2024-25 Milwaukee Bucks thread

[nate82]

4 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I keep hearing the "experts" say that Giannis is gone after this year.  I hope that doesn't happen.

I think they could trade Dame and fill in around Giannis a lot better.  They probably need to get rid of Lopez, too.

Not possible.  The pieces you will get back for Dame would probably be draft picks in the future and expiring contracts.  If you are going to trade Dame you are better off just blowing up the team and trading Giannis also.

[HarryDoyle]

6 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I keep hearing the "experts" say that Giannis is gone after this year.  I hope that doesn't happen.

I think they could trade Dame and fill in around Giannis a lot better.  They probably need to get rid of Lopez, too.

The "experts" have been saying that for years. It's just wishful thinking because they all want him in Los Angeles or New York.

[nate82]

29 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

The "experts" have been saying that for years. It's just wishful thinking because they all want him in Los Angeles or New York.

The experts are right as I don’t expect Giannis to stay if the Bucks trade Dame and even if they don’t trade Dame they are still missing a #3 scorer on the team.  Giannis and Dame are 1 and 2.  After that you don’t have anyone who is a #3 you have a bunch of 4’s and 5’s but no clear cut #3 scorer on the team.  Without Dame the Bucks have absolutely zero clutch time scorers.

In terms of future draft picks the Bucks really don’t have any of their picks until 2031 as there are a bunch of swap options from 2026-2030.  So the Bucks won’t be able to restock in the draft or make trades.  Giannis won’t stay here if the Bucks are going nowhere.  He will demand a trade.  Does that happen next year or further down the road is the real question here.  At some point the Bucks will be forced to trade Giannis.

Giannis will want out if the Bucks exit early in the playoffs.  I just don’t see him wanting to be with the Bucks if he sees there is zero chance for another championship.

[HarryDoyle]

2 hours ago, nate82 said:

The experts are right as I don’t expect Giannis to stay if the Bucks trade Dame and even if they don’t trade Dame they are still missing a #3 scorer on the team.  Giannis and Dame are 1 and 2.  After that you don’t have anyone who is a #3 you have a bunch of 4’s and 5’s but no clear cut #3 scorer on the team.  Without Dame the Bucks have absolutely zero clutch time scorers.

In terms of future draft picks the Bucks really don’t have any of their picks until 2031 as there are a bunch of swap options from 2026-2030.  So the Bucks won’t be able to restock in the draft or make trades.  Giannis won’t stay here if the Bucks are going nowhere.  He will demand a trade.  Does that happen next year or further down the road is the real question here.  At some point the Bucks will be forced to trade Giannis.

Giannis will want out if the Bucks exit early in the playoffs.  I just don’t see him wanting to be with the Bucks if he sees there is zero chance for another championship.

A big reason there is zero chance for another championship is Giannis himself, for the reasons you just listed. He makes Aaron Rodgers's GM fake GM skills look like Bill Polian.

[GAME05]

There's really nothing the Bucks can do at this point beside let it roll and cross your fingers. With Middleton and Lopez gone I guess that'll free up enough cash for a new #3, but that's not enough to drastically change things. And paying a fourth coach isn't going to happen.

I'm figuring the Lillard contract might come up before the Giannis one does, and at that point there's no choice but to trade the both of them because you've got seven years before tanking for picks becomes viable. Probably a lesson in not trading your picks and doing swaps so far out. But good news if they do hit the reset that Lillard and especially Giannis will fetch an absolute haul. OKC has probably taught the rest of the 
NBA that you can't just let your stars walk and you get nothing in return.

[Samurai Bucky]

2 hours ago, GAME05 said:

There's really nothing the Bucks can do at this point beside let it roll and cross your fingers. With Middleton and Lopez gone I guess that'll free up enough cash for a new #3, but that's not enough to drastically change things. And paying a fourth coach isn't going to happen.

I think the Bucks tried to go "All in" albeit rather poorly.  This is why I appreciate how the Brewers have managed their team.  It is a little different, but still similar in that the Brewers could ship off a bulk of their future to try and get a World Series now.

[homer]

31 minutes ago, Samurai Bucky said:

I think the Bucks tried to go "All in" albeit rather poorly.  This is why I appreciate how the Brewers have managed their team.  It is a little different, but still similar in that the Brewers could ship off a bulk of their future to try and get a World Series now.

The Bucks drafted poorly too. They kept going for ceiling when they probably should have been going for floor.

[nate82]

On 4/5/2025 at 9:05 AM, GAME05 said:

There's really nothing the Bucks can do at this point beside let it roll and cross your fingers. With Middleton and Lopez gone I guess that'll free up enough cash for a new #3, but that's not enough to drastically change things. And paying a fourth coach isn't going to happen.

There is no cap room so they would have to trade for someone to get that #3.  Also FA doesn’t have anyone that would be a solid #3.  I am not sure where they could get a #3 or if one is even available.  The Bucks are now stuck in the Kohl era where they are good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to do anything in the playoffs.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

On 4/4/2025 at 5:01 PM, HarryDoyle said:

A big reason there is zero chance for another championship is Giannis himself, for the reasons you just listed. He makes Aaron Rodgers's GM fake GM skills look like Bill Polian.

Meh. I think that's a huge stretch. Giannis has definitely played armchair GM like every other NBA megastar, but I really don't see any of his requests preventing them from winning a title. His hand-picked coach was a disaster but I really, really don't think that was a championship team regardless. I guess sticking to his boys longer than they should have, but I am just not seeing how Giannis really prevented another title. Injuries did more than anything. And yeah, I would say the core was too old to win multiple titles, but it was necessary to win the one they did, it was the right group of guys, and it's not like they didn't have 3 or 4 legitimate title shots. 

Giannis has been more than any fan could have dreamed of; I don't even like to say "blame" because I don't think there is much of anything to blame the Bucks for. They won a title, and have pretty much followed the same bell curve that most NBA champs do; you ascend, win a title or two, and then end up in the 45-win club for a couple years while your core erodes. Rarely do you get back to the mountain top. 

You can look at Denver and Jokic and already it seems unlikely they win again.

[CheezWizHed]

5 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Meh. I think that's a huge stretch. Giannis has definitely played armchair GM like every other NBA megastar...

I wonder when Giannis' kids will be draftable? 🤔

On a positive note, Bobby should be back tonight.  Hopefully Dame is back for the playoffs and well rested. 

All I ask is that everyone stay healthy and available for the playoffs for once... If we lose, lose with everyone.  Just sucks to keep losing with key people out. 

[Joseph Zarr]

The Nuggest firing both HC Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth on April 8th is wild. That is all.

[adambr2]

So what’s a realistic “goal” for the playoffs? Win the 1st round matchup with Indiana and at least have competitive games with Cleveland?

[adambr2]

Haven’t looked it up but pretty sure the Bucks are about to pull one of the biggest 4th quarter comebacks in NBA history. They were down 24 with 10 minutes left and are going to win.

[homer]

5 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Haven’t looked it up but pretty sure the Bucks are about to pull one of the biggest 4th quarter comebacks in NBA history. They were down 24 with 10 minutes left and are going to win.

win by 7....that's insane

 

Kevin Porter Jr has been an absolute steal 

[homer]

when I was a little guy, the Bucks came back from 9 down with 30 seconds to go. I think it was against the Suns.

[Brian]

12 hours ago, homer said:

win by 7....that's insane

 

Kevin Porter Jr has been an absolute steal 

He is so high energy and exactly what the Bucks need now. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

13 hours ago, adambr2 said:

So what’s a realistic “goal” for the playoffs? Win the 1st round matchup with Indiana and at least have competitive games with Cleveland?

Pretty much. Winning a series. They have Giannis, and it's not like they don't compete with some of the best teams, so I think even beating Cleveland is within the realm of possibilities, but I'd put it at like 5%.

[adambr2]

23 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Pretty much. Winning a series. They have Giannis, and it's not like they don't compete with some of the best teams, so I think even beating Cleveland is within the realm of possibilities, but I'd put it at like 5%.

Even to get to that 5% I think you have to have Dame back. I haven’t heard much lately but I know the thought was that he’s hopefully not lost for the season. There’s no point in having him try to play any more regular season games, though.

[adambr2]

Which I thought was strange because Victor Wembanyana had the same blood clot condition before Dame and they pretty much announced immediately that he was done for the season, 

But I’m no doctor so just assuming there must be different degrees of severity of what the two have.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

DVT is similar to nerve issues in that it's going to vary drastically from person to person as to how long somebody is on the shelf.

[homer]

Some notes from last nights' game:

- After trailing 95-71 with less than 10 minutes left, Milwaukee scored 23 straight points and eventually tied it 97-all on AJ Green’s 3-pointer with 3:36 left.

- The Bucks scored 23 points in 4 minutes and 58 seconds. (They had 71 points at the 10:09 mark and scored their 94th point with 5:07 left).

- Milwaukee outscored Minnesota 39-8 over the last 10 minutes.

- It was the Bucks' biggest fourth-quarter comeback since at least 1996-97, when the NBA began tracking play-by-play data.

- The Bucks had lost the last 276 regular-season or playoff games in which they had fallen behind by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter.

[CheezWizHed]

2 hours ago, adambr2 said:

Which I thought was strange because Victor Wembanyana had the same blood clot condition before Dame and they pretty much announced immediately that he was done for the season, 

But I’m no doctor so just assuming there must be different degrees of severity of what the two have.

Also, the Spurs are out of the playoffs, so why even risk it with your young star?  

[CheezWizHed]

1 hour ago, homer said:

Some notes from last nights' game:

- After trailing 95-71 with less than 10 minutes left, Milwaukee scored 23 straight points and eventually tied it 97-all on AJ Green’s 3-pointer with 3:36 left.

- The Bucks scored 23 points in 4 minutes and 58 seconds. (They had 71 points at the 10:09 mark and scored their 94th point with 5:07 left).

- Milwaukee outscored Minnesota 39-8 over the last 10 minutes.

- It was the Bucks' biggest fourth-quarter comeback since at least 1996-97, when the NBA began tracking play-by-play data.

- The Bucks had lost the last 276 regular-season or playoff games in which they had fallen behind by at least 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Not only did I catch the game summary which showed most of the comeback, but I got to watch the MN news highlights and the Timberwolves side bemoaning the loss. #shadenfruede 😏

[Joseph Zarr]

In Honor of Connaughton's career day, I broke out an old relic to hang back in the welcome farmhouse hallway. Gotta honor that type of performance. Man I loved those Mecca floor jerseys. Nostalgic x 10.

 

[LouisEly]

Almost as nostalgic as that wood paneling!