Bucks News, Transactions, Trade Ideas - Bucks Open against Middleton/Sign Coffey to Camp Deal

[midranger]

It may be just as simple as we plan to waive Ajax when his guarantee is over a sign Coffey to that slot.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Green - Rollins
Coffey - Prince
Giannis - Kuzma
Turner - Portis - Sims

Harris
Smith
Livingston


Would leave open a Kuz/Harris/Smith type trade to consolidate and get a team under the apron at the deadline

[raferfenix]

So there are critical differences with this comparison especially since the Bucks didn’t value Coffey enough to give him a guaranteed deal if only at the outset.

But do we think 28 year old Coffey could develop alongside Giannis in anything resembling the way 25 year old Connaughton did?

One of the biggest ways championship teams stay on top and keep their championship windows open for as long as possible is by finding hidden gems that they can sign for below what they should be making. One such signing that didn’t look that way initially was the Milwaukee Bucks signing of Pat Connaughton in the summer of 2018.

Early in Connaughton’s NBA career, it didn’t seem as if he’d find his way to become a valuable role player for a championship team. After all, he was drafted in the second round, 41st overall by the Brooklyn Nets (and then flipped to the Portland Trail Blazers). Through his rookie and sophomore seasons with the Blazers, Connaughton played in 73 games and averaged 6.3 minutes per game. His 3-point percentage looked solid at 40.7, but he took 54 total triples, and that percentage was buoyed by a 51.5 percent season in his second year.

He broke out in his third season, playing in all 82 games and getting around 18 minutes per night. He shot over 35 percent from deep on solid volume (2.6 attempts per game, 53.8 percent 3-point attempt rate) and scored 5.4 points per game. That was enough to parlay him into a contract with Milwaukee the following offseason. However, that uncertainty of only one productive season led to Jordan Treske’s initial B- letter grade for the deal.

https://behindthebuckpass.com/2021/09/06/milwaukee-bucks-regrading-underrated-pat-connaughton-signing/

[drew881]

It may be just as simple as we plan to waive Ajax when his guarantee is over a sign Coffey to that slot.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Green - Rollins
Coffey - Prince
Giannis - Kuzma
Turner - Portis - Sims

Harris
Smith
Livingston


Would leave open a Kuz/Harris/Smith type trade to consolidate and get a team under the apron at the deadline

Is this a Pat Riley move against AJ Green in the middle of contract negotiations?

[midranger]

It may be just as simple as we plan to waive Ajax when his guarantee is over a sign Coffey to that slot.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Green - Rollins
Coffey - Prince
Giannis - Kuzma
Turner - Portis - Sims

Harris
Smith
Livingston


Would leave open a Kuz/Harris/Smith type trade to consolidate and get a team under the apron at the deadline

Is this a Pat Riley move against AJ Green in the middle of contract negotiations?

Honestly, I could see Green getting traded at the deadline. They seem to really like Rollins (who is locked up) and the guard rotation is pretty full.

[raferfenix]

Honestly, I could see Green getting traded at the deadline. They seem to really like Rollins (who is locked up) and the guard rotation is pretty full.

Dairy Bird’s extension might be the biggest piece of business Horst still has for this offseason.

Guard rotation is only full if most of our guys develop, if GTJ or KPJ do not walk in the offseason when we only have early bird rights, and if we cannot play this combo small ball at the 3 for large portions of the game.

If Green does get extended I think it’d be more likely we deal one of the guys we don’t have locked down…again depending on how everyone develops.

[Ron Swanson]

Biggest piece of business left for Horst is still trying to find a home for Kuzma and get back a better fitting wing to compliment Giannis. Rollins was a no-brainer for what he signed for, but I'd be in no hurry to extend any of these other dudes to 8-figure salaries.

[mlloyd10]

So Kuzma/Green/AJax/Smith are the only players that can actually be traded right now right?

[midranger]

If they can’t come come to terms with Green, I could easily envision Horst go for a Kuz and Green for Wiggins type deal.

Maybe Green for Eason?

Edit:
Spitballing a three way trade:
Milwaukee: Wiggins and Eason
Miami: Kuz, AJax, MKE pick consideration of some sort
Houston: Green

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Rollins - Harris
Wiggins - Coffey
Giannis - Eason
Turner - Portis - Sims

[soxperry]

It may be just as simple as we plan to waive Ajax when his guarantee is over a sign Coffey to that slot.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Green - Rollins
Coffey - Prince
Giannis - Kuzma
Turner - Portis - Sims

Harris
Smith
Livingston


Would leave open a Kuz/Harris/Smith type trade to consolidate and get a team under the apron at the deadline

Its possible, but i would consider having Coffey (or Prince or Kuzma) as your starting SF to be a pretty big failure..

That is, unless you have a bigger plan and are just biding your time.

[soxperry]

Heres my best guess at minutes (before realizing that I forgot Kuzma and put him on at the end). But it actually illustrates my point that we really dont have enough minutes for everyone

[yb90]

When it comes to Free agency and retaining players I have to just give it up to Horst. I'm not worried about Green at all. It would not surprise me if they waited until the summer if it meant the Bucks got to keep more cap flexibility.

[MickeyDavis]

So Kuzma/Green/AJax/Smith are the only players that can actually be traded right now right?

Giannis

[drew881]

It may be just as simple as we plan to waive Ajax when his guarantee is over a sign Coffey to that slot.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Green - Rollins
Coffey - Prince
Giannis - Kuzma
Turner - Portis - Sims

Harris
Smith
Livingston


Would leave open a Kuz/Harris/Smith type trade to consolidate and get a team under the apron at the deadline

Is this a Pat Riley move against AJ Green in the middle of contract negotiations?

Honestly, I could see Green getting traded at the deadline. They seem to really like Rollins (who is locked up) and the guard rotation is pretty full.

I think they know he was a guy in their best lineup and would likely play into that moving forward.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Rollins
Green - Coffey - Harris
Giannis - Kuzma - Prince
Turner - Portis - Sims

I think this looks ideal and Coffee is getting like 10 min a game. But last year he logged 24?

[MVP2110]

When it comes to Free agency and retaining players I have to just give it up to Horst. I'm not worried about Green at all. It would not surprise me if they waited until the summer if it meant the Bucks got to keep more cap flexibility.

Yea, one of Horst's strengths has been his ability to retain players when they hit Free Agency. Who was the last free agent we lost that we had actual interest in retaining? PJ Tucker? He's been able to convince guys to stick around, sometimes on below market deals

[emunney]

So there are critical differences with this comparison especially since the Bucks didn’t value Coffey enough to give him a guaranteed deal if only at the outset.

But do we think 28 year old Coffey could develop alongside Giannis in anything resembling the way 25 year old Connaughton did?

One of the biggest ways championship teams stay on top and keep their championship windows open for as long as possible is by finding hidden gems that they can sign for below what they should be making. One such signing that didn’t look that way initially was the Milwaukee Bucks signing of Pat Connaughton in the summer of 2018.

Early in Connaughton’s NBA career, it didn’t seem as if he’d find his way to become a valuable role player for a championship team. After all, he was drafted in the second round, 41st overall by the Brooklyn Nets (and then flipped to the Portland Trail Blazers). Through his rookie and sophomore seasons with the Blazers, Connaughton played in 73 games and averaged 6.3 minutes per game. His 3-point percentage looked solid at 40.7, but he took 54 total triples, and that percentage was buoyed by a 51.5 percent season in his second year.

He broke out in his third season, playing in all 82 games and getting around 18 minutes per night. He shot over 35 percent from deep on solid volume (2.6 attempts per game, 53.8 percent 3-point attempt rate) and scored 5.4 points per game. That was enough to parlay him into a contract with Milwaukee the following offseason. However, that uncertainty of only one productive season led to Jordan Treske’s initial B- letter grade for the deal.

https://behindthebuckpass.com/2021/09/06/milwaukee-bucks-regrading-underrated-pat-connaughton-signing/

Nah man, he's 28. But Pat didn't really develop a ton, did he? I guess the high catch 3s.

The hope would be not that he develops like Pat, but that he fits like Pat. Personally I take the fact that he was signed to a camp deal at face value.

[JayMKE]

Coffey fits a role we need so I definitely being a contributor. I can more easily see it than Gary Harris who got 2 year deal for some reason.

Packaging Kuzma with Green would be dumb, we’re not that desperate to dump Kuzma so I think people need to get over him on the team. Adding an asset to dump Kuzma would be a major black mark for Horst after giving up assets to dump Middleton for him less than a year later.

Green might be thinking he can get more than 4/40 deal now with the money shooters can make, like Duncan Robinson got 3/48M. If he has a big year he could be getting a huge contract.

This is why you lock these guys up early

I’d rather risk Green walking than to trade him for someone low IQ and **** like Wiggins

[ShootingtheJ]

It may be just as simple as we plan to waive Ajax when his guarantee is over a sign Coffey to that slot.

KPJ - Anthony
Trent - Green - Rollins
Coffey - Prince
Giannis - Kuzma
Turner - Portis - Sims

Harris
Smith
Livingston


Would leave open a Kuz/Harris/Smith type trade to consolidate and get a team under the apron at the deadline

Is this a Pat Riley move against AJ Green in the middle of contract negotiations?

Honestly, I could see Green getting traded at the deadline. They seem to really like Rollins (who is locked up) and the guard rotation is pretty full.

All of our best lineups include Green. He's Horsts best find, and will be the last guy moved.

[midranger]

I think Green’s problem getting one of those mid tier deals here is that Horst has been pretty adept at finding limited, high percentage 3 point shooters at minimal cost.

Merrill
Allen
Green
Beasley
Trent
Prince
Rollins
Coffey

Couple second round picks and some minimum deals to stream these guys.

Not saying it’s a great or sustainable plan. It’s just been our recent past.

Additionally, I’m pretty sure they view Trent and Rollins as much more dynamic guys than Green. Green is definitely the best shooter of the bunch, but that’s kind of the only thing he’s doing offensively.

Again, this is just kind of a gut feel I have.

[emunney]

Is this a Pat Riley move against AJ Green in the middle of contract negotiations?

Honestly, I could see Green getting traded at the deadline. They seem to really like Rollins (who is locked up) and the guard rotation is pretty full.

All of our best lineups include Green. He's Horsts best find, and will be the last guy moved.

I wish I had your conviction on this. On one hand, Doc has been talking him up (probably doesn't mean a lot) and played him a lot in the playoffs (means more). He also played extremely well in the playoffs, which is typically a major driver of Horst's moves. On the other hand, we do some insane stuff sometimes.

[emunney]

I think Green’s problem getting one of those mid tier deals here is that Horst has been pretty adept at finding limited, high percentage 3 point shooters at minimal cost.

Merrill
Allen
Green
Beasley
Trent
Prince
Rollins
Coffey

Couple second round picks and some minimum deals to stream these guys.

Not saying it’s a great or sustainable plan. It’s just been our recent past.

Additionally, I’m pretty sure they view Trent and Rollins as much more dynamic guys than Green. Green is definitely the best shooter of the bunch, but that’s kind of the only thing he’s doing offensively.

Again, this is just kind of a gut feel I have.

I have kind of a pocket theory about Green that a big part of his impact is that guys think they can take him 1 on 1, they generally can't, and they end up taking a meh shot, which is great for our defense. It could be that if teams stop attacking him so persistently, we won't get the same outsized benefits from playing him. The question would then become whether or not the other teams have a reliably better alternative.