Brutal reviews of our offseason here.
However, if Giannis happily signs the supermax and talks up how excited he is to play with Jrue (who also extends), then we still end up in a great spot.
Who’s the biggest loser of the offseason so far?
Mahoney: When Milwaukee’s plans to acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic collapsed in strange and spectacular fashion, the Bucks missed out on what could have been the most complete starting lineup in basketball. Ersan Ilyasova, meanwhile, missed out on $7 million in salary that would have been guaranteed if he was traded to the Kings, lost his job when the Bucks subsequently waived him after the deal fell through, and has yet to pick up with any other team. It’s just a brutal turn of events for a journeyman role player, all set into motion because there was either a miscommunication regarding Bogdanovic’s interest in that particular arrangement or an underestimation of the league office where some clear tampering is concerned.
Devine: The Bucks’ front office. By all means, feel free to argue that having Jrue Holiday, D.J. Augustin, Bobby Portis, Bryn Forbes, and Torrey Craig is ultimately better than having Holiday, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and a bench stuffed with minimum-salaried second-round rookies. That may prove to be right! But the “how” of that happening—what looked to be a decisive double move that suddenly fell apart once everyone realized it was blatant tampering—doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence in the brain trust behind it. Nor does the fact that the front office tried to give Pat Connaughton a two-year, $8 million deal (which, given that he was unplayable in the playoffs, is probably already too much), found out that it couldn’t construct his contract that way under league rules, and then tacked on another year and $8 million more. And considering the galactic importance of ensuring that Giannis Antetokounmpo feels confident in putting the rest of his prime in the hands of the Bucks’ decision-makers … well, the sum total of it all just doesn’t seem like a great look, I don’t think.
Uggetti: The Bucks’ front office. I need some kind of oral history or documentary short on what exactly happened with Bogdan Bogdanovic, but I fear that whatever the full explanation is, it will not make the Bucks look better. They recovered decently enough, but that return for Jrue Holiday (who will undoubtedly make them better) still looms over everything. If Giannis signs the supermax extension, then it’s all moot. If he doesn’t, well, it will be nearly impossible to recover from these last few weeks.
What was the worst move?
Tjarks: Whatever happened with the Bogdan Bogdanovic sign-and-trade with the Bucks. Who even cares if a rule was broken? How can it be tampering if the player’s original team wants the deal to go through so they can get an asset out of it? If the league stepped in, the whole thing is a terrible look. The people who are bothered about tampering should be shunned from polite society.
