The Bucks Are Wasting Their Own Time…

The Bucks Are Wasting Their Own Time…

The Milwaukee Bucks are a team that could potentially change the trajectory of next season more than anyone else in the NBA. And in an offseason where trades have been flying left and right, it seems like everyone is just waiting to see what the Bucks decide to do. We’re a few days into free agency opening up and so far what the Bucks have been doing has not quite been what most have expected from them. If we’re being completely honest with ourselves, it feels as though they are desperately clinging to a lost cause. And the longer they push off the inevitable, the more screwed they are going to end up being. So, in today’s video, we’re going to discuss everything that has led up to the Bucks being in the situation that they are in, why the moves they are making this off season will only set them back further down the line, and why I believe it is officially time for them to accept their fate and trade Giannis Kmpo. Before we start though, it turns out a good amount of you watching right now aren’t even subscribed to the channel. So, if you enjoy the content, consider hitting the subscribe button as not only does it help out a ton, but I’d also very much appreciate it. Now, with that being said, let’s begin. Two years ago, the Bucks shocked the NBA world when they snuck in and traded for Damen Lillard after a long standoff between Lillard and the Trailblazers front office. After over a decade of insisting that he would never leave Portland, Dame finally caved and requested a trade when it became clear that the team was going in a different direction and his chances to compete at the playoff level were done there. But he also went about it in a pretty ridiculous way where he basically told the front office that he only wanted to be traded to the Miami Heat and nowhere else. that pretty much took all of the leeway away from Portland because Miami knew they were the desired destination and Miami never really put forward a competitive offer for him because they assumed that Portland would eventually cave and hand Lillard over to them for pennies on the dollar. But when the Bucks came in and brought forth a substantially better offer, it threw everyone through a loop and Lillard sucked it up and accepted his fate in Milwaukee. The Bucks motivation for doing that at the time was clear. They were a former championship contender that saw themselves starting to fade. Their offensive numbers were noticeably dipping with Anna Dakmpo’s best teammates, Chris Middleton and Drew Holiday, both being clearly past their primes on the offensive end. And Lillard was coming off of yet another year averaging over 30 points per game. So his jolt of shotmaking and playmaking was supposed to give the Bucks one of the most dangerous duos in the league and propel them back to the top of the East. The problem with that move though is that it did in fact not propel them back to the top of the league. And the last two seasons of Bucks basketball has been arguably even more turbulent than the two seasons prior to Lillard’s arrival. Lillard’s first season with the team saw the coach get fired halfway through only for perennial playoff choker Doc Rivers to get hired as his replacement, which then led to the team falling off hard in the second half of that season. The group’s perimeter defense was a complete mess without Drew Holiday anymore, with Lillard himself proving to be a pretty huge liability on that end. Lillard’s offensive output was noticeably in decline, even with him still scoring at a borderline all-star level. And then unfortunately the nail in the coffin came this postseason when Lillard ruptured his Achilles which puts his entire next season at risk and his overall future at risk even after recovery which is pretty murky because he’ll be 36 years old by the time he recovers. With Lillard, this team never had a realistic chance to compete for a championship in either of the last two years. So without him, the group is looking like a cooked product. It may not be easy to hear if you’re a Bucks fan, but if you’re still holding out false hope that they can turn things around with Giannis, you’re coping. And the worst part of it all is that the Bucks front office seems to be amongst the group that is coping based on the moves that they’re making this off season. Every free agency signing, trade, and move in general the Bucks have made this summer make it seem as though they’re gearing up for another playoff run. But Giannis Dumpo himself seems to be getting more and more fed up by the day. They’re running it back with a lot of the players they had last season that hit free agency, having ressigned Bobby Portoris, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., and Torian Prince so far. Then on top of the resignings, they sat back and watched longtime rim protector Brook Lopez sign with the Los Angeles Clippers because they decided to go for a big splash to replace him by signing Miles Turner away from the Indiana Pacers for 4 years and $17 million. Is Miles Turner an objectively better player right now than Brook Lopez? Yeah, he probably is. Is he enough of an upgrade to make the Bucks a legit threat in the East again, which would be the only reason to make a move like this? No, I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he does. Miles Turner is a clear upgrade as a scorer at the center position and capably spaces the floor nicely, but defensively he’s a bit of a snake oil salesman if I’m being completely honest here. Turner has developed a reputation as a rim protector because he is admittedly a great shot blocker that has led the league in blocks a few times, but there’s definitely a difference between being a shot blocker and being a rim protector. And Turner is just not a very good rim protector. He’s way too soft inside to be given that title. And in the playoffs this year, it became very apparent when the Pacers defense was allowing eight fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the bench compared to when he was on the court. In order to make this happen, they also did arguably the most surprising thing of all. They waved Damen Lillard’s contract, paying out the remainder of the $113 million that they owed him over the next 5 years. and that money will still count towards their cap. Meaning they’re throwing a lot of money at him for five more years simply for him to not play for them. This really only makes the tiniest sliver of sense for a team trying to make as many win now moves as possible in the short term because $20 million of dead cap this year is much more manageable than $54 million that they owed him this upcoming season. But that’s also the entire issue. This shouldn’t even be a team trying to hang on to false hope of winning in the short term. Janosan Dumpo is sitting back watching all of this and to no one’s surprise, he seems to be pretty upset about the current state of the team. Both according to a report from NBA insider Chris Haynes and from Giannis’s cryptic tweets himself. And as we all know, Giannis could be on the verge of requesting a trade any day now. If he finally caves and tries to force his way out, then all of the moves that the Bucks have just made will be for nothing. And that’s pretty much the premise of this entire video. The Bucks are holding on to false hope, and the longer they buy into the delusional idea that they can salvage things, the longer the road to recovery will be in the future. amicably working with Giannis to find a new home that can get him back into title contention while also ensuring that the Bucks get a monstrous package worthy of Giannis’ services in return is the path that they should be going down right now. But instead, they’re gearing up for a sixth place finish in a relatively open Eastern Conference without a realistic way to take advantage of it. The Bucks don’t have a first round pick at their disposal until 2030 because of all the trades they made that got them into this mess. And there’s no question that any offer for Giannis should include a minimum of four first round picks to even get the conversation started. It’s never easy to be in this position as a franchise because rebuilds are tough on everyone from the coaches to the players to the front office to even the fan base. But in the long run, as long as you stick to the plan and don’t try to cut corners, they can yield incredible results. Just look at the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’re the reigning champions and are a team built almost entirely organically through the draft after enduring a few lowly rebuild years. And their priority the entire time was to maximize draft capital, accumulate assets, and give themselves enough swings to land talent like Chad Holgrren and Jaylen Williams at the top of the draft. A lineup of Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., Kyle Koosma, Giannis Anadakmpo, and Miles Turner is a frustratingly mediocre lineup. And the fact that the Bucks are pushing for it as if it’s saving the day is just confusing. For the good of everyone involved, it’s time to accept their fate and do what needs to be done. But we’ll have to wait and see if they actually take their medicine and do it. And with that being said, that’s all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below what you think the Bucks need to do.

In this video we discuss how the Milwaukee Bucks are doubling down on a bad situation and why the moves that they are making this offseason will prove to be the wrong ones…

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