2023-24 Bucks Season Thread

[nate82]

Hearing possible Harden to the Bucks scenarios.  This would put the Bucks well over the 2nd apron.

Not sure the sources are credible though.

[patrickgpe]

So basically the bucks window is 2 years. Holiday has an option after next season but then Giannis, Middleton and Lopez are all free agents together. 

[patrickgpe]

9 minutes ago, nate82 said:

Hearing possible Harden to the Bucks scenarios.  This would put the Bucks well over the 2nd apron.

Not sure the sources are credible though.

I don’t see it nor do I want it. Bucks need to get a bunch of role players like Portis / Connaughton rather than someone like harden. They have 6 players on their roster, they need to fill that out. 

[nate82]

3 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

I don’t see it nor do I want it. Bucks need to get a bunch of role players like Portis / Connaughton rather than someone like harden. They have 6 players on their roster, they need to fill that out. 

It would be a backup plan for the 76ers missing out on Lillard.  Would be Jrue, Connaughton and a pick swap for Harden.

[patrickgpe]

17 minutes ago, nate82 said:

It would be a backup plan for the 76ers missing out on Lillard.  Would be Jrue, Connaughton and a pick swap for Harden.

Still wouldn’t do it, rather have Holiday and connaughton 

[HarryDoyle]

I'm not interested in a player who never shows up when the stakes are highest.

[nate82]

8 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

Still wouldn’t do it, rather have Holiday and connaughton 

Not my idea just some info I was passed along.  They did call out the Holiday trade before it happened so maybe there is some truth to this but they told me this before Lopez signed.  I don't think this will happen now that Lopez is back on the team and it doesn't look like the Bucks are going to be able to add anyone else other than some veteran and league minimum contracts. 

They did say the Bucks had no chance in resigning Carter due to the amount of money he was being offered and there was very little interest in bringing Ingles back as he was mostly a Bud player.  There is very serious interest in bringing in Wood but that was plan B if Lopez didn't resign.  The Bucks have also tried to get Bogdanovic to please Giannis but have been turned down by the Hawks. 

There is a fear that this is the last run with Giannis as he is up for a contract renegotiation for an extension this fall.  The fear is that Giannis will not extend his contract with the Bucks and will not open up negotiations this fall putting the Bucks in a delicate situation in the next two off seasons. 

[LouisEly]

I would never have guessed that Tacko Fall and Jabari Parker were born in the same year.

 

[sveumrules]

A combination of Bobby plus one of Pat/Grayson gets you to around $20M in salary.

Some guards in that price range if they wanted to try and consolidate would be Collin Sexton, Norman Powell, Terry Rozier or Buddy Hield. 

[nate82]

3 hours ago, sveumrules said:

A combination of Bobby plus one of Pat/Grayson gets you to around $20M in salary.

Some guards in that price range if they wanted to try and consolidate would be Collin Sexton, Norman Powell, Terry Rozier or Buddy Hield. 

Everyone but Terry Rozier I would be fine with.  The Bucks have been interested in Sexton but Utah hasn't really made him available yet.  I don't think Portis and Pat/Grayson would really excite the Jazz all that much.  Would need to throw in a pick and I am not sure the Bucks are willing to do that or if the Jazz would even like the Bucks pick. 

[Matt Breen]

6 hours ago, sveumrules said:

A combination of Bobby plus one of Pat/Grayson gets you to around $20M in salary.

Some guards in that price range if they wanted to try and consolidate would be Collin Sexton, Norman Powell, Terry Rozier or Buddy Hield. 

I think Hield would be perfect for this team. But that probably means - to get there financially - giving up Portis and one of Pat/Grayson. 

Or both Pat/Grayson would get you there as well financially as well.

Bobby makes $11.8m, Pat makes $9.4m and Grayson makes $8.9m.

Hield makes $19.3m.

Of course, it all only works if Indiana would do anything like this.

[Matt Breen]

On 7/1/2023 at 2:50 PM, patrickgpe said:

So basically the bucks window is 2 years. Holiday has an option after next season but then Giannis, Middleton and Lopez are all free agents together. 

Yep. That's my take. Two years to make it happen. 

 

 

[patrickgpe]

Robin Lopez has resigned. I didn’t see the financials but would imagine 1 year at the minimum 

[Matt Breen]

1 hour ago, patrickgpe said:

Robin Lopez has resigned. I didn’t see the financials but would imagine 1 year at the minimum 

Yeah, that's got to be it. I read that Crowder has re-signed - no details. But let's say he gets $4-5m. That means the team pretty much has no money other than minimum salaries to offer. Oh well, such is life. Let's get the band back together for another run. I hope Crowder is re-energized after missing most of last year. Sucks to lose Ingels and Carter - especially the latter. He will be missed. Unless we clear some salary, we are likely stuck with a minimum wage guy as backup point guard.

[young guns]

Interesting with crowder.  I wonder if that's a situation where he's only back because buds gone.

[patrickgpe]

1 hour ago, reillymcshane said:

Yeah, that's got to be it. I read that Crowder has re-signed - no details. But let's say he gets $4-5m. That means the team pretty much has no money other than minimum salaries to offer. Oh well, such is life. Let's get the band back together for another run. I hope Crowder is re-energized after missing most of last year. Sucks to lose Ingels and Carter - especially the latter. He will be missed. Unless we clear some salary, we are likely stuck with a minimum wage guy as backup point guard.

I wonder (think) crowder got the taxpayer mid level exception which is 5 million so they really are done minus minimum contracts to fill out the roster. Maybe that’s why they brought in some older guys to their summer team as a try out 

[Matt Breen]

Bucks just added Malik Beasley. Minimum wage deal. Might mean Allen is going to be dealt. They seem redundant pieces.

bailey is a nice shooter. I’m wondering if he has been promised a chance to light things up for a good team. Nice way to set him up for a future contract.

[nate82]

The Bucks are done unless they get a trade they like but I don't believe they will sign anyone of significance in FA.  Even before Middleton and Lopez resigned there wasn't going to be much room for a FA signing.  This is basically the last run with Giannis. 

[patrickgpe]

Beasley is a nice signing, I agree doesn’t seem to make sense to have Allen and Malik on the team. Bucks need to be creative to fill out their roster due to their cap situation 

[adambr2]

Bucks couldn't really do anything else other than run it back with their core, so keeping it together with Middleton and Lopez was the correct choice. 

As others have said I think there's a 2 year window here to try to win another ship and then the Bucks are in for some very lean rebuilding years. They will attempt to keep Giannis of course, but I think his mind is all but made up to play out his contract here and then take his talents elsewhere for a change. 

[patrickgpe]

2 hours ago, young guns said:

Interesting with crowder.  I wonder if that's a situation where he's only back because buds gone.

Probably a big part of it 

[BrewerFan]

On 7/1/2023 at 3:15 PM, patrickgpe said:

Still wouldn’t do it, rather have Holiday and connaughton 

The only reason I'd really want to trade Jrue would be for an upgrade as he's been pretty clear he's done in 2 years(maybe 1 more year). I don't see Harden being that upgrade.

He may put up points and assist totals, but I just don't think he's a great player at this stage(or even a real #2 star). 

Beal had his warts, but he was about as good as we could have done...he chose Pho. 

25-26 we should have a ton of cap room and it's a huge FA class(though again, always is 2 years out). Giannis will have to do some planning and banana-boating if he wants to have success here long term-as in after the next 2 years. Or the Bucks will have to get exceptionally lucky. Beauchamp, Livingston, both could be stars. Not all that likely either one became a #2 on a Title caliber team, but we'll see. 

[BrewerFan]

On 7/2/2023 at 12:13 AM, nate82 said:

Not my idea just some info I was passed along.  They did call out the Holiday trade before it happened so maybe there is some truth to this but they told me this before Lopez signed.  I don't think this will happen now that Lopez is back on the team and it doesn't look like the Bucks are going to be able to add anyone else other than some veteran and league minimum contracts. 

They did say the Bucks had no chance in resigning Carter due to the amount of money he was being offered and there was very little interest in bringing Ingles back as he was mostly a Bud player.  There is very serious interest in bringing in Wood but that was plan B if Lopez didn't resign.  The Bucks have also tried to get Bogdanovic to please Giannis but have been turned down by the Hawks. 

There is a fear that this is the last run with Giannis as he is up for a contract renegotiation for an extension this fall.  The fear is that Giannis will not extend his contract with the Bucks and will not open up negotiations this fall putting the Bucks in a delicate situation in the next two off seasons. 

I'm exceptionally skeptical about a Harden trade. That the Bucks would even look into it. Harden has a no-trade clause and expects a max contract. It makes very little sense from the Bucks standpoint and it makes absolutely no sense from the Sixers. They're holding off on giving Maxey an extension so they have room to add a max deal next year in Free Agency(even with a 13M cap hold for Maxey they should have ~70M in cap space)...so why trade for Jrue and lose that ability to sign a player before they give Maxey a max level extension?

It'd undermine everything they've done...unless Jrue opts out, but you'd have to be hoping he does. I'd imagine they'd be targeting Siakam, Hield and then once they sign them, give Maxey his deal. They're in a position the Bucks are hoping to be in 2 years from now.

As for Giannis, It'd be more surprising if Giannis signed now than if he didn't. Giannis JUST made a social media post that his career in Milwaukee is "half over" and how much he still wants to do here. He's halfway through his deal...it seems premature to worry about his next deal. Make the right moves and decisions and there's no indication Giannis won't stick around.

 

 

And Lopez has yet to sign. The Bucks can still make trades, combine salaries, take on more money than they send out. These are all just agreed upon deals...I don't think I see them making a deal, but if the Pacers wanna send Buddy Hield to use for Allen and Connaughton...I'd be game. I wonder if they'd use Portis though? If they perhaps kept Crowder, added Robin Lopez for the purpose? I think it'd be a bad idea to do that to Portis after all he's done to stay in Milwaukee, but Hield is the ideal fit on this team, but it also feels like Indiana wants to keep their options open next year(hence Browns 2 year 45M deal that has a TO for year 2).

[Matt Breen]

Unless we make a trade, I'm guessing the roster looks something like this: 

PF - Giannis A.
SF - Middleton
C - B. Lopez
PG - Holiday
SG - Allen

PF - Crowder
SF - Pat C.
C/F - Portis
C - R. Lopez
SG - Beasley
PG - TBD
F - Beauchamp

SF - Thanasis A.
G - A. Jackson (rookie)
F - C. Livingston (rookie)

This is 14 players (once they add a reserve point). They may leave the last spot vacant. Or maybe use a veteran like Matthews. I'm also predicting Thanasis is brought back for a minimum deal. 

Main thing needed is a reserve point guard. Not a lot out there for minimum wage. 

[BrewerFan]

On 7/3/2023 at 6:48 PM, nate82 said:

The Bucks are done unless they get a trade they like but I don't believe they will sign anyone of significance in FA.  Even before Middleton and Lopez resigned there wasn't going to be much room for a FA signing.  This is basically the last run with Giannis. 

Surely you mean Middleton and Lopez' last run with Giannis(and even Jrue), right?

In 2 years, the Bucks will have a ton of cap room and who knows what they'll have in Livingston, Marjon, Jackson and whomever they take in the 1st next year.

The Cap holds will be small and could easily be renounced outside their top players. They'll have Giannis at ~51, Marjon at 4.5, Jackson and Livingston at 2M each. All that cap space, the MLE that could be ~15M a year, Bi--Annual. And then  Portis at ~13, Middleton at 36, Connaughton at ~9 Player options and those are valuable in and of themselves if they're looking to trade to acquire players as they're all expiring. Add another young 1st round pick next year, and they'll have a massive amount of roster flexibility in 2 years. And remember, Bradley Beal was basically a salary dump. Who knows what players will be salary dumbs by that point wile also being 

The next 2 years(or 3)....could well be the end of the Giannis era. He'll also be 30 years old with what should be a lot of good basketball left in him. A defensive first player like Jackson who's an outstanding passer, a long wing like Majon who can defend and hopefully score, a total X-Factor like Livingston who has star potential(and also the potential to be out of the league by then)...it may be a very appealing place for players requesting trades or who are FAs. Maybe Brandon Ingram and Jamal Murray find that appealing or Lauri Markkanen, Myles Turner, OG Anunoby and Derrick White.

Maybe it'll be players who break out in the next 2 years. Maybe it'll be one of a dozen veterans who want or are demanding trades and we actually have assets to acquire them.

Trade flexibility, ample salary cap space, all the other avenues to add players available to them, draft picks available. Giannis is an appealing player to play with and he'd still be right in his prime.

But I'll just enjoy the next two years and I'm certainly not worried about this being "Last run" with a guy who's never given any indication he want to leave Milwaukee.