Milwaukee Bucks | Game Theory Offseason Preview

Milwaukee Bucks | Game Theory Offseason Preview

hello and welcome to the Game Theory podcast offseason preview series where Bryce Simon and I dig deep into all of the big decisions that each NBA team has to make this upcoming summer today we’re talking about the Milwaukee Bucks a team that we’ve held off on for a while we’ve tried to wait as long as we can to see if there’s any clarity on the Giannis situation we ran out of time to be honest with you so we’re going to talk about a few different scenarios like what if Giannis says he wants to stay what if he says he wants to go how those different operations can look but before we do that thank you all for making this offseason preview series such a massive success for the show we’re up over 45,000 subscribers over on YouTube now because you guys have rocked with us and enjoyed this thing so so much thank you if you’ve enjoyed it leave a like hit the subscribe button hit the subscribe button over on the podcast feed Spotify Apple whatever platform you use it all really helps to support the show these go up around 12 Eastern time every day and we’re closing in on the end now this is I think going to be like 24 23 something like that so not too many we’ve got like a week of these left bryce let’s talk about the Milwaukee Bucks it all comes down to Giannis and whether or not Giannis is staying or going honestly like this could go real this could be like a relatively shorter episode or it could be like a longer one i’m not totally sure yet it just feels like it comes down to what Giannis’ decision is and I don’t know that we have clarity on that yet yeah i mean it’s fascinating to know i mean as soon as the Dame injury happened in the playoffs I think everybody’s mind went to the same place right like Dame goes down with the unfortunate Achilles injury and then you look at their kind of roster in terms of pending free agents you know Gary Trent Jr Torian Prince those guys were in the rotation they were on one-year vet men’s brook Lopez all of a sudden kind of aging and an unrestricted free agent no dame and it’s like well what does this team do then you know like we’ve always there’s always been this hint of potential Giannis asking out right and it’s like this just made the most sense this team is most likely not going to be very good in 2526 we’ll talk about the possibility of a gap year um kind of like what we talked about with the Boston Celtics in in a little bit i I don’t think they could be as good as the Celtics still would be in the scenario we laid out there but it’s like if you don’t do that then do is this the time right as Giannis enters his early 30s and I think initially Sam I thought it was like I was sold that Giannis was going to be playing on a different basketball team in 25 26 and as things have progressed maybe it’s just cuz we hear more about Kevin Durant and what’s going on with him but I not as sure like I I I have no intel right like I tell people this all the time i I don’t talk to people in the NBA very few people uh like I’m 50/50 I feel like now may I I maybe 6040 leaning that Giannis ends up staying on Milwaukee is just like my vibes from where the energy’s at and and the conversations so um I may be way off there i don’t know i mean look we’re recording this you know uh over the weekend it’s going up hopefully on Sunday or Monday just because you know this feels like one of those things where information could pop at any point i mean I do have intel and my read is that there’s been no decision made so you know that could change at some point in the next 24 hours it could take you know 24 days it could take 3 months like who the [ __ ] knows you know what I And real quick for everybody the reason why we’re so little like you know skittish on this is we have recorded an episode that had to get thrown in the trash of 45 minutes of Tom Timido and the Knicks got thrown away into wherever thrown away podcast episodes get thrown away to and so we will be re-recording that but as you said at the top like eventually we got to get this out to people and so we did the best we can waiting as long as we could we did okay so I want to start with the idea if Giannis stays we’re going to structure this just as like two separate episodes right it’s going to be Giannis stays and Giannis decides he wants to leave and what that world looks like so let’s say Giannis you know wants to stay okay let’s start here they their financial picture they’re $10 million over the cap they have 28 million away from the first apron they’re about 40 million away from the second apron they are 23.1 million away from the luxury tax free agency wise they have Brook Lopez who is a you know bird rights free agent that they can pay whatever they have to to keep undeniably it’d be a little bit less than what he’s making right now but you know we’ll see if he decides to return or not kevin Porter Jr has a player option that I believe he’s declined and I think that there’s like a real idea that he will stay there um or at least like there are signs pointing toward him wanting to stay there and I get why you know the point guard position is wide open for next season i mean if you’re watching on YouTube if you’re not please do so uh you know we have the roster under contract section and Andre Jackson right now is the starting point guard that we have listed so I completely understand if Kevin Porter Jr Ryan Rollins guys like that see hey let’s let’s stick around here we we might really get a roll right uh Ryan Rollins free agent torian Prince is a free agent gary Trent Jr free agent jericho Sims is a free agent uh the first three of those guys are non-bird free agents jericho Sims uh they do hold bird rights over so he could be a nice backup center option uh they have pick number 47 in this class they have 164 million guaranteed for 10 players um including the non-G guarantees for AJ Green Andre Jackson Chris Livingston okay so Damen Lillard is likely out for next season and certainly would not be as impactful as he typically would be even if he returns at the end of the season right i think that we should just be anticipating that damen Lillard’s an incredibly hard worker i’m sure he’s going to grind to get back as soon as he can but I mean it’s it’s a torn Achilles for a guy in his mid-30s like it’s going to be a tough one it’s going to be a situation that’s going to take some time to get back for him the best scenario here for me is kind of what you said in terms of a gap year the reason for that is that I think that if they decided to go this route and they were able to get off of the Kyle Kosma money which might be more difficult than you know hoped it’s I’m that that it it’s crazy how much that contract has flipped you know like at one time I thought that was a really good contract descending all of that and then it was just dreadful this year but go ahead sorry it’s really bad and I hope that they are able to kind of flip this and figure out a way to do it but I’m not convinced the other piece of this that’s hard in particular to you know potentially trying to get off the Koozma money right outgoing draft picks they have their 2025 first going to Brooklyn they have their 2026 first going to New Orleans in a pick swap so they will get New Orleans pick potentially they have their 2027 first going to New Orleans or Atlanta just straight up they have their 2028 first uh being swapped to one of Portland Washington Brooklyn Philadelphia or Phoenix and I I can’t remember where they are in the food chain there we got to we got to put some limits on the swaps with multiple teams on top of swat swaps on other multiple that that stuff is a lot that that’s that’s harder than to keep track of first apron second apron like stuff we have to count on those their 2029 first is going to either Portland or Washington their 2031st uh is a pick swap to Portland uh and then that is it in terms of first rounders they also have their 2030 2029 and 2028 and 2027 second round picks all going out to teams Detroit Oklahoma City and Orlando so this is and like they only have one second round incoming next year’s from Utah but they have their 2026 second rounder going out to either Orlando or New York so they have like precious little draft capital to be able to do anything with so they can’t really even get off of like the Koozma money by like attaching a pick to it right like this is not something that’s really feasible to me so let’s start here a gap here for Milwaukee which I think is the best way to keep Giannis it probably looks something like this you let Brook Lopez walk you bring back like Porter Rollins Sims on like very cheap deals maybe you use some of the taxpayer MLE honestly I think they probably should use some they should use that entirely and at least do like a one-year deal like the Dean Anthony Melton deal with Golden State last year yep where they could like maybe you know get some sort of trade asset there moving forward o overpay on a one-year deal good friend Keith Smith always says I mean this is going to contradict what I just said you you essentially can’t overpay a one-year deal um but give somebody that’s going to get $8 million give them $14 million for one year and I think we’re probably going the same place with these shortterm one-year deal ideas in terms of what we see this plan being so one-year deal overpaid but at least gives somebody to play with Giannis that is a quality basketball player they have like 136 million guaranteed to Lillard Giannis and Koozma in 2026 27 it drops to about 116 if it’s just Lillard and Giannis i think that what I would want them to do and focus on in this gap year at some point in the next let’s call it 8 months until the trade deadline right i think that you basically just have to move Koozma in whatever way you can and that’s probably waiting until the season and seeing if he can rehabilitate some of his like capital and some of his ability to play then I think you’re looking at like potentially trying to move guys like Bobby Portoris i mean Conutton’s probably not going to get you much at this point i think you’re trying to move Portoris more than anyone in order to maybe try and recoup some of that draft capital even just be it like a collection of second round pick some point here yeah I I think I’m with you i mean in terms of the the way I look at it is get as you don’t want to the gap year is not going to be as successful as Boston right like we we talked about where Boston could still be pretty good just like starting with Jaylen Brown and Derek White and then the rest of that roster i mean you do have Giannis who’s a top three player in the NBA so but to me and we talked about that the silver lining in Boston or I don’t even know if it’s a true silver lining but you could give minutes to some of these young guys right like now you can go play Andre Jackson Jr consistent minutes and see like hopefully Doc will actually do it uh Tyler Smith like find out what you did there even i don’t think either of us would going to be excited about who’s at 47 but maybe there’s you know maybe there’s somebody right maybe Jamal Meshack right our guy your guy on the defensive end you know but just these young guys on your roster you can play them use the the MLE to bring in somebody and just go try to be a competent basketball team but on short deals and then trade off anything that has value right if if Portoris opts into that player option I can’t imagine somebody’s not trading for him if not this off season at the deadline like the deadline i know I’m a little higher than him on or little higher on you on him than you are goodness um but I think there’s value i I think in the right role Bobby Poris can still provide value at that price tag for three months of the regular season in the playoffs so maybe you get a little bit of something there and then yeah like even if you can get off Koozma at a neutral or if you can get off Koozma next off season where he’s an expiring $20 million right and so I think there’s a is there not a path through some pretty good cap space here in 2026 i mean I feel like that’s where this thing is headed if you could get off the Koozma money yeah i mean even at some point in the next 12 months right because you’re right like it could be and you didn’t bring in any new money basically other than let’s call it like AJ Green because they’re gonna have to extend AJ Green on like a pretty good number here not like a crazy number but a you know a smart number i would agree yeah if if it’s a smart number that’s a guy I would be okay them signing to a three fouryear deal at smart money at a smart number not an overpay a smart number it would be like they would have like 116 to 120 committed to like three or four guys including the Lillard uh Giannis deal plus the AJ Green money which we’ll talk about that in a minute what that would look like uh against a cap of 170 million now the other question here is like is there any way that you can move Lillard right like is there a team that’s just willing to like take a flyer on him getting back to full strength and being great honestly I think it just makes the most sense for the Bucks to you know try and be that team the other thing is that like look I can’t imagine Damen Lillard turning down $58 million uh coming off an Achilles injury he does have a player option in 2026 27 it’s just worth noting at least like if he decides like yeah this is like hopeless whatever i mean the Bucks have like a crazy amount of space to be able to rebuild this thing long term around Giannis but they also would be without Damen Lillard at that point could Could you do the James Harden idea with that number though could you talk him into turning down that player option and then like you’re getting real sketchy giving him very many years but I mean you could talk him into I I I don’t love the idea of giving him two extra years like we’re talking Damian if you’re doing two extra years coming off of an Achilles yeah yeah it probably can’t be more than 300 right and you do gain 25 in space but like it just it’s scary long right like that it makes me nervous long term with him even more so than Harden just because of the injury situation with that i just if they really want to go like if you’re going to take a gap year you do have to go all in that next year and you may have to take some chances and that may be a chance you have to take with Dame is is get that number down even lower because free agency as you pointed out with the draft capital situation is where they’re going to have to score whatever they’re going to bring in to round out this roster and and Sam I don’t know about you like do you think they have to go get a real number two or do you think Dame can come back and be the number two cuz like I think that’s a huge question with this your your guess is as good as mine on that like the thing is that they just need guys to surround them that makes sense right more than anything and we’ll see what that can look like right honestly like I wonder if there is a case for keeping Bobby Portoris’ like bird rights on some level but I think that you probably want to I think they need to recoup draft capital at some point too and get more flexible here like the whole the whole point of the gap year here is to get more flexible if you’re the Milwaukee Bucks nothing over one year to me except for the AJ Green extension maybe this is the point to talk about the AJ Green potential extension i mean to me like I I really like AJ Green quite a bit uh I I mean what’s a number for you do you like AJ Green more than Sam Merrill i don’t i don’t either so like to me that puts him 10 or less yeah i was going to say like could you do a 432 eight i like six to eight i like that could you do four yeah like 435 or something on AJ Green yes i I think I like cuz Yeah if I like Sam Merrill more that that makes sense the other thing here is why that could be really valuable if you extend I mean like what because what his his deal is non-g guaranteed so it would have to be an extension off of this year yeah it gets a little bit harder because you can’t it’s not a maybe it is a team option maybe they did structure it as like a both non-G guarantee and a club option if they had done that they could have like declined the team option and then I don’t know what it’s structured as it might just be a pure non-G guarantee but if it’s structured as a non-G guarantee plus team option you can decline the team option and actually get them a little bit more upfront this year which I would imagine would be much more valuable i might be able to So on on spot track it doesn’t it doesn’t have that on there it just has it as a non-G guarantee um and I feel like they’re usually pretty good but um that um yeah I don’t know i I’m not totally sure on that uh let me let me see if I can get some info while we’re talking here but the other piece of this is Andre Jackson also has a non-G guarantee that year too so you know if you want to keep Andre Jackson like you might have to extend or you might just keep him on that 2.4 million in 2026 27 i think that given where he’s been at this point in his career uh it’s probably worth holding up you know doing that um but that’s kind of what this looks like to me you sign you know one-year deals like the DeAnthony Melton deal you try to continue to recoup draft capital throughout the course of the year and you go into the summer of 2026 27 you are super flexible maybe honestly like a guy that I really like for them that I think would make a ton of sense is Luke Canard actually like they just are going to need some offensive firepower next to Giannis a guy who can really shoot it and really space it uh I think that if they did Canard like on a one-year deal he’d probably have trade value at the deadline because he will put up numbers there yeah no that a name like that makes a lot of sense to me and like you said then you flip it at the deadline um and and get some future draft capital i can’t help but wonder like this doesn’t sound like a team in a year for a Doc Rivers coach team so that that will be would be fascinating to watch how that plays out and hopefully they can get him on the same page here to play these younger guys and give them a longer leash to see what they are able to do because this is what this season is about so yeah and you know the other piece of this here is you know maybe Dennis maybe Dennis Shruder is like a guy like they they need a guard more than anything like I don’t want to go into the season with Kevin Porter Jr as my starting guard i would love him to be the sixth man uh if I’m them and to see if I can get some value there but I think that they need like a guard who can play yeah maybe it’s Trey Jones or Tus Jones i was going to say it’s not Ty Jerome because he’s going to get a multi-year deal we I would think I think at the numbers we’re talking about um but yeah like I I was looking here like Taius Jones uh Trey Jones Spencer Denwitty I think is unrestricted free agent like there’s some names out there that that fit this mold that may not be getting multi-year deals at this number i mean here here’s another one that like you know maybe Bucks fans alike maybe not i mean D’Angelo Russell is like a name here to me for them like again he might get multi-year but if I’m him I might go “Okay if you’re willing to give me like the full mid-level for this year and you’re giving me the ball and I’m playing with Giannis like that kind of feels like a good spot for D’Angelo Russell to me.” Sure and like in that role we’ve se like D’Angelo Russell can do that in the regular season right like I mean we’ve seen that be and and they might as well win as many games as they can like play as many competitive games as they can right like it’s not like we’re not saying tank like that that’s not what we’re saying here cuz it doesn’t matter so they might as well again if this is if there’s something you’re going to get out of this season in terms of learning anything about these young guys or developing them or seeing if any of them are part of the rotation moving forward you want to see them in like somewhat meaningful regular season basketball games and listen I I know D’Angelo Russell takes a lot of crap i get it but he puts the ball in the basket where at least you’re going to score enough to stay competitive along with having Giannis so and the other issue here is that like unless you’re moving Giannis i mean maybe like do you do you think there’s any chance that the Pelicans would do would return the pick swap for AJ Green i don’t think so that’s for this next year yeah like if you could do like tomorrow where the 206 not what it sounds like the Pelicans views are moving forward and listen like I I I do not I’m sorry for speaking this in like at all but if I’m New Orleans I’m just going they’re one Giannis even two monthl long injury not major injury but two-monthl long injury away from that being super valuable um well there’s no way i guess it depends if the Pelicans think they’re going to be good next year maybe picking you know six to five or something but yeah I don’t think I would do that if I’m the Pelicans no yeah like I I I just don’t think I would either there’s There’s no way that I’m giving up that swap unless I’m getting like real draft capital back like I would need a lottery pick this year at the very least to give up uh that swap to me uh we’ll see if that’s like a plausible outcome here but like again like you said they’re one Giannis injury away from that being like a top five pick probably so okay let’s go to the other future here that is probably less fun for the Bucks fans to talk about but the other piece of this is Giannis departing and deciding he wants to go yep but before we do that real quick let’s just talk about Brook Lopez actually Brook Lopez did not have the best season last year 13 points five rebounds shot 503783 you know like the scoring was up but it wasn’t his best defensive season for a guy that provides a lot of his value defensively i will say a lot of that was contextual it felt like the perimeter players had no idea how to play in the drop coverage schemes that Milwaukee had to play like there were so many times where Brooke would be like complaining afterward that they did not shade the player to the right direction and you know it was just like what are we doing here let the palms up after the play was over from Brook Lopez this past season yeah I think Brooke can still play i think he probably gets a multi-year deal somewhere like a pretty solid multi-year deal somewhere given that it’s multi-year I just don’t think it can beat Milwaukee yeah i mean listen there I’ll be honest there were games where I was like man Lopez I’m not sure and he is a massive human that is going into age 37 season so I I think the the impact is going to slow down just I’m fascinated to see if he ends up as a like what kind of role he ends up because like I don’t think he’s go somewhere and play 30 plus minutes a night at at this point in his career like I wouldn’t be signing him up for that if I was a team the idea of him in a like center group where he can play 26 to 28 and then I have another center that I really like that can play 20 or whatever and they complement each other well I like that and so I’m interested to see what what is the value of that and you know where is that end up being but I don’t think it’s Milwaukee i’m with you as well like I think Brook Lopez is going to have plenty of suitors because of the archetype of big he is I mean I guess what limits it a little bit is he is a very much drop coverage big right he always has been and it definitely is at this point in his career and so you need to go to a team that is comfortable with that being their main defensive ball screen excuse me coverage not a team that wants to switch with their five or have that versatility but again that could look at who else they have on the roster at the five um to to be able to do that yeah completely agree uh okay so let’s go to the world where Yiannis departs right look I I think that the Bucks are just taking whoever he wants to go like it’s not even who he wants to go to they’re taking whoever it is just for just about everything that they can give right and that’s the reality now here’s what I want to say though let’s say Giannis rolls into this meeting on you know at some point in the next month whenever it is right could could have happened already who knows by the time that this is out like we’re we have a couple day buffer who knows there are like multiple processes still that have to happen before Yianis gets moved like if Yianis goes and meets with the front office and says like I want to get traded like ownership still has to clear that the general manager still has to like go out and find the deal that makes sense for everybody i would imagine that like when that guy like when John Horse goes out and gets the deal like he probably will go back to Giannis and be like look like this is the team you’re going to is that better than like being here where you love it here and like getting a chance to like continue to be like a one player or a one franchise player which is something that like I think Giannis has talked about just like loving being like a Milwaukee Buck like I think that there are so many different points here still that are like offramps right that could end up being offramps toward real genuine you know Giannis stays in Milwaukee but let’s say that we go down this road of Giannis departing the two teams that make the most sense to me personally are San Antonio and Houston mhm they are the two that can just offer the most at the end of the day they’re the two that can actually realistically get this done there are a couple others that maybe we’ll talk about but like they’re the two to me if I am Miami I don’t think they have the assets like I just don’t think that it would make sense but like they don’t have their full cache of picks at this point and their young players are just not as interesting as San Antonio’s and Houston’s if you look at you know is there anybody else other than San Antonio and Houston that like really track because here’s the other thing too and we’ve brought this up on a couple of other shows here when we’ve done offseason previews for other teams most of the time when a star gets traded like the De’arren Fox deal for instance that star will have like something of a say in terms of where he goes because he’ll have like real contract control over what’s happening right in the case of Giannis like Giannis has two years left and he’s so good that you immediately should become like pretty close to a title contender if you’re making this move and if that’s the case like he’s just not going to have say over where he goes like teams that are doing this are just going to be like “Okay we’re opening opening up a two-year window to win the title.” And that’s the reality we’d love for him to stay longer but it’s going to be very similar like Cleveland trading for Donovan Mitchell right where it was like “Well we’re going to trade for Donovan Mitchell and we’re going to try and convince him to stay at the end of the day he’s just so good that like I I I think that they can try and control the process in whatever way they want but like say he doesn’t want to go to Houston and Houston offers the best deal and I’m not saying he doesn’t like I don’t know but like if Houston offers the best deal John Horst is going to do that like in Houston if they want him they’re going to be like “Look we have the depth pieces that we can just do this right we can go win a title with Giannis.” So I think that he is so good basically there’s a level you ascend to when you’re a star that you’re so good and you still have multiple years left on your deal if you want to leave do you actually lose control a little bit over where you go so let me throw out a couple teams i assume I’m going to get a no but I’m looking at teams that I think are wanting to win the title like they are in win absolutely now over the next two or three years and came up short specifically this season so like is it I don’t know if Cleveland can build the package but like I is there a Cleveland path Donovan Mitchell Giannis and then you keep at le you keep one of whoever I mean Darius and like does Darius and Jarrett get it done does Cleveland consider Darius and Evan oh man I hadn’t thought about Darius and Jarrett i think they both make too much money now honestly because remember the Bucks uh well the Bucks aren’t a second apron team anymore so they can they’re actually not even over the first apron right now so they could actually take back more money in this deal i had not thought of the idea of Darius and Jarrett that’s an interesting one that’s actually like a genuinely interesting one i think the answer is still no i think if I’m them I’m pushing for Mobly and then if if you’re Cleveland like is Darius like Darius and Mobly sounds like a lot even for a top three player in the league oh no i’m saying that I’m just doing Mobly like if I’m if I’m lucky and I get Evan Mobley back are you kidding me i’m If if you told me I’m getting Evan Mobley back for Giannis and it’d have to be like a little bit more hell yeah that’s a home run but if I’m Cleveland I probably don’t want to give up Moy yeah and and I guess my thing there is then you still have the same backcourt quote unquote issue that is always discussed anyway you know what I mean like you didn’t you you still have that you still have the back court with which maybe is okay so I’m trying to make I mean like is there is there like any way Well like I don’t even know if Cleveland can aggregate cuz I think Cleveland is a second apron team yep right now yep so like they can’t even do Garland and Correct you’d have to move off of the Hunter deal first and then like be able to do something like this or the Aoro deal maybe might get them there but yeah so I don’t even think this works to be honest with you okay so the other team and again I think this is going to be a no but I think about Giannis i think about stretch bigs give him a really good point guard like does New York put a package around the wings of some sort do they have any picks left um I don’t know what they have left after all the moves they made they they might have one so like probably don’t have the capital to do it but it are would they be interested like you you’re obviously breaking up the Nova Knicks in some capacity now I am I’m certain they would be interested i just don’t think there’s any way to do it like it’d have to be Anobi and Hart is your idea financially um I just don’t I don’t know that’s not uh so like I don’t know why that helps Milwaukee to get no draft capital and then you you’re building a team around Anobi and Hart like that doesn’t that doesn’t track it just as I was looking through team teams that are title contenders that like hey I think this would fit on the roster cuz like wouldn’t y wouldn’t Giannis and Moy be so much fun i feel like that’d be awesome that would be all let’s do it but that works would Orlando trade Paulo for him i I mean I think the answer is no to that for what it’s worth because they have six years Apollo versus two for Giannis and while that’s an upgrade is that the upgrade that takes you into contention over the next couple years they they would really have to figure some things out on the roster i think there’s a case that it could if Fron takes like honestly it’s not a crazy dissimilar team to the one that Milwaukee built like if you think Fron is going to be Chris Middletony if you think Jaylen Suggs is going to be Drew Holiday E um you just don’t have the You just don’t have the big You don’t have the Brook Lopez but they have a good group of centers all around yeah kind of step out and shoot yeah yeah just not the same level of defender but like this team defends in like Giannis is going to go in there that team’s going to defend like Giannis is a better defender than Paulo so yeah maybe they are instantly I mean any team that has Giannis that has some talent around them is going to be a title contender so yeah I mean like you said I’m I’m more of a window guy i’ve been consistent with that throughout this whole conversation and so but like if you think the East is prime you you don’t whatever whatever you think about the Pacers and the Celtics are taking us like if you’re Orlando and you think this is your window and you think you can go for it for two years I sure um I think Paulo’s really though Sam the other team that we’ve talked about is Toronto probably and like again if we’re bringing up like here’s the thing because San Antonio now is the number two pick to offer they don’t have to offer Victor in this thing to be able to potentially do a deal and because Houston has all of Amen Thompson Alpin Shenon you know all of these guys that are all stars borderline allstars etc to be able to offer you basically have to be able to offer a star of your own that’s true in a deal for Giannis so like it is you know m maybe it’s maybe the Bucks just think Fron is gonna be a dude but like it’s probably every pick that Orlando has it’s like Fron and you know Anthony Black and every single draft pick that they have and then you’re just like okay we’re building around Giannis and Paulo and Jaylen Suggs and maybe it’s Suggs and Fron like you know I’m just like throwing things out there sure you know what I mean yep um Orlando theoretically could do something i just am skeptical that this is a team that would do that yeah yeah no I mean um it this is why having a guy like Giannis is so hard because I what I found Sam is I know how good Giannis is i had him third on my MVP ballot all season long but then I find myself like you can’t trade Pyo Ben Carroll right now he’s going to be a star or like he’s going to be first team all NBA sometime but then it’s like no no we’re talking about Giannis here you know what I mean like it’s you know it’s just such a hard context to wrap my brain around trading somebody at this level in his prime still and what that means in terms of what you have to give up like if you really want to acquire him that means you may have to give up the upside of Paulo Beno who is incredible like go look at the playoff numbers they’ve been insane and it it’s it literally will take that or multiple of your other potential allstars maybe all NBA level the couple year type players it just it completely changes who’s available in these conversations no it really does uh the three teams where I think it makes the most sense Toronto and I think it has to involve Scotty like I I if it doesn’t involve Scotty you’re talking about some you know grouping of like Brandon Ingram RJ Barrett Emanuel Quickley Abaji Grady Dick Jacobe Walter like I’m not saying all these guys i’m saying like a grouping of them and that’s just not enough even with number like even with number nine it’s just not enough the the the high-end aspect isn’t there like it has to be Scotty right in terms of the high-end name here’s my question for them like this is the first Well I don’t know if it’s the first team are they good enough with Giannis like it’s going to be Scotty plus and again like I guess I’m running into the same thing giannis makes you a title contender how good do you feel about that roster though with Y like is the is the surrounding stuff interesting enough for you with Toronto it is talented I guess I think it is personally but like you know is it good enough i’m skeptical of that like it good enough is the key here like if you’re giving up Scotty and like Purle or something to just make the money work right purle is the closest that makes the money work is why I say that like Scotty Purle and four picks or whatever right it it you’re now do doing a Giannis Brandon Ingram Emanuel Quickley RJ Barrett Abaji you know may maybe you have to give up one of Grady Dick and Jacobe Walter like one of those guys it’s a decent team it’s pretty fun I think like it kind of works but do I think that they win the NBA title probably not but you’re closing you’re closer at least you’re building around a real dude in Giannis yeah that’s true again just like I fell into with the Orlando one you have Giannis and you have real dudes real NBA players around him so you’re you’re in the conversation so okay yeah second team is Houston uh all of Alparin Shangun Amen Thompson Tar E Jabari Smith Reed Shepard Cam Whitmore Jaylen Green you know etc like you can make the money work any which way that you want to i would imagine that more than anything the deal definitely involves Alberin because I don’t think Alberin and Giannis together work in any way shape or form uh they just like to operate in the same areas way too often uh in that area is the middle of the court and that it becomes harder for your guards to work in the middle of the court uh I mean look if it’s Alperin Brooklyn picks they have a Dallas pick forthcoming but Dallas now has Cooper flag so like that’s not crazy crazy valuable um you know they’ve number 10 this year if I’m Milwaukee I’m asking for for a men though at the end of the day like I want a men and you either give me a men or you know maybe it’s a men in some stuff as opposed to Alperin in everything else but I want a men Jaylen Green for the salary particularly and I want like picks if I’m Milwaukee and that’s the only way it works and if Houston doesn’t give up Ben Thompson so be it yeah and I think like even more so like I think we both people know where we stand on a men Thompson um you’re you’re you’re also just like as we’ve talked through this I’ve also wondered about some of these names in terms of like what will Milwaukee value in terms of you’re going full scale rebuild with this right and so it’s like a men you’re getting a guy that’s still a couple more years on his rookie deal and I do think I I wonder how important that would be to the Bucks in terms of knowing they’re going to be really really bad for a couple years and not like you know Shingun’s already getting paid and on that rookie you know that first extension like it just be interesting the the team building aspect of it the cap aspect of it in terms of are you going to want to take back guys on those numbers already or are you going to value guys that are still on their rookie deals more knowing that it’s 2 three years before you’re ready to be competitive i I think a men is drastically more valuable than Alperin yes seven years of control versus five two of those being very cheap years of control yeah i I think Amen is like and honestly again I’ve said this and Rockets fans feel some type of way about it but like I thought Amen was their best player from the time he entered the starting lineup when Jabari went down until the end of the year so you know I thought Alperin was arguably their I thought it was like some mix of Alperin you know Fred at times Steven Adams frankly at times in Amen at times in the playoffs but as you made me rank their guys from you know the time that Amen entered the starting lineup into the end of the regular season I would have said that Amen was their best player from that point forward in the year um you know it’s hard to give that guy up that guy’s 22 i mean he is essentially like was the best player in the back half of the year on a [ __ ] 50- win team guys like it’s a team like it’s not a you know it’s not like he was an allNBA caliber player yet but I mean he’s a first team alldefense guy that absolutely dominates the glass and is an unbelievable passer he’s a great transition player like man I mean Amen Thompson is like a special special cap but that’s why I’m asking for him you know what I mean amen Thompson from the time he entered the starting lineup 16 points nine rebounds five assists 1.7 steals 1.5 blocks um 56% from the field and got to the line only four times a game that’s the next step for a man he’s going to get to the line a ton in the future I think as he starts to play more on the ball and he’s one of the best defenders in the league like get give me a men Thompson that’s a great defense player of the year this year too so that’s a great start for your rebuild right is the point here if if you’re Milwaukee fans I’m not saying you couldn’t get excited about a Shingune Reed Shepard Jabari Smith Jr Jaylen Green picks return um but you you could really get excited about a men Thompson if if this is how this thing played out in terms of again yeah I think the contract control is meaningful in this conversation as well because you know Shingun again is already on that money making you know 35 all the way up to $39 million so I I I don’t know it would be interesting it’s again it’s I struggle so much going back and forth what do you give up but if you’re Houston and you don’t feel like the true number one guy is on the roster and you feel like you have a window here again at some point you do have to open that window and if you feel like you got to go get Giannis to do it I wouldn’t understand them them doing that i I sure would try to keep them in though if I was Houston and then in Milwaukee’s case uh with the Spurs who are the final team that we’ll talk about here it’s you know some mix of Jeremy Sohan Devin Vel Kell Johnson Steph Castle number two pick uh number 14 pick this year too by the way uh and they have other like they have a Atlanta pick swap like they have a Minnesota pick in there they have a Boston pick swap like they they have so many different options here that they can throw in in terms of picks as well for Giannis to me the deal starts with the number two overall pick i do think the number two overall pick with Dylan Harper is a little bit more valuable than Steph Castle uh this year if I’m Milwaukee I’m fighting for both if I’m being honest um you know I think that it’s not unfair for them to fight for both if I’m the Spurs I don’t know how excited I am about doing both of those picks but or both of those assets but you know if I’m again it’s Giannis and the key is that if Houston offers a men Thompson and other stuff if San Antonio then wants to top that offer you might have to do both Steph and number two right so like I would rank those assets right now i think I would have a men over Dylan Harper is the top asset sure and then I would have Dylan Harper and then I would have Castle third and I think Castle would be like clearly the third best of those three things and I I love Steph Castle i had him number three last year if I had to redo the draft I’d have him at number one but I I do think he’s pretty clearly the third of those guys even coming off the Rookie of the Year season yeah I agree i mean I think for Milwaukee if it’s if it’s not the amen thing and you truly want to go like young Steph Castle just coming off his rookie season Dylan Harper in this draft I’d probably go ahead and push to get number 14 also I don’t know if San Anton I don’t maybe not maybe I’d want to spread out the picks but yeah getting starting with Dylan Harper and Steph Castle even though like I Yeah that that would be I would want to start with those guys and for San Antonio are you you now have three dudes that can primary create offense i I think it’s okay not having Castle to Bryce who the [ __ ] cares about the offense who is scoring on Giannis and Victor Wimbeyama on the interior fair uh well that’s where Steph Castle would be even more fun like what he would do on the perimeter defensively with those guys behind him but you know what I mean like you don’t People always talk about like needing prim you know extra ball handlers creators all of that like you’re good like I’m more worried about having enough of like getting all three of those guys involved so yeah God that would be insane those two guys playing together it’s it’s a really really nice m pairing of of just unbelievable physical players yeah yeah completely agree uh look th those are the offers i think like some mix of that i don’t care to make a prediction cuz I don’t think the Bucks fans care about a prediction like I think they want to keep you honest you know what I mean those are like the ideas of what the deals would look like though it involve those mix of assets and players and everything you know Houston would have to offer a crazy amount on top of that like they’re offering if you’re offering a men like maybe you’re offering a little bit less but if it’s like Shangon then it’s you know Shangun and Taran and you know Reed Shepard might have to be in that deal like there’s so many dudes that you’re going to get on top of number 10 on top of Shangun if it’s a men it’s probably like an asset or two less honestly but you know it’s still it’s still more than a men I think if you’re getting Yeah so okay Bryce those are the pathways the Bucks can take this summer that’s the reality of where we’re at tell the people where they can find your work tell the people what’s going on yeah motorcity Hoops on Twitter on Blue Sky have the Substack um the Pistons Pulse podcast otherwise Game Theory podcast here with Sam Bassini as Sam mentioned earlier thank you guys so much for your support of the offseason previews we we really really enjoy doing this it’s been a fun exercise this year we are kind of winding down now which is a little bit sad but exciting all the same and so if you enjoyed this tell a fellow Bucks fan tell a fellow NBA fan at large i I always hear people complaining about some of the sports coverage around the NBA um I don’t know where else you get 52 minutes of fake Giannis trades but also here’s what you do if Giannis stays and we gave it all to you so um tell somebody about it hit like share subscribe and help us continue to grow yep okay go to the athletic keep me employed over there uh we will be back tomorrow with another offseason preview go hit the subscribe button over on the YouTube feed game Theory Podcast with Sam Cini until next time we’ll talk soon bye

In this Game Theory offseason preview, Sam Vecenie is joined by Bryce Simon discuss the future of the Milwaukee Bucks.

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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.