We need to have a serious discussion about the Milwaukee Bucks

[PushDaRock]

Good to know instead of admitting that you made an idiotic statement instead of simply owning up thats your response.


Sent from my SM-S918U using RealGM mobile app

You owned me, what else is there to say?

Its not about owning someone.

It about people not being able to admit they said something dumb. Its ok we've all said dumb statements.


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You owned me, take your glorious victory lap good sir.

[Doctor MJ]

This roster that they've stuck around Giannis, it is reminiscent of like all time bad rosters that get stuck around all time great talents. Think of like KG in Minnesota, LeBron James before he went to Miami, the Knicks with Carmelo for a few years.

The starting PG, who TF is Ryan Rollins, he is also their second leading scorer. The Warriors didn't want him in 2023, the WASHINGTON WIZARDS didn't even want him. Yes, he was not traded to Milwaukee in that Kuzma deal, he flat out signed with them.

Let's talk about paying $25 million a year AND the stretched Damian Lillard salary for Myles Turner who's out here averaging 9.8 and 6 boards with 2 blocks. There are role players that make half that salary that can have this level of production.

First of all, everyone knew Myles Turner's offense was being gifted by playing with Tyrese Haliburton, it was so obvious from day 1 because as soon as Haliburton showed Turner's PPG spikes 5-6 points and then he posts career highs on scoring next to Haliburton. His efficiency sucks, he's out here shooting 40% from the field as a Center? I'm not even watching Milwaukee like that. He's clearly not injured, he's playing 28 mpg. What is going on with this team, were they that desperate for a guy to replace Brook Lopez?

Oh and of course there's Kyle Kuzma, the NBA champion and former Washington Wizard. Dude is coming off the bench, guess what. That's what he's supposed to be doing. He's only played winning basketball when he comes off the bench, that's what makes his #s look good, as a starter he is atrocious, he is bottom tier, he led Washington to the dumpster multiple years in a row with his trash bro Jordan Poole, he is not meant to be a starter, and yet they traded their go to guy behind Giannis, former All Star Khris Middleton, to acquire Kyle Kuzma. I would rather have Middleton, he's actually still got something in the tank.

AJ Green is the only saving grace for Milwaukee in their starting line-up. Gary Trent Jr, no one wanted him, then he came to Milwaukee to "prove it" and he didn't really prove it, so no one still wanted him, so he's BACK IN MILWAUKEE.

Giannis should be front and center for that MVP award, it is absurd, I mean he is backpacking harder than Jokic when Jamal Murray was injured, this team is a freaking disgrace, if he is still in Milwaukee after a whole season of this nonsense, hats off, but he needs to get tf out of this franchise because they have done him a disservice with their decision making after the championship. I liked their odds more with Khris Middleton, no clue why they were so convinced that Kyle Kuzma's Wizards highlights would project him to be good for their team, he clearly hasn't. I mean this is worse imo than a rebuild, this is like watching Rome crumble, it is legitimately pathetic, and I would seriously have a sinking pit in my stomach every night as a Bucks fan because if Giannis goes down, you're going straight to the lottery and guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR OWN PICK.

So, the feeling of frustration is understandable, but I think it's important to recognize what a slow motion car wreck this was.

When the Bucks won the chip in 2021, their 5 man core was:

Giannis (age 26)
Khris (29)
Jrue (30)
Brook (32)
PJ (35)

Now, they won the chip in 2021 so it was understandable to seek to run it back for the next year, but in the long-term, when your franchise player is also your youngest player, you have to expect to make a transition where you surround him with younger guys instead.

While they did move on from PJ, with Brook they literally gave him a bright shiny new contract in 2023, and that was the moment where I felt they were doomed. Nothing against Brook, but it was obviously time to move on, and yet they didn't.

Then the true death blow: When they move on from Jrue, they do it to acquire another old dude (Dame) whose entire way of playing doesn't fit with Giannis, and basically, thus endeth everything that had been built around Giannis so far.

But as I say all of this, I can't help but note that Giannis sure seemed to be pushing for a move like the Dame move, and then give his approval for it when it happened. The death of this era of the Bucks absolutely came from trying to please Giannis RIGHT NOW so that he wouldn't ask for a trade, and it just turned out that doing stuff to make Giannis happy now wasn't the right strategy for giving Giannis a contending supporting cast for the long term.

[E-Balla]

This roster that they've stuck around Giannis, it is reminiscent of like all time bad rosters that get stuck around all time great talents. Think of like KG in Minnesota, LeBron James before he went to Miami, the Knicks with Carmelo for a few years.

The starting PG, who TF is Ryan Rollins, he is also their second leading scorer. The Warriors didn't want him in 2023, the WASHINGTON WIZARDS didn't even want him. Yes, he was not traded to Milwaukee in that Kuzma deal, he flat out signed with them.

Let's talk about paying $25 million a year AND the stretched Damian Lillard salary for Myles Turner who's out here averaging 9.8 and 6 boards with 2 blocks. There are role players that make half that salary that can have this level of production.

First of all, everyone knew Myles Turner's offense was being gifted by playing with Tyrese Haliburton, it was so obvious from day 1 because as soon as Haliburton showed Turner's PPG spikes 5-6 points and then he posts career highs on scoring next to Haliburton. His efficiency sucks, he's out here shooting 40% from the field as a Center? I'm not even watching Milwaukee like that. He's clearly not injured, he's playing 28 mpg. What is going on with this team, were they that desperate for a guy to replace Brook Lopez?

Oh and of course there's Kyle Kuzma, the NBA champion and former Washington Wizard. Dude is coming off the bench, guess what. That's what he's supposed to be doing. He's only played winning basketball when he comes off the bench, that's what makes his #s look good, as a starter he is atrocious, he is bottom tier, he led Washington to the dumpster multiple years in a row with his trash bro Jordan Poole, he is not meant to be a starter, and yet they traded their go to guy behind Giannis, former All Star Khris Middleton, to acquire Kyle Kuzma. I would rather have Middleton, he's actually still got something in the tank.

AJ Green is the only saving grace for Milwaukee in their starting line-up. Gary Trent Jr, no one wanted him, then he came to Milwaukee to "prove it" and he didn't really prove it, so no one still wanted him, so he's BACK IN MILWAUKEE.

Giannis should be front and center for that MVP award, it is absurd, I mean he is backpacking harder than Jokic when Jamal Murray was injured, this team is a freaking disgrace, if he is still in Milwaukee after a whole season of this nonsense, hats off, but he needs to get tf out of this franchise because they have done him a disservice with their decision making after the championship. I liked their odds more with Khris Middleton, no clue why they were so convinced that Kyle Kuzma's Wizards highlights would project him to be good for their team, he clearly hasn't. I mean this is worse imo than a rebuild, this is like watching Rome crumble, it is legitimately pathetic, and I would seriously have a sinking pit in my stomach every night as a Bucks fan because if Giannis goes down, you're going straight to the lottery and guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR OWN PICK.

So, the feeling of frustration is understandable, but I think it's important to recognize what a slow motion car wreck this was.

When the Bucks won the chip in 2021, their 5 man core was:

Giannis (age 26)
Khris (29)
Jrue (30)
Brook (32)
PJ (35)

Now, they won the chip in 2021 so it was understandable to seek to run it back for the next year, but in the long-term, when your franchise player is also your youngest player, you have to expect to make a transition where you surround him with younger guys instead.

While they did move on from PJ, with Brook they literally gave him a bright shiny new contract in 2023, and that was the moment where I felt they were doomed. Nothing against Brook, but it was obviously time to move on, and yet they didn't.

Then the true death blow: When they move on from Jrue, they do it to acquire another old dude (Dame) whose entire way of playing doesn't fit with Giannis, and basically, thus endeth everything that had been built around Giannis so far.

But as I say all of this, I can't help but note that Giannis sure seemed to be pushing for a move like the Dame move, and then give his approval for it when it happened. The death of this era of the Bucks absolutely came from trying to please Giannis RIGHT NOW so that he wouldn't ask for a trade, and it just turned out that doing stuff to make Giannis happy now wasn't the right strategy for giving Giannis a contending supporting cast for the long term.

Let's not forget waiving Dame. Legitimately the dumbest move I've ever seen. Extending Brook it's like whatever they off that contract now and have Myles to replace him, the Kuzma trade as bad as it was he's at least a good bench guy. Jrue for Dame then cutting Dame is the craziest **** I've ever seen.

[Doctor MJ]

This roster that they've stuck around Giannis, it is reminiscent of like all time bad rosters that get stuck around all time great talents. Think of like KG in Minnesota, LeBron James before he went to Miami, the Knicks with Carmelo for a few years.

The starting PG, who TF is Ryan Rollins, he is also their second leading scorer. The Warriors didn't want him in 2023, the WASHINGTON WIZARDS didn't even want him. Yes, he was not traded to Milwaukee in that Kuzma deal, he flat out signed with them.

Let's talk about paying $25 million a year AND the stretched Damian Lillard salary for Myles Turner who's out here averaging 9.8 and 6 boards with 2 blocks. There are role players that make half that salary that can have this level of production.

First of all, everyone knew Myles Turner's offense was being gifted by playing with Tyrese Haliburton, it was so obvious from day 1 because as soon as Haliburton showed Turner's PPG spikes 5-6 points and then he posts career highs on scoring next to Haliburton. His efficiency sucks, he's out here shooting 40% from the field as a Center? I'm not even watching Milwaukee like that. He's clearly not injured, he's playing 28 mpg. What is going on with this team, were they that desperate for a guy to replace Brook Lopez?

Oh and of course there's Kyle Kuzma, the NBA champion and former Washington Wizard. Dude is coming off the bench, guess what. That's what he's supposed to be doing. He's only played winning basketball when he comes off the bench, that's what makes his #s look good, as a starter he is atrocious, he is bottom tier, he led Washington to the dumpster multiple years in a row with his trash bro Jordan Poole, he is not meant to be a starter, and yet they traded their go to guy behind Giannis, former All Star Khris Middleton, to acquire Kyle Kuzma. I would rather have Middleton, he's actually still got something in the tank.

AJ Green is the only saving grace for Milwaukee in their starting line-up. Gary Trent Jr, no one wanted him, then he came to Milwaukee to "prove it" and he didn't really prove it, so no one still wanted him, so he's BACK IN MILWAUKEE.

Giannis should be front and center for that MVP award, it is absurd, I mean he is backpacking harder than Jokic when Jamal Murray was injured, this team is a freaking disgrace, if he is still in Milwaukee after a whole season of this nonsense, hats off, but he needs to get tf out of this franchise because they have done him a disservice with their decision making after the championship. I liked their odds more with Khris Middleton, no clue why they were so convinced that Kyle Kuzma's Wizards highlights would project him to be good for their team, he clearly hasn't. I mean this is worse imo than a rebuild, this is like watching Rome crumble, it is legitimately pathetic, and I would seriously have a sinking pit in my stomach every night as a Bucks fan because if Giannis goes down, you're going straight to the lottery and guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR OWN PICK.

So, the feeling of frustration is understandable, but I think it's important to recognize what a slow motion car wreck this was.

When the Bucks won the chip in 2021, their 5 man core was:

Giannis (age 26)
Khris (29)
Jrue (30)
Brook (32)
PJ (35)

Now, they won the chip in 2021 so it was understandable to seek to run it back for the next year, but in the long-term, when your franchise player is also your youngest player, you have to expect to make a transition where you surround him with younger guys instead.

While they did move on from PJ, with Brook they literally gave him a bright shiny new contract in 2023, and that was the moment where I felt they were doomed. Nothing against Brook, but it was obviously time to move on, and yet they didn't.

Then the true death blow: When they move on from Jrue, they do it to acquire another old dude (Dame) whose entire way of playing doesn't fit with Giannis, and basically, thus endeth everything that had been built around Giannis so far.

But as I say all of this, I can't help but note that Giannis sure seemed to be pushing for a move like the Dame move, and then give his approval for it when it happened. The death of this era of the Bucks absolutely came from trying to please Giannis RIGHT NOW so that he wouldn't ask for a trade, and it just turned out that doing stuff to make Giannis happy now wasn't the right strategy for giving Giannis a contending supporting cast for the long term.

Let's not forget waiving Dame. Legitimately the dumbest move I've ever seen. Extending Brook it's like whatever they off that contract now and have Myles to replace him, the Kuzma trade as bad as it was he's at least a good bench guy. Jrue for Dame then cutting Dame is the craziest **** I've ever seen.

I don't really want to defend waiving Dame as if I think it's going to work out well for the Bucks, but I will say:

While I think the Bucks were probably dead as contenders the moment they traded for Dame, things became urgently bad with Dame's injury because while it was never going to work, Giannis himself was likely not to grumble for a while longer with Dame by his side. Things change when Dame has an injury that he won't be coming back from for another year by which time he'll be 36 years old.

Once you have that injury, there's no hope for trading Dame, or trading for a 3rd star to pair with Giannis & Dame, and so you have two options:

a) Try something desperate to make things maybe get better right now.
b) Admit to Giannis it's over.

It seems most reasonable to just tell Giannis the truth from any kind of moral perspective - plus, he should have already figured this out anyway and so you might want to get out in front of that.

But when you do (b), you have to trade Giannis immediately, and when you trade him, what are you hoping to get back? Draft picks? Cool, but it would sure be nice if you had your own draft picks instead of having sacrificed them to build around Giannis.

Perfectly fine to lament specifically the Turner choice, but I think there probably was no good options there for contention and this I think probably was a successful move from the perspective keeping Giannis for at least part of one more season.

[E-Balla]

So, the feeling of frustration is understandable, but I think it's important to recognize what a slow motion car wreck this was.

When the Bucks won the chip in 2021, their 5 man core was:

Giannis (age 26)
Khris (29)
Jrue (30)
Brook (32)
PJ (35)

Now, they won the chip in 2021 so it was understandable to seek to run it back for the next year, but in the long-term, when your franchise player is also your youngest player, you have to expect to make a transition where you surround him with younger guys instead.

While they did move on from PJ, with Brook they literally gave him a bright shiny new contract in 2023, and that was the moment where I felt they were doomed. Nothing against Brook, but it was obviously time to move on, and yet they didn't.

Then the true death blow: When they move on from Jrue, they do it to acquire another old dude (Dame) whose entire way of playing doesn't fit with Giannis, and basically, thus endeth everything that had been built around Giannis so far.

But as I say all of this, I can't help but note that Giannis sure seemed to be pushing for a move like the Dame move, and then give his approval for it when it happened. The death of this era of the Bucks absolutely came from trying to please Giannis RIGHT NOW so that he wouldn't ask for a trade, and it just turned out that doing stuff to make Giannis happy now wasn't the right strategy for giving Giannis a contending supporting cast for the long term.

Let's not forget waiving Dame. Legitimately the dumbest move I've ever seen. Extending Brook it's like whatever they off that contract now and have Myles to replace him, the Kuzma trade as bad as it was he's at least a good bench guy. Jrue for Dame then cutting Dame is the craziest **** I've ever seen.

I don't really want to defend waiving Dame as if I think it's going to work out well for the Bucks, but I will say:

While I think the Bucks were probably dead as contenders the moment they traded for Dame, things became urgently bad with Dame's injury because while it was never going to work, Giannis himself was likely not to grumble for a while longer with Dame by his side. Things change when Dame has an injury that he won't be coming back from for another year by which time he'll be 36 years old.

Once you have that injury, there's no hope for trading Dame, or trading for a 3rd star to pair with Giannis & Dame, and so you have two options:

a) Try something desperate to make things maybe get better right now.
b) Admit to Giannis it's over.

It seems most reasonable to just tell Giannis the truth from any kind of moral perspective - plus, he should have already figured this out anyway and so you might want to get out in front of that.

But when you do (b), you have to trade Giannis immediately, and when you trade him, what are you hoping to get back? Draft picks? Cool, but it would sure be nice if you had your own draft picks instead of having sacrificed them to build around Giannis.

Perfectly fine to lament specifically the Turner choice, but I think there probably was no good options there for contention and this I think probably was a successful move from the perspective keeping Giannis for at least part of one more season.

Not exactly wrong, but doubling down on a move this short sighted is what's got them to this point. At a certain point you have to throw the towel in and I feel like Dame's injury was that. Hell maybe you just let Giannis know and pray he doesn't leave out of his love of Milwaukee and familiarity with the city. Owing 23 mil a year to a player on the Blazers is just not it. Hell you can even sell Giannis the "you and Dame have never both been healthy for the playoffs" dream. I mean anything but 23 in dead cap so you can get Myles Turner.

[Godymas]

Milwaukee loses last night

No Giannis

they lost to the Hornets without LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller

Milwaukee had their starters. Myles Turner, GTJ, Ryan Rollins, AJ Green, and Kuzma in place of Giannis

this team is TERRIBLE