2025-26 Milwaukee Bucks / NBA Thread

[GAME05]

He's said he loves Milwaukee and that he wants to pay for a contender. Nothing wrong with that.

Ownership doesn't want to be the villains in booting Milwaukee's favorite player, so their out is "He didn't sign an extension so he had to go." And Giannis doesn't want to burn his bridge here, so he can say "I wanted to stay but they traded me." This is all just establishing the best possible PR for the inevitable trade. Sure would've loved to see him play his whole career in Milwaukee, but it makes sense as it is.

[patrickgpe]

deleted, just started a NBA draft thread.

[nate82]

Apparently it was and wasn’t Doc’s fault?

Looks like Giannis was the ones pulling the strings here.  Always being late for things and not being fined.  If Giannis isn’t the one pulling the strings then it looks like the Bucks are scared to offend him or to hold him responsible for anything.  

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7282223/2026/05/15/myles-turner-comments-bucks-doc-rivers/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.ilA.774t._dR2FfX0mtUy

[Brian]

On 5/15/2026 at 12:22 PM, nate82 said:

Apparently it was and wasn’t Doc’s fault?

Looks like Giannis was the ones pulling the strings here.  Always being late for things and not being fined.  If Giannis isn’t the one pulling the strings then it looks like the Bucks are scared to offend him or to hold him responsible for anything.  

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7282223/2026/05/15/myles-turner-comments-bucks-doc-rivers/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.ilA.774t._dR2FfX0mtUy

Miles Turner for the Bucks said on sports, Giannis was so undiciplined he would'nt show up to practices. "He did whatever he wanted, when ever he wanted" and Doc Rivers would never empose/enforce fines on him. And people complained about Aaron Rodgers running the show in GB. Giannis sounds 10X worse. Just a spoiled brat. 

[jay87shot]

What about Utah?

They have young players, Laurie, and future picks. Them getting Jaren Jackson points to an all in. Obviously they would need Giannis to want to sign there which would be iffy.

Laurie, Filipowski, Collier, 2027 1st's better of Utah's or Lakers (top 4 protected), 2031 Suns unprotected 1st.

Trade Markenen to Detriot for Duncan, Robinson, I Stewart, Ron Holland, 3 1st 26,27, 28 (try for a 4th or maybe a couple 2nds)

That would be 5 potential 1sts, 3 nice young guys and 2 vets we could still flip or keep and trade Turner.

 

[nate82]

38 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

Laurie, Filipowski, Collier, 2027 1st's better of Utah's or Lakers (top 4 protected), 2031 Suns unprotected 1st.

The Jazz own none of those picks as they went to Memphis in the Jackson trade.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47818224/sources-grizzlies-trade-jaren-jackson-jr-jazz-8-player-deal

[patrickgpe]

40 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

What about Utah?

.

 

Giannis can dictate his next team by simply saying he won't sign a contract extension with his new team. I don't see him wanting to go to Utah. Also if the Jazz unload all of their young players, I don't know how competitive they will be with Giannis. 

[jay87shot]

17 minutes ago, nate82 said:

The Jazz own none of those picks as they went to Memphis in the Jackson trade.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47818224/sources-grizzlies-trade-jaren-jackson-jr-jazz-8-player-deal

Whoops the website I looked must not have updated. The do have there own picks from 28' on but that does complicate that move.

[HarryDoyle]

Jason Kidd out at Dallas.

[CheezWizHed]

13 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Jason Kidd out at Dallas.

again?

[nate82]

Ham will be back with the Bucks.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7289959/2026/05/23/bucks-darvin-ham-taylor-jenkins-nba-coaching/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.klA.ueEZ.W44THLKPFhta

[patrickgpe]

21 hours ago, nate82 said:

Ham will be back with the Bucks.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7289959/2026/05/23/bucks-darvin-ham-taylor-jenkins-nba-coaching/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.klA.ueEZ.W44THLKPFhta

I understand he isn’t a Rivers guy but this still surprises me. I was hoping for full turnover of the coaching staff.

[nate82]

16 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

I understand he isn’t a Rivers guy but this still surprises me. I was hoping for full turnover of the coaching staff.

This is the Bucks we are talking about here.  BTW I don’t mind Ham coming back I think he got a bit snake bit by Lebron.  Defensively he is a good coach and for player development he is rather good there also.  Offensively and drawing up plays he is not all that good at that.  He is fine as a support staff coach.  

[HarryDoyle]

I have no words.

 

[adambr2]

[HarryDoyle]

This is exactly why I don't take analytics and their sycophants that swear by them seriously. The thing about stats/analytics is you can make them say anything you want them to say.

[LouisEly]

14 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

This is exactly why I don't take analytics and their sycophants that swear by them seriously. The thing about stats/analytics is you can make them say anything you want them to say.

Analytics are about accuracy in predicting future results, not explaining past results. 

And three games is quite the small sample.  Analytics will never be 100% accurate in predicting the outcome of a very small sample of games.

[homer]

All he was saying was the process was good. That's all you can control. Sometimes the results aren't there - e.g. you can generate a lot of open looks but the shots just don't fall. It was a dumb thing to say simply because NBA games aren't won with process they are won with results but I get it from a "we don't need to make a ton of changes" perspective. He would have been better off saying "We need to make more shots" and everyone would have nodded their heads in agreement. 

[CheezWizHed]

16 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

This is exactly why I don't take analytics and their sycophants that swear by them seriously. The thing about stats/analytics is you can make them say anything you want them to say.

This is why I don't like using English because you can make it say anything you want it to say. 😂

Metrics certainly need to be handled correctly. And they tend to be tricker to understand because people don't like math. But for the people that do understand them, it is pretty easy to refute someone abusing it. 

When you have something that models actual results well (not all metrics do), they are useful for comparing apples-to-apples for a player's full performance and not just biased to the ones a scout sees/remembers.  

And I agree with others that it is more about predicting probable outcomes and not ensuring them.  There are still small sample issues when looking at a 5 or 7 game series and intangibles that metrics can't measure (i.e. the whole is more than the sum of the parts). 

[greeg35]

On 5/25/2026 at 6:28 PM, HarryDoyle said:

This is exactly why I don't take analytics and their sycophants that swear by them seriously. The thing about stats/analytics is you can make them say anything you want them to say.

If people are able to make stats "say anything", the people they're talking to aren't thinking very critically.

[LouisEly]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48903380/sources-nba-bog-votes-expand-lottery-disincentivizes-tanking

How much of "tanking" is on the teams, and how much of it is players giving a half-arsed effort once they are out of contention or being on a bad team?  This is a league that has had to put into place rules about players sitting out nationally televised games because they want to rest.

What rules are there going to be to penalize players for just going through the motions or quitting on their team? 

[nate82]

5 hours ago, LouisEly said:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48903380/sources-nba-bog-votes-expand-lottery-disincentivizes-tanking

How much of "tanking" is on the teams, and how much of it is players giving a half-arsed effort once they are out of contention or being on a bad team?  This is a league that has had to put into place rules about players sitting out nationally televised games because they want to rest.

What rules are there going to be to penalize players for just going through the motions or quitting on their team? 

There was a poll done with the players on the Athletic and one of the questions was about tanking.  The majority of players polled didn't think it was an issue or was a minor issue.  

[OldSchoolSnapper]

12 hours ago, nate82 said:

There was a poll done with the players on the Athletic and one of the questions was about tanking.  The majority of players polled didn't think it was an issue or was a minor issue.  

They have a different perspective. All that matters to most of them is production which turns into money. No player in the NBA who stands to lose anything is actively tanking while on the floor. They have too much to lose. They also nearly all overstate their own ability. By law, over half the league is an average or worse pro player. They aren't going to be able to acknowledge that tanking, i.e. letting them play more, is a problem. The only guys who would see it as a problem are the top tier guys who would be playing against soft competition or getting more rest - which again - I doubt they will complain about.

[patrickgpe]

This anti-tanking policy is dumb. First all, I do think its still possible for teams to tank enough just to get in the 4 position, rather than spots 1-3. Secondly, teams that actually need high picks may get screwed because they can fall from 1 to 12 with some bad luck. 

A team like the bucks once Giannis leaves and is still in cap / draft capital hell, could lose out of good players because of some bad luck on lottery day. Also the rules seem overly complicated. The system now, seems pretty cut and dry and all fans understand how it works. 

[GAME05]

5 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

Secondly, teams that actually need high picks may get screwed because they can fall from 1 to 12 with some bad luck. 

Sure, but on the flip side the NBA can better ensure the Knicks get to draft Patrick Ewing and not some low-ratings team.