The Milwaukee Bucks started into the offseason with only one pick in draft, little capspace, no head coach and the delicate personality of Jabari Parker. GM Jon Horst had to put quite a lot of leverage on superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to make his first deep playoff run possible.
After the dismissal of Jason Kidd last season and the end of Joe Prunty’s short term in office, the Bucks were without a head coach at the beginning of the off-season. With Mike Budenholzer the Bucks secured one of the best, maybe even the best coach available after a long back and forth.
In the draft the Bucks pulled Donte DiVincenzo on the 17th position and got a much needed shooter for the guard positions. The college champion from Villanova has already gained experience as a bank scorer and should probably also be able to help in Milwaukee with exactly this quality.
The first new member of the Free Agency was then an old acquaintance: Ersan Ilyasova, who was drafted by the Bucks in 2005 and arrived in Wisconsin with a two-year break until 2015, arrived directly at the start of the Free Agency for $21 million over the next three years. Brook Lopez, on the other hand, was hired for a year, for which the Bucks used the bi-annual exception of $3.4 million.
The most exciting personality in the beer town was Restricted Free Agent Jabari Parker, who after his second cruciate ligament rupture was only a banker, but didn’t really like taking on this role. The Bucks let go of the former No.2 pick – when the Bulls expressed interest, they even withdrew their qualifying offer so Parker could sign in Chicago for two years and $40 million.
Shabazz Muhammad did not receive a new offer either, but the Bucks padded their bank with another shooter: Pat Connaughton will sign for two years at the minimum in Milwaukee. Brandon Jennings, whose salary is not guaranteed for the coming season, will probably have to make room for the ex-Blazer.
Like all the other top teams in the East, the Bucks have a clear strategy: following the move from LeBron James to LaLa Land, Milwaukee wants to enter the vacuum of power, not least to avoid antetokounmpo.
Therefore, the transactions are understandable: Horst preferred to engage two good role-players (Ilyasova, Lopez) rather than get involved with Parker’s uncertain performances. Bigs who have the threesome up their sleeves and can protect the ring are extremely important in the modern NBA anyway. Ilyasova can also be used on the four as well as on the five – all in all a not cheap, but good investment, especially since year 3 is not guaranteed for the Turks. Win Now is the motto that became clear for Eric Bledsoe last season at the latest with the trade.
On the floor, the strategy should be clear. Give Giannis the ball, make way and defend hard. Speaking of defense: After Kidd failed with his hyper-aggressive trap defense, Milwaukee allowed the opponent a lot of open corner threesomes and baskets, it’s up to Budenholzer to inoculate a better system for the bucks.
Offensively the ball will probably be moved more and shot more often from outside, the deals for Ilyasova and Lopez clearly indicate this. Last season, the Bucks took only 24.7 triples per game, 25th place in the Association. Nothing new in the beer town: The Bucks have been regular guests in the lowest five places for years.
In November last year, the Bucks traded for Bledsoe. With the Suns, when he was allowed to play, he put good performances on the floor and also in the beer city he delivered solid performances in the regular season. In the playoffs, however, the slump followed: Bledsoe had a weak 13.6 points, 3.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds with a hit rate of 44 percent from the field, in a duel with Scary Terry Rozier from the Celtics he did not look really good a few times. Previously considered a long-term solution for the Bucks, its name is now even mentioned in some trade rumors.
The big positions have been upgraded, but Lopez on the five could be a headache later in the season, when switching bigs are the ultimate. On paper, Milwaukee has a lot of big boys, but it remains to be seen if anyone can have a big influence in the playoffs.
Another big problem in Milwaukee is the lack of capspace. For next season, Milwaukee already has $80 million on the payroll if Khris Middleton does not withdraw his $13 million player option. He will probably not do this, because he can get much more out of it on the free market. The contracts of Malcolm Brogdon and Bledsoe also expire in 2019. If you want to keep the team together, you would have to go deep into the luxury tax range – unless you can get rid of the high earners Dellavedova and/or Henson before.
Giannis, who else? The arrival of Budenholzer should help enormously, but the team still only gets as far as the Greek Freak can carry it. This year, thanks to the new shooters, it has considerably more space than before. The Greek should therefore be one of the hot candidates for the MVP award if the Bucks are actually among the leaders in the East.
Thon Maker is another source of hope, because he is young and has a lot of potential. After a season in which he did not develop as hoped, he caused a furore in the playoffs with brilliant blocks and set small exclamation marks. With his skill set he could perfectly fit Giannis as a stretch big, but for that he would have to stand his ground against the increased competition.
Probably got the best possible coach, acquired shooters, handed in the stranger in the person of Parker. That’s how we could sum up the offseason of the Bucks. The newcomers, including Budenholzer, are undoubtedly a reinforcement and fitting.
Horst made the right decisions to provide his superstar with the best possible team, bearing in mind that the financial scope was very limited. After the dismissal of Kidd, who was a foster father and mentor for Antetokounmpo, this offseason was extremely important to show the Greek that they wanted to support him as much as possible.
However, Horst and the Bucks will have a lot of work to do next summer when three top performers – Bledsoe, Brogdon and Middleton – become free agents.
Grade: 2