Around The League - Bill Walton passes from cancer at 71

[JayMKE]

Kyrie is more efficient, a better ballhandler, and has a long track record of playing off the ball with ball dominant players Lebron/KD/Luka. Plus again he was WAY cheaper. Dame was supposed to be a better PG, better leader, more reliable but we didn’t get any of that guy last season. Dame one of few guys that I can remember who got less efficient with better teammates.

Ig Dame is less prone to conspiracy theories, who **** cares

How exactly are the Bucks going to put the “right” players around this core? Trading Pat Connaughton? Good luck on that

[JimmyTheKid]

I do find the "Kyrie has always been a real one" narrative and erasure of all the toxic bull **** he's done over the years to be pretty funny. For whatever reason, players and the NBA media absolutely love the dude. I just don't get it.

Pretty sure those of us who have supported finding a way to pair Giannis with Kyrie over the past 5-7 years understood the off court issues. And Kyries not really all that bad of a guy, just a kook. Its always funny to me when fans won't even consider one of the best to ever do it because non-basketball "reasons." I mean look no further than Dame. By all accounts, he's been a stand up human. That didn't stop an embarrassingly large number of Bucks fans from immediately attacking his character after a bad game, claiming he'd rather be "banging models and prostitutes" because his preferred destination was Miami, FL, USA. The internet is a wild place, man.

[fansinceforever]

Kyrie is kind of an idiot but he is a fabulous basketball player. I would definitely take him over Dame based on Age and ability to finish around the rim. Kyrie has more in his toolbox than Dame does.

Kyrie is literally the same age as Khris Middleton lol.

I don't understand how Kyrie/Luka get disparaged for having success after the roster is actually built to highlight their talents.

That's essentially the problem we have..

This is a good point though. Can't be stated enough that the Dame trade happened more than 2-months after all the coaching and offseason moves. Getting a full offseason to work and build the right complimentary players around the Dame/Giannis duo is a much bigger factor than people realize.

It's far and away the largest factor that our success next szn hinges on. The full off-season and not having a chance to gel is important but I don't want that to cloud the requirement of us acquiring different complimentary players.

Also, I was referring to the difference in age/ability b/t Dame and Kyrie.

[JayMKE]

You can’t ignore the cost it takes to acquire a player relative to another

[Ron Swanson]

How exactly are the Bucks going to put the “right” players around this core? Trading Pat Connaughton? Good luck on that

All they did was trade a bunch of negative value salary filler dudes who this very board said were "washed" (Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Richaun Holmes), the 29th pick in this garbage draft, and a future protected 1st. Funny how some of you guys keep insisting these kinds of things are impossible, yet they happen every single offseason and trade deadline.

[fansinceforever]

I'm not. I know this is the wrong thread but I think the idea that Brook/Middleton/Bobby are more valuable to us than they are to another team is flat out wrong.

We've got two of the best scorers in the NBA locked in. There's plenty of teams that feel good defensively but have no idea how they'll improve on offense.

There's a lot of players in the NBA right now that can slide their feet on defense and either run the floor and/or hit open threes.

[fansinceforever]

How exactly are the Bucks going to put the “right” players around this core? Trading Pat Connaughton? Good luck on that

All they did was trade a bunch of negative value salary filler dudes who this very board said were "washed" (Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Richaun Holmes), the 29th pick in this garbage draft, and a future protected 1st. Funny how some of you guys keep insisting these kinds of things are impossible, yet they happen every single offseason and trade deadline.

Ok, but if that deal isn't out there then we have to be open to pivoting to more valuable players. I can't think of a worse outcome than running it back.

[Brewhoopfan]

Interesting to look at the transformation of the Mavericks rotation around their stars (Kyrie and Luka):

22-23: Mavericks went 38-44 and missed the playoffs:

Reggie Bullock 23 mpg (traded in Grant Williams deal)
Dwight Powell 19 mpg (Still on roster, but not in rotation)
Tim Hardaway Jr 30 mpg (Still in rotation)
Josh Green 25 mpg (still in rotation)
Spencer Dinwiddie 34 mpg (Traded for Kyrie)
Dorrian Finney-Smith 32 mpg (Traded for Kyrie)
Maxi Kleber 25 mpg - 37 games (Still in rotation)

23-24 Playoffs

PJ Washington 36 mpg (Acquired for Seth Curry, Grant Williams, 2027 1st)
Derrick Jones Jr 31 mpg (league minimum signing - 1 yr deal)
Dereck Lively 22 mpg (Rookie 12th pick - Mavs traded back from 10 with OKC to unload Bertans)
Daniel Gafford 21 mpg (Acquired for Holmes, 2024 1st)
Maxi Kleber 20 mpg (currently injured)
Josh Green 17 mpg (Drafted by Mavs - 18th 2020)
Tim Hardaway Jr 14 mpg (in 3rd year of 4 yr/$75 million extension)

The Mavericks overhauled their roster twice since last season. They got much younger and better defensively in the frontcourt. They committed to wing defense (Jones Jr) and moved THJ down in the rotation. They hit on a contributor (Lively) in the draft. Moving on from Williams quickly was smart. This gives me hope for the Bucks: Get younger, add defense, and everyone outside of Giannis and Dame is expendable.

[chonestown]

I do find the "Kyrie has always been a real one" narrative and erasure of all the toxic bull **** he's done over the years to be pretty funny. For whatever reason, players and the NBA media absolutely love the dude. I just don't get it.

Pretty sure those of us who have supported finding a way to pair Giannis with Kyrie over the past 5-7 years understood the off court issues. And Kyries not really all that bad of a guy, just a kook. Its always funny to me when fans won't even consider one of the best to ever do it because non-basketball "reasons." I mean look no further than Dame. By all accounts, he's been a stand up human. That didn't stop an embarrassingly large number of Bucks fans from immediately attacking his character after a bad game, claiming he'd rather be "banging models and prostitutes" because his preferred destination was Miami, FL, USA. The internet is a wild place, man.

The thing with Kyrie's off-court issues is they kept him off court.

Between that and demonstrated durability concerns, Dame seemed a more solid bet.

Dude is completely electrifying when he's on. Fun to watch him cook.

[MickeyDavis]

I believe they showed the stat on air the other night that Kyrie's teams are 12-0 in elimination games he plays.

[JonHeist]

dame this year in the playoffs: 31.3/3.0/5.0 on 64% TS

kyrie this year in the playoffs: 21.8/4.1/5.3 on 59% TS

if only we had kyrie instead of dame!!!1!

Spoiler:

jrue: 12.0/5.2/4.5 on 58% TS

[jakecronus8]

OG may be leaving NY. I wish there was some way to get him.

[BUCKnation]

Kyrie also went 1-9 in the 2nd half yesterday. Narrative would be different if they don't win a close game.

[Milbucks96]

dame this year in the playoffs: 31.3/3.0/5.0 on 64% TS

kyrie this year in the playoffs: 21.8/4.1/5.3 on 59% TS

if only we had kyrie instead of dame!!!1!

Spoiler:

jrue: 12.0/5.2/4.5 on 58% TS

I think I would rather have Dame because he can reach a higher level than Kyrie plus he gets to the line.

I was curious yesterday and I noticed that Khris and Kyrie have had pretty similar postseason career stats and basically the same amount of games played. But if you asked most people, they would take Kyrie over him for a postseason run without thinking about it. I also think Khris is better than Klay but Klay is going to easily make the hof while Khris doesn’t have a chance.

[MikeIsGood]

43/48/67/50

Games played by OG the past four seasons. Availability is still the biggest worry for him IMO. Guessing he gets a ton of money, but I'll be wondering if his team ends up regretting it long-run.

[theFireBlanket]

OG may be leaving NY. I wish there was some way to get him.

He looked & sounded very noncommital in his postgame interviews on Sunday.

Re: availability, Thibodeau did play him some monstrous minutes at times.

[JimmyTheKid]

Not exactly sure why this is turning into a Kyrie vs. Dame thing. They're both Hall of Famers that would have made great pairings with Giannis.

[emunney]

Nacho Garcia, not my Garcia

Read on Twitter

[Baddy Chuck]

Nacho Garcia, not my Garcia

Read on Twitter

He also voted Bobby Portis for All-Defense. Some dudes LOVE rebounds!

[Baddy Chuck]

I don't understand how Kyrie/Luka get disparaged for having success after the roster is actually built to highlight their talents.

That's essentially the problem we have..

I threw that in at the end for exactly that point. Magical Kyrie the second fiddle mastermind Dame Lillard could only dream of being couldn't help Luka even be a playin team without the right pieces around them. They go 10-18 to finish out last season after trading for Kyrie, missing the playoffs completely, and then this season before the deadline they're sitting in the 8th spot and plummeting from an early good start until they make trades at the deadline. Hell, even this playoffs that was the case as Kyrie gets through an OKC series scoring 15 a game on 52% TS% but because guys like PJ Washington and DJJ step up they're able to knock out a "better" team. But yeah, JayMKE is right, PJ Washington's and DJJ's are never available for what we could offer.