization and somehow was a worse G-League player. Where he was drafted is irrelevant, dudes value is nothing at best to any team right now. Hope for the best but all I can muster up is hope.

[tedbrogen]

How good/bad is this for the Bucks - I have the Bucks taking on Murray to get that pick back from NO

Spurs get: Giannis/Jackson
Bucks get: Murray/Castle/#2/2026 1st back from NO/ATL 2027 1st from Spurs/Spurs 2029 1st
Pelicans get: Johnson/Barnes

The package is light for Giannis alone. Add in taking a dude coming off an achilles with threes year on his deal, Bucks should also get back their pick from 27 which includes ATL swap rights on it now, flip the 29 SAS 1st to a swap, get the Spurs most favorable of theirs/ Dal/ MN 30 1st, and get the 31 Sac swap rights

[tedbrogen]

Some good stuff from Jim there.

He thinks there’s an increasing likelihood Bobby opts in, that GTJ is looking for the bag and something around 8-10M per, and that there’s an extension coming for Dairy.

I mean those are all perfect scenarios. If you can start GTJ at $8M-$10M per then you can split the MLE between him and KPJ if KPJ won’t take the BAE with a player option in year two. So you keep both of them.

Bobby opting in is great because it’s another expiring salary to add in with Pat if you want to make a move. Otherwise, he’s also useful.

Extending Dairy is my highest priority.

If the above all happened and they retained Rollins and Sims while letting Brook and Prince walk, that’s a great start to Doc-proofing the roster. Would still be nice to ditch Kuz but still a great start.

[Ron Swanson]

Bobby opting in and Trent willing to re-up for just a low-level MLE type deal would seem like an absolute best case scenario at this point. Jim saying it at least gives me a little hope.

[fansinceforever]

Revisionist history.

Last season, the Bucks didn't have Giannis against the Pacers and Lillard didn't play all of the games. They had Middleton, Portis and nothing else and took the Pacers to 6 games. Their 2 main reserves were Galinari and PC.

Last season, with a healthy Giannis and Dame, I'd take the Bucks every time against the Pacers. Probably a sweep.

This season, they had no Dame, no Middleton and a Kyle Kuzma and Prince starting.

Are the Pacers a better team without Dame and with a coach who is an idiot. Yes, if that's your standard, I agree. This series would have been a lot different, just with a better coach.

Don't take my word for it. Look at the difference on the court when Kuzma and Prince were on the bench.

Shame on all of you who gave an And 1 to this nonsense.

It's this kind of analysis that leads a GM like Horst to make the dumb moves he's made.

Yeah, you guys are right. We were only a wing and a fumbled pass away from beating a team that's consistently proven they're better than us.

We don't have a different coach. We don't have Dame. We weren't very good when we had Dame. The Bucks are not on the verge of anything substantial by playing Bobby, KPJ, GTJ and Green around Giannis. And even if they were, there's not a high probability that we can even bring all those guys back.

If my opinion is so shameful, why does the vast majority of the sports world agree? They're all stupid save for a couple of handfuls of Bucks fans?

There you go again. "Consistently proven they're better" by beating the Bucks last year without Giannis and partly Dame?

You can make a credible case they are better this year even with Dame and even if Kuzma and Prince are benched. But you lose credibility by referencing last year as showing they consistently beat the Bucks.

And isn't that all that matters?

And disagree with your second point. It never clicked with Dame and Giannis last season. We also were not good defensively last year. Couldn't guard anybody worth a damn. Remember all the discussions about "POA defenders"?

It's a fan board, believe what you want but to say my opinion is nonsense makes you lose credibility.

[blazza18]

Highlights from Jim O’s AMA.

They have more resources this summer than any since 2020, so I expect Jon Horst to do some things to bring some quality players.

Not the first time he's said this. Horst is just going to do what he always does to fix problems.

[tedbrogen]

We know the following guys can share the court with Giannis in Doc’s system and the lineups will be positive: Rollins, GTJ, AJG, Bobby, KPJ, Sims.

So you keep those guys, and try to turn the other roster spots into players that would also work with Giannis. The theme is clearly quick and/or elite shooting.

I don’t care that some weird Dame/Kuz/Prince/Brook lineup was positive. The team revolves around Giannis and if you sink lineups he is in, you need to go. Because when it counts he plays 40 mpg.

I’d argue AJJ should work in limited spurts with Giannis if deployed correctly. I.e. as an energy guy against bench units where you need him to hound one dude and when you can let him crash the glass on offense. Basically using AJJ as a starter with three slow dudes who can’t get back on D is a complete waste. Use him with a high energy lineup and just have him turn up that energy volume for them a bit. His corner three is respectable enough that he should just let that fly anytime he’s left open. If he bricks a couple, pull him.

[BigO]

Some good stuff from Jim there.

He thinks there’s an increasing likelihood Bobby opts in, that GTJ is looking for the bag and something around 8-10M per, and that there’s an extension coming for Dairy.

I mean those are all perfect scenarios. If you can start GTJ at $8M-$10M per then you can split the MLE between him and KPJ if KPJ won’t take the BAE with a player option in year two. So you keep both of them.

Bobby opting in is great because it’s another expiring salary to add in with Pat if you want to make a move. Otherwise, he’s also useful.

Extending Dairy is my highest priority.

If the above all happened and they retained Rollins and Sims while letting Brook and Prince walk, that’s a great start to Doc-proofing the roster. Would still be nice to ditch Kuz but still a great start.

It would be malpractice by BP's agent to not opt out. The only thing that makes sense is if he opts in with an extension in hand for more years. This is his time to maximize his value.

[tedbrogen]

Also if Tyler Smith puts on some muscle in the offseason, I’d give him a few minutes of burn off the bench to see if maybe his shooting is good enough that’s he’s playable in limited minutes, if he stinks then at least you know that. Giving him 5 mpg and AJJ 5 mpg consistently to start the year won’t sink the team. This is a team that started Prince at SG for the bulk of last season, no way it could do more harm than that did.

[tedbrogen]

Some good stuff from Jim there.

He thinks there’s an increasing likelihood Bobby opts in, that GTJ is looking for the bag and something around 8-10M per, and that there’s an extension coming for Dairy.

I mean those are all perfect scenarios. If you can start GTJ at $8M-$10M per then you can split the MLE between him and KPJ if KPJ won’t take the BAE with a player option in year two. So you keep both of them.

Bobby opting in is great because it’s another expiring salary to add in with Pat if you want to make a move. Otherwise, he’s also useful.

Extending Dairy is my highest priority.

If the above all happened and they retained Rollins and Sims while letting Brook and Prince walk, that’s a great start to Doc-proofing the roster. Would still be nice to ditch Kuz but still a great start.

It would be malpractice by BP's agent to not opt out. The only thing that makes sense is if he opts in with an extension in hand for more years. This is his time to maximize his value.

What are the rules on extending him? If he opts in, when can they extend him and what is the deadline for when they no longer can?

Maybe the drug suspension plus age has it that his agent is told no one is willing to go more than a 1+1 on the MLE and he’d rather stay in Milwaukee if there’s a potential extension. Maybe Horst also informed his agent if Bobby opts out, they plan to let him walk because they are using the MLE and will be hard capped as a result.

[Frank Nova]

Bobby opting in and Trent willing to re-up for just a low-level MLE type deal would seem like an absolute best case scenario at this point. Jim saying it at least gives me a little hope.

Trent turned down 15m per from Toronto before he ran out of options and came to Milwaukee. I’d imagine a bag means more to him than being a Buck. I think he gets priced out of Milwaukee. I’d give NAW his contract and a starting gig next year.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

How good/bad is this for the Bucks - I have the Bucks taking on Murray to get that pick back from NO

Spurs get: Giannis/Jackson
Bucks get: Murray/Castle/#2/2026 1st back from NO/ATL 2027 1st from Spurs/Spurs 2029 1st
Pelicans get: Johnson/Barnes

Not diving into value but if Giannis asks out I would prefer a trade like this. Completely bottom out but castle, Bailey and boozer could be a fun trio I could at least be interested to watch at the fiserv. Zero interest in running a playin team with segune or the equivalent.

[Baddy Chuck]

Bobby opting in and Trent willing to re-up for just a low-level MLE type deal would seem like an absolute best case scenario at this point. Jim saying it at least gives me a little hope.

Trent turned down 15m per from Toronto before he ran out of options and came to Milwaukee. I’d imagine a bag means more to him than being a Buck. I think he gets priced out of Milwaukee. I’d give NAW his contract and a starting gig next year.

And Nerlens Noel and Dennis Schroder declined huge deals hoping to get more, sometimes people make dumb decisions. If money was the goal, Trent will probably be pretty hard pressed to find a deal higher that $15 million, if even at that. GTJ had a hell of a few games in that Indy series but overall his season was pretty lackluster and we could make him a pretty compelling argument of being the starting 2 guard with (hopefully) another season next to Giannis and with a big time scorer/ball handler in Dame out opening opportunities. He'll be competing for deals with a bunch of dudes on the market: Beasley, NAW, Jerome, Cam Thomas, Grimes, Levert and probably some more I'm forgetting.

Honestly don't know what the market is for any of our dudes though, could go either way for any of them really.

[raferfenix]

Jim O’s line “They have more resources this summer than any since 2020” sure is a counter narrative.

He doesn’t seem to be referring to trading players rather the power of owners willing to spend and a NTMLE this offseason.

Also “F--- them picks, IMO.”

[Prez]

Highlights from Jim O’s AMA.

They have more resources this summer than any since 2020, so I expect Jon Horst to do some things to bring some quality players.

Not the first time he's said this. Horst is just going to do what he always does to fix problems.

And it’s going to result in another first round loss because we have the worst coach in the league, and they won’t fire him because this organization is garbage. They are 100% content lighting another prime Giannis season on fire.

[th87]

How good/bad is this for the Bucks - I have the Bucks taking on Murray to get that pick back from NO

Spurs get: Giannis/Jackson
Bucks get: Murray/Castle/#2/2026 1st back from NO/ATL 2027 1st from Spurs/Spurs 2029 1st
Pelicans get: Johnson/Barnes

You a Bucks fan?

[th87]

Yeah, you guys are right. We were only a wing and a fumbled pass away from beating a team that's consistently proven they're better than us.

We don't have a different coach. We don't have Dame. We weren't very good when we had Dame. The Bucks are not on the verge of anything substantial by playing Bobby, KPJ, GTJ and Green around Giannis. And even if they were, there's not a high probability that we can even bring all those guys back.

If my opinion is so shameful, why does the vast majority of the sports world agree? They're all stupid save for a couple of handfuls of Bucks fans?

There you go again. "Consistently proven they're better" by beating the Bucks last year without Giannis and partly Dame?

You can make a credible case they are better this year even with Dame and even if Kuzma and Prince are benched. But you lose credibility by referencing last year as showing they consistently beat the Bucks.

And isn't that all that matters?

And disagree with your second point. It never clicked with Dame and Giannis last season. We also were not good defensively last year. Couldn't guard anybody worth a damn. Remember all the discussions about "POA defenders"?

It's a fan board, believe what you want but to say my opinion is nonsense makes you lose credibility.

I don't think there's any way to judge whether the Giannis-Dame pairing really couldn't work. We never had a good coach to try it.