2024-25 Milwaukee Bucks thread

[Samurai Bucky]

Isn't the new owner the same guy who owns the Colts?  That should be enough bad mojo right there 😉

[HarryDoyle]

4 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

Isn't the new owner the same guy who owns the Colts?  That should be enough bad mojo right there 😉

Jimmy Haslam also owns the Browns, which is even worse. It's no coincidence that the downturn commenced once he bought part ownership.

[young guns]

Bucks finally showing some signs of life here in the third.

[CheezWizHed]

These announcers are morons.... 

"If he hadn't hit him up top, they couldn't challenged the call"

"Teams in the playoffs are 0-57 when going down 0-3 in a series. SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE IS A CHANCE?"

• Um, no... 0-57 is 0%...

 

[young guns]

Where has this Gary Trent been this series.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Doc Rivers, coach of the year?

[CheezWizHed]

I was excited when the Bucks traded for Lillard, but he looks just like a bad fit.  Given what the Bucks are doing tonight with Lillard on the bench... I think a trade in the offseason needs to happen. 

[CheezWizHed]

Well at least they found a little something in the second half there.  Hopefully they can show that fire without needing GTJ's heroics each night. At least we are getting more out of Jr than we got out of Sr. 

[Samurai Bucky]

11 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Doc Rivers, coach of the year?

It seemed like there was a much better game plan on the defensive side of the court.  I think Gary Trent, Jr. was like, "I have to do something different.  I'm glad it worked out."  I noticed in the first two games that the Pacers would always be in the face and somewhat "handsy" on the ball.  The Bucks did more of that last night which contributed to the success.

There were a few plays early on that some crews would have called against the Bucks.  I think it was a perfect storm of home court, having a better defensive plan, players keeping their heads in the game, and how the officials called the game.  Each crew calls things differently, so we will see what happens.

[adambr2]

So much for Dame returning helping us in any way.  He may have torn his Achilles. Being a fan of this team sure is fun.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Can't trade Dame and can't play him for a year. Lovely. 

[adambr2]

Didn’t we win that useless NBA cup thing a few months ago? At least there’s that.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Yes and it's the only thing we've won since 2021 and the last thing we will, so I'm going to enjoy it. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Time to take the Bucks out back. Extra sleep is more important than this. I don't think the Bucks were going to win another title with Giannis, but an ACL for Dame completely slams that door shut, more so because they can't get rid of him now. 

[adambr2]

10 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Time to take the Bucks out back. Extra sleep is more important than this. I don't think the Bucks were going to win another title with Giannis, but an ACL for Dame completely slams that door shut, more so because they can't get rid of him now. 

I haven’t heard ACL. I heard Achilles.

[adambr2]

No Lillard for the foreseeable future means downgrade the Bucks from a 5/6 seed to a play-in tournament team indefinitely.

The fall has been swift. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Yeah you're correct 

[adambr2]

Taking last shot with too much time for it to be last shot and giving up last shot on the other end instead is a perfect way to end that quarter.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I didn't run any tests on Dame but I have injured my achilles back when I was actually athletic. I do wonder if the race to get back from DVT + the conditioning setback that would cause, was causing overcompensation issues and ultimately led to this. Pretty dumb considering they were probably losing this series either way.

[Joseph Zarr]

This is going to come across as overly negative, which it is 😅, but I'm not complaining. I'm at peace with the state of the Bucks because Khash, Giannis, and Jrue willed us to an improbable Championship.

The Bucks traded for 'The Kooz' in the manner they did (laughable in retrospect) and are paying three head coaches - two of which are unemployed - with the most cashola going to Doctor 'Glenn' Rivers. This demise certainly isn't rocket science. The Bucks organization truly doesn't deserve Giannis any longer.

And why not extend the 'Yes' Man GM while we're at it while the meddling ownership gets their ongoing free pass for consistently making bafflingly poor decisions. They are the very definition of an organization taking one step forward to take two steps back.

They have no clear vision. They consistently shoot themselves in the foot. Their current HC would struggle to make glaringly obvious line up adjustments in a YMCA League. They just aren't relevant. I think it's fair to say they would need 7 games vs the Pistons and the Magic - with or without Dame who despite his truly unfortunate injury has never been the player we all wanted him to be as a Buck. I don't begrudge the Dame move whatsoever. Unfortunately, that bold maneuver just didn't work out.

Anywho, hopefully 'The Doctor' gets bold Game 5 and has Prince pick up Hali full court from the jump!

🫠

[owbc]

3 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

This is going to come across as overly negative, which it is 😅, but I'm not complaining. I'm at peace with the state of the Bucks because Khash, Giannis, and Jrue willed us to an improbable Championship.

The Bucks traded for 'The Kooz' in the manner they did (laughable in retrospect) and are paying three head coaches - two of which are unemployed - with the most cashola going to Doctor 'Glenn' Rivers. This demise certainly isn't rocket science. The Bucks organization truly doesn't deserve Giannis any longer.

And why not extend the 'Yes' Man GM while we're at it while the meddling ownership gets their ongoing free pass for consistently making bafflingly poor decisions. They are the very definition of an organization taking one step forward to take two steps back.

They have no clear vision. They consistently shoot themselves in the foot. Their current HC would struggle to make glaringly obvious line up adjustments in a YMCA League. They just aren't relevant. I think it's fair to say they would need 7 games vs the Pistons and the Magic - with or without Dame who despite his truly unfortunate injury has never been the player we all wanted him to be as a Buck. I don't begrudge the Dame move whatsoever. Unfortunately, that bold maneuver just didn't work out.

Anywho, hopefully 'The Doctor' gets bold Game 5 and has Prince pick up Hali full court from the jump!

🫠

Yeah it’s hard to disagree with any of this. At the end of the day they got the ‘ship and then made a bunch of failed desperation moves to get another and got nowhere close. Blow it up and start over. 

[Matt Breen]

Well, Dame's injury sure is harsh. The average NBA player takes 10 months to recover from an ACL injury. Could it be earlier? Sure, but no promises. And it could be a full year or more. 

Bucks looks a bit rough for 2025-26 season. I'm guessing Portis doesn't pick up his option. Same with Porter. Both can probably get more as free agents. Connaughton will return (dude isn't going to get $9m on the open market). Lopez, Prince and Trent are a FAs. 

Giannis, Kuzma, and a bunch of lesser guys (Rollins, Green, Jackson, Smith, Livingstone, Pat C.) looks pretty mediocre. They are under the cap by $15-16m or so. But they only have seven guys under contract (not counting Lilliard's spot). If they bring back Portis and Lopez that would eat up any cap room. And you'd - again - have a bunch of minimum salary guys. 

I guess the big question is does Giannis want to come back with that? 

I'm guessing the club will go to him and present a vision of some sort - and see if he wants to be a part of it.  What that vision is - who knows. 

With all the swaps and trades the past years, the Bucks have little incentive to tank. 

Perhaps offer him a 'soft' sort of reboot. Let the old guard go. Portis, Lopez, everyone. Add a player or two at lower costs who can help - perhaps take some risks with who those guys are. Roll the dice. 

It probably means a minimum of one year of mediocrity - but it could be more. Who knows. Without high picks, it's hard to improve. 

Otherwise, Giannis may just say, "Do what's best for the club" or "Yes, deal me." They then get a list of teams he likes, and start the process of looking. That would be hard to hear - but I'd understand it for both parties. 

Will be an interesting off season.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Honestly, I might have more fun rooting for Giannis on a contender than I would watching him lead the Bucks to 44 wins. As long it's not like Indiana, LA or Miami, I'm fine with it.

[LouisEly]

The NBA is designed to prevent dynasties.  The draft, the salary cap, free agency... all designed to rotate who is at the top.  If anybody but Boston wins it will be seven seasons in a row with a different champion than the prior season. 

Jokic has won the MVP 3 of the last four seasons but Denver only has one championship to show for it (and that was the year he didn't win the MVP).  Lakers had LeBron and Anthony Davis and only won one.  OKC had Durant, Westbrook, and Harden and they didn't win a single one.  The Golden State Warriors of the 2010's are the exception, not the rule.

[BrewerFan]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

The NBA is designed to prevent dynasties.  The draft, the salary cap, free agency... all designed to rotate who is at the top.  If anybody but Boston wins it will be seven seasons in a row with a different champion than the prior season. 

Jokic has won the MVP 3 of the last four seasons but Denver only has one championship to show for it (and that was the year he didn't win the MVP).  Lakers had LeBron and Anthony Davis and only won one.  OKC had Durant, Westbrook, and Harden and they didn't win a single one.  The Golden State Warriors of the 2010's are the exception, not the rule.

Yeah...this is a bit of a gut punch because there was a world where...MAYBE...with the room you have after getting under the 2nd apron, you could build a better supporting cast around Giannis and Dame...but now even that very slim shot is gone.

Golden State won because of Steph for two reasons, the contract that allowed them to sign Durant and...well, he's Steph.

There is a universe in which the Bucks had a dynasty and win 3-4 chips and that's the Bucks make the trade for a young, unproven and injured Steph instead of Ellis and then still draft Giannis that off-season...and the two grow up together. You don't have to trade for Bledsoe, you DO trade for Jrue, but you don't need to move on from him.

You don't keep making one short sighted move after another...which I was fine with at the time because it was about getting that one ring and then it felt like Dame and Giannis was the perfect match in the world.