Bucks News, Trade Ideas, Transactions - OFF SEASON EDITION

[giannis and 1]

The trade would be Bledsoe, Ilyasova, Rolo, Wilson. The others would leave via free agency. Rest of the roster would be filled with minimum contracts like the Lakers did.

Bledsoe and Hill have never been more valuable in the playoffs than CP3. CP3, even when he is not 100% brings more than these two. Bledsoe is such just awful in the playoffs, I can't stress this enough.

I think you are mistaking "short sighted" with "risky". And I agree there is risk attached to this, but please tell me a player we can realistically acquire that moves the needle as much as him.

That trade is not realistic IMO. Even if it was, I'd rather trade Bledsoe and filler for someone whose salary won't make them lose the MLE. The MLE will be crucial this offseason because salaries will be deflated. It will probably be the best season for contenders to have the MLE at their disposal in NBA history due to the financial fallout of the pandemic affecting free agent contracts. The Bucks have proven to be a desirable spot for ring-chasers in recent seasons.

Hill was definitely more valuable in the playoffs than CP3 in 2019. Do you realize how bad CP3 was? The rest of his career is much more likely to be like that than like last season. Meanwhile, other than a couple Toronto scrubs who played only garbage minutes in the blowouts, Hill had the best net rating in their entire ECF - even better than Giannis or Kawhi.

It's more than just "risky". Every big move is risky. The difference is that CP3 is a poorly calculated risk, which is what makes it short-sighted. He is older than Payton was when the Bucks traded for him, and with a much more extensive injury history.

Can't say I agree that Paul's 1 season where he wasn't that good in the playoffs (2019) is more indicative of what he will be like for the next couple seasons when he has been very good every year outside of that one season, especially his most recent season (2020).

The thing about CP3 is that he adds a floor general with an elite iq and mind for the game that has the impact of helping us play better offensive basketball. That, and I want Giannis learning how to be a better leader from CP3.

[bucksfansince88]

Oladipo is on another planet than Donte y’all trippin

Not last season.

Oladipo can get you 20-25 a night in our offense playing with Giannis, Donte is not on that level yet offensively

[ReasonablySober]

Oladipo is on another planet than Donte y’all trippin

Not last season.

Oladipo can get you 20-25 a night in our offense playing with Giannis, Donte is not on that level yet offensively

Sure, a couple years ago you could say that with confidence. He didn't score 20 once last season. Donte was better.

[Frank Nova]

I saw something about applying for Leuers salary to come off the cap? How much extra flexibility does that give us?

[RiotPunch]

I saw something about applying for Leuers salary to come off the cap? How much extra flexibility does that give us?

Saw that too.

Read on Twitter

Leuer has ~$3.2M dead money on the books for next season. Would be tight to get that cleared and waive Ersan to get ~$10.2M in total off the ledger.

[Plossum]

Haha we’re still paying Larry all these years later.

[giannis and 1]

I saw something about applying for Leuers salary to come off the cap? How much extra flexibility does that give us?

Saw that too.

Read on Twitter

Leuer has ~$3.2M dead money on the books for next season. Would be tight to get that cleared and waive Ersan to get ~$10.2M in total off the ledger.

That would be solid

[coolhandluke121]

Can't say I agree that Paul's 1 season where he wasn't that good in the playoffs (2019) is more indicative of what he will be like for the next couple seasons when he has been very good every year outside of that one season, especially his most recent season (2020).

It's the reason he was worse that should bother you. Age and injury. Strictly based on odds, he's very likely to have his worst two seasons coming up. Worse than 2019 even.

Oladipo and Bogdan are much more sensible targets right now.

[DingleJerry]

Think if they hadn't picked up DJ too.

[giannis and 1]

Can't say I agree that Paul's 1 season where he wasn't that good in the playoffs (2019) is more indicative of what he will be like for the next couple seasons when he has been very good every year outside of that one season, especially his most recent season (2020).

It's the reason he was worse that should bother you. Age and injury. Strictly based on odds, he's very likely to have his worst two seasons coming up. Worse than 2019 even.

Oladipo and Bogdan are much more sensible targets right now.

Oladipo's injury issues are much more concerning than Paul's. CP3 came back from his injury and played at an elite level, Oladipo came back from a significantly worse injury than anything CP3 has had and looked like a shell of his former self. I would be interested in Oladipo, but not if costs more than Bledsoe and #24 or something.

Also, if we get either of those 2 (ideally Bogdanovic), we would still need an upgrade at pg. Who would you target as a pg?

[Chuck Diesel]

Think if they hadn't picked up DJ too.

Yep. Every transaction matters.

[Daver]

Can't say I agree that Paul's 1 season where he wasn't that good in the playoffs (2019) is more indicative of what he will be like for the next couple seasons when he has been very good every year outside of that one season, especially his most recent season (2020).

It's the reason he was worse that should bother you. Age and injury. Strictly based on odds, he's very likely to have his worst two seasons coming up. Worse than 2019 even.

Oladipo and Bogdan are much more sensible targets right now.

Oladipo's injury issues are much more concerning than Paul's. CP3 came back from his injury and played at an elite level, Oladipo came back from a significantly worse injury than anything CP3 has had and looked like a shell of his former self. I would be interested in Oladipo, but not if costs more than Bledsoe and #24 or something.

Also, if we get either of those 2 (ideally Bogdanovic), we would still need an upgrade at pg. Who would you target as a pg?

Would you be happy with DJ augustine or someone like that

[jakecronus8]

I saw something about applying for Leuers salary to come off the cap? How much extra flexibility does that give us?

Saw that too.

Read on Twitter

Leuer has ~$3.2M dead money on the books for next season. Would be tight to get that cleared and waive Ersan to get ~$10.2M in total off the ledger.

That would be solid

They wouldn’t be under the cap so it wouldn’t matter. Keeping Ersan as salary filler is the only way to go.

[raferfenix]

Bledsoe’s poor performance vs the Raptors last year likely won’t endear him to the Pacers’ new coach, however, his locked in salary and health the past few seasons might be enticing as opposed to a disgruntled Oladipo chasing a huge contract.

Let’s say we could get Dipo just for Bledsoe and #24, our roster could look like:

PG: George Hill
SG: Oladipo, Donte
SF: Middleton, Thanasis
PF: Giannis, Ersan (if we enact his team option)
C: BroLo, RoLo (if he enacts his player option)

We’d need help in the backcourt and at backup SF even if we bring back Wes and / or Pat.

Ersan most likely is out due to cap reasons...but if we can’t bring in an upgrade maybe we keep him to go for it.

Either way we’d need some savvy signings to fill out the roster.

If Donte is ready to step in to a big role we should be good. If he’s not though and / or if Hill is cooked then losing Bledsoe could hurt a lot more than we wish it would.

[RiotPunch]

Saw that too.

Read on Twitter

Leuer has ~$3.2M dead money on the books for next season. Would be tight to get that cleared and waive Ersan to get ~$10.2M in total off the ledger.

That would be solid

They wouldn’t be under the cap so it wouldn’t matter. Keeping Ersan as salary filler is the only way to go.

Oh, it definitely matters in terms of maneuvering to still have access to the MLE after making trades. Obviously using Ersan as a trade piece is necessary in some deals, but if we are taking back more salary than we are sending out, every penny matters to make the most of FA.

[coolhandluke121]

Also, if we get either of those 2 (ideally Bogdanovic), we would still need an upgrade at pg. Who would you target as a pg?

I don't think they need a true pg so much as they need better passing and play-making and shooting. They've been the best regular season team in the league for 2 years straight but one of their biggest issues has been that Bledsoe can't shoot. The Bucks don't have to solve all their problems to win a title. They don't need the ideal pg to make a dramatic improvement. They just need to shoot better and be more skilled/careful with the ball. There are many ways to go about improving the offense. If they get good playmaking at SG, I would be totally fine with Hill, DDV, and Frank Mason at PG.

I would love to get Conley or Lowry or Kemba. I would take Augustin on the cheap in free agency to platoon him with Hill. I would also love to get Jordan Clarkson to play 30 mpg off the bench and start Hill but only play him 20. Just get guys who can shoot better than Bledsoe, and that will also open up more play-making off the dribble.

I would be terrified if they got CP3 because of the contract, age, and injuries, but of course I would just pray it works out for the best.

[coolhandluke121]

They wouldn’t be under the cap so it wouldn’t matter. Keeping Ersan as salary filler is the only way to go.

Oh, it definitely matters in terms of maneuvering to still have access to the MLE after making trades. Obviously using Ersan as a trade piece is necessary in some deals, but if we are taking back more salary than we are sending out, every penny matters to make the most of FA.

Beat me to it. I personally think the MLE is the most important asset the Bucks have this off-season. I just hope the ring-chasers didn't sour on them because of their weird limp-dick performance in the bubble. I think they waive Ersan right away with hardly a second thought. The MLE is going to be more flexible than the trade market and very few free agents are going to be able to command more than that. I think Bledsoe's salary, with maybe DJ and/or RoLo as filler, is about as high as they go for matching salaries in trades. That's why we're going to keep hearing about Bogdan and Oladipo, among others.

[DrWood]

Bledsoe’s poor performance vs the Raptors last year likely won’t endear him to the Pacers’ new coach, however, his locked in salary and health the past few seasons might be enticing as opposed to a disgruntled Oladipo chasing a huge contract.

Let’s say we could get Dipo just for Bledsoe and #24, our roster could look like:

PG: George Hill
SG: Oladipo, Donte
SF: Middleton, Thanasis
PF: Giannis, Ersan (if we enact his team option)
C: BroLo, RoLo (if he enacts his player option)

We’d need help in the backcourt and at backup SF even if we bring back Wes and / or Pat.

Ersan most likely is out due to cap reasons...but if we can’t bring in an upgrade maybe we keep him to go for it.

Either way we’d need some savvy signings to fill out the roster.

If Donte is ready to step in to a big role we should be good. If he’s not though and / or if Hill is cooked then losing Bledsoe could hurt a lot more than we wish it would.

If you want to make us worse now and in the future, sure.

[mke_design]

It's the reason he was worse that should bother you. Age and injury. Strictly based on odds, he's very likely to have his worst two seasons coming up. Worse than 2019 even.

Oladipo and Bogdan are much more sensible targets right now.

Oladipo's injury issues are much more concerning than Paul's. CP3 came back from his injury and played at an elite level, Oladipo came back from a significantly worse injury than anything CP3 has had and looked like a shell of his former self. I would be interested in Oladipo, but not if costs more than Bledsoe and #24 or something.

Also, if we get either of those 2 (ideally Bogdanovic), we would still need an upgrade at pg. Who would you target as a pg?

Would you be happy with DJ augustine or someone like that

1000% yes

[James1980]

Jordan Clarkson would be nice, how much will he get, full MLE?