The Bucks Lock Up Ryan Rollins But Still Have a Need at Small Forward

The Bucks Lock Up Ryan Rollins But Still Have a Need at Small Forward

A busy July 4th weekend for the Bucks. Some good news. Ryan Rollins back in the mix. We explore the size of the roster and what spots remain open. Coming up next on today’s Locked on Bucks. You are Locked on Bucks, your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome into Locked on Bucks. I’m Justin Garcia joined as always by Camille Davis. You can hear me on the Bucks Radio Network. You can find Camille on the Locked on NBA show and the Technical File podcast as well. We thank you for making this your first listen of the day each and every day. Today’s episode brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. And I mean speaking of those every day too, Camille, uh it’s become regular occurrence. I don’t know about you, just bumping into him out and about in everyday life. Caught up with Brian who is a big-time fan yesterday as you listen to this on a Monday. So, shouts to him and everybody else we’ve we’ve crossed paths with already this summer. But, um it’s been a busy weekend and week really for the Bucks. A busy start to free agency. Uh, we were going to basically spend a decent chunk of time, what would you say, talking yourself into working through the merits of assuming Bradley Beal is in fact uh bought out, waved, and stretched. Can you talk yourself into a fit there as the Bucks were originally um one of those teams linked to him? I think that was a Mark Stein report a couple of days ago late in the week as hey if Bradley Beiel’s a free agent the Bucks are one of those teams that’s checked in on him. So we were preparing for that and then 10 15 minutes before we start recording is when the news comes that Ryan Rollins has in fact agreed to a multi-year extension. It’s going to be more than the minimum as well. Although I’m guessing it’s going to start at the minimum um the base year and then get the uh the annual raises from there. But a three-year $12 million deal for Ryan Rollins. The third year is a player option, though this wasn’t a one plus one. So you got at least two years of Ryan Rollins at a great value contract. I mean, if he gives you the performances we saw down the stretch for $3 million a year, uh, you’re certainly cooking with gas at that point. You really are. And again, he’s a young player. He’s only 23 years old. Um, still has a lot of room to grow potentially here in his game. And we’ve already seen the flashes of how he fits. Like I know there was conversations over the weekend too with the Chris Paul rumors about would Chris Paul come to Milwaukee and I just kept going I I just don’t see it. I don’t see it. I could I could understand if the Bucks were having conversations like hey have a conversation. And that’s good good front officing right there to have a conversation. But ultimately for the fit like I would much rather have Ryan Rollins in the year of 2025 on the Milwaukee Bucks over a 40-year-old Chris Paul who we learned I believe at Essencefest is planning for this upcoming season to be his last. So um wish him the best. But I think what’s best for the Bucks is actually Ryan Rollins to have a younger guard on your roster to take a shot on and see what his growth can be. And plus, I think if they are moving to an offense more so focused around Giannis, having more so of a combo guard um can do you a bit of good. Someone who won’t be upset if the ball is not in his hands 24/7 um like Chris Paul’s used to. Like he’s a point general. Like we know he needs the ball in his hands. So the fit next to Giannis if they want to run the offense this way wasn’t too sure about that. But I am so glad that Ryan Rollins is back on the Milwaukee Bucks. Yeah, I mean it it uh we were talking before we started recording that I I remain pretty confident and I think we even said in in one of our later shows last week, I’m still very confident he’s going to be retained. even, you know, the the qualifying offer gate that went on late in the week, too of people freaking out over that, which I believe was essentially done to basically free up that cap hold and get enough under the cap to work out the Miles Turner signing. You still had early bird rights on him. Um, so I remained pretty confident they were going to retain him. But then you saw more reporting coming out over the weekend of pretty good teams and we talked about it last week too of hey do the Indiana Pacers even kick the tires on Ryan Rollins but good teams linked to him showing interest in him and um you know for the Bucks to get him again at that value and you look at everything that John Horst has done now in this off season like just on the basketball court like we can save the discussion as as we already had it once and I’m sure it’s going going to be uh popping up all throughout the next five years here. But the $22.5 million in dead cap hits for that 5year period. But on the court, um this has been a marvelous off season so far for John Horen company given what they had available. Yeah, sure. Like I can get some people would look at this roster and still be like not impressed, not a championship contender. Woo woo woo. Understandable. I can completely understand feeling that way about the roster. But I think that this roster is well constructed to take that first step in this direction where the offense is really circulating around Giannis. Like you have to question when Brook Lopez signed with the Clippers which I believe also became official today. Um like who is going to take that other big rotation spot because you brought Bobby Portoris back which was needed. I believe you go and get Miles Turner who can do a lot of what Brook Lopez gave you. Plus he’s really good in that mid-range area as well. You bring back your your guards that you saw some flashes with last year. You’re bringing back your Kevin Porter Jr. who’s 25 years old. You’re bringing back your Gary Trent Jr. who’s 27 years old. Um and now of course you’re bringing back Ryan Rollins in that group as well. You resigned Jericho Sims. Uh you brought Gary Harris on board. You’re bringing Torian Prince back which I’m still two years shocked me a little bit but for a regular again Camille the one plus one it shouldn’t shock you. You know, you know what? You’re right. That is the horse special. You are right. But all in all, like you look at the team, like the weakness that I see in the team right now is just that all the guards are kind of small. Like all around that 63, 6’4 range for the most part. And you’re looking at like your wing rotation here. And it’s like the only guy you have that’s really like 66, 67, 68. You have, you know, Andre Jackson Jr., you got Koozma, you got Tyler Smith. if you see him more as a small forward over a power forward at this point at 69. So like the wing rotation is still a little interesting uh to me, but I’m happy in the direction of the guards, but just wish they had a little bit more size still on the wing. The wing is the most interesting part. I mean, they have put themselves in a good spot in the back court. Um you know, we we’ve talked quite a bit about well, number one, let’s start with Kevin Porter Jr. in his size that he gives you. Uh not that he’s like a 7 foot point guard, but he’s got very good wingspan and I think he’s what 6’4 6’5. You saw how that factored into the steels uh all through last year when he was with the Bucks. Ryan Rollins, as we’ve talked about quite a bit, has a near 7 foot wingspan. So, you feel good in the back court, but to your point, it’s on the perimeter. And those wing players where you a little bit of a blind spot there that it’s pretty much just Tory Prince. And as you noted, Tyler Smith, which I don’t think we have time to get into it on today’s show, but certainly as we get deep into summer league, that’s worth keeping an eye on because, uh, everybody, I’m sure, started to see some of those Tyler Smith workout highlight videos that were popping up late last week as well. That certainly leaves you intrigued about what type of a step forward he took in the offseason. And, you know, as we said last year, the shot is an NBA shot. He has a knack for being around the ball. So, if he can improve overall his ball skills and everything else, um, then maybe you got something there. So, that’s going to be an interesting thing to monitor throughout the course of summer league. But now, as we look at this roster, again, we uh think Vasamichi is giving back some money and taking a buyout to go play overseas, but he’s still noted on the roster for the Bucks at all the cab sites that we use. So they’re currently at 14. That figures to change with the Misich status and that would take you down to 13 and open up two roster spots. Um the interesting thing is Bogalu Marovit and is he going to be on the roster? We saw conflicting reports there. Uh one of the big cells of you know he’s going to be cheap. Doesn’t really matter now that the Bucks made the moves that they did to free up as much room. And that’s the same point too for you know one of the other conversations that we had annually and that was well do you keep the 15 spot open to save some money up against the tax there and stay under the second apron. Um that doesn’t matter now either. I mean you could keep it open for flexibility but um I would assume they’re going to be at 14 and that Maravic is is going to be on the NBA club. So then you’re looking at a backcourt rotation of KPJ and Ryan Rollins. Um I who who look we’re getting way in front of ourselves, but who would you assume starts there between K Kevin Jr. and Rollins? I I think they’re going to have to earn it in training camp. But if but before knowing how the battle goes out, I think it might be Kevin Porter Jr. to start. Um that’s the point guard. the shooting guard has some depth there as well with one of the names that you noted and then you feel really good about the front court. So, we’ll take a bigger peek at that rotation now with Ryan Rollins in tow a three-year contract that he signs with the Bucks to stay here for at least the next two years. And maybe, just maybe, there’s another shooting guard small forward we can factor into the mix as well. We’ll get into that conversation coming up next. This next segment of Lockdown Bucks is brought to you by FanDuel. It’s summertime, so sports are in full swing. Whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high stakes soccer action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action, so why not make it a little more thrilling? With FanDuel, you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach. You get paid outs instantly. Fast payouts. It’s easy to use. It makes regular season games feel like mustwatch events. If you’re placing a same game parlay or watching a bet ride into the ninth inning, FanDuel makes it feel like you’re parts of the action. If you’re new to FanDuel, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the FanDuel app today or visit fanduel.com to get started. So, uh yeah, Rollins and KPJ at the point guard spot for you. You got Gary Trent Jr., uh AJ Green, Gary Harris, all out there at the two guard spot. Um, you know, when we talked about too to to get to the next level here, Camille, we talk about the wing guys. Um, Scott Kuz have a chance to be the small forward for this team. A chance. I mean, ideally, he’s a power forward, but it’s, hey, number one, we’re banking on he’s going to have a bounceback season, but also is there a chance there? I mean, I I think what you’ll get to here is the struggle of Does it work next to Giannis? Exactly. Exactly. Like a chance for sure. There’s a chance for it. Like to give Kyle Kosma some grace um coming from situation that he came from in Washington where his role was completely different than what’s being asked of him in Milwaukee. You would hope that having an off season, knowing where his spots are going to be, understanding how the Bucks want to utilize him, he can focus his offseason training on that a bit more. Like to his own admission when he got here, one part that he said that he had to continue to work on was his conditioning where he was just like, “Hey, like they’re actually asking me to to check up some of these really tough offensive options here and I’m not used to exerting as much energy as I have been so far. Like I’m still getting my leg underneath me, but like I’m finding my rhythm. So like I am giving him some grace. Like there is a chance where you see a stronger Kosma season than what we saw last year, especially how the playoffs went for him. But the thing with Kyle Kosma is just the shooting aspect. Like if he can’t space the floor and be a true threat playing next to Giannis as a starter just doesn’t make sense. Like we saw the lineup that made a lot more sense to end the year and you brought a lot of those guys back. So if you want to run something out to start, I would assume you’re going to try to see what the Kevin Porter Jr., uh, Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Giannis, Bobby Poris, or in this case now, Miles Turner lineup looks like to start the season and then maybe through training camp and other battles and through the season that adjust. So, it does leave you overall with a pretty big blind spot there. I mean, Torian Prince is a small forward. Um, I I think the good news here too is the fact that you kept KPJ and Ryan Rollins, you kept Gary Trent Jr. and uh you even brought in Gary Harris for some added depth there. I don’t think we have to worry about Torian Prince playing out of position at two guard this season. So fingers crossed that’s that’s a positive there. But yeah, it’s it’s Torian Prince and I’m gonna call Andre Jackson Jr. a small forward at this point. And I think that’s ideally where he slots in. So that’s it for the uh wing guys that you have out there. And as we noted, you feel pretty good about your front court to have that same group as you did a year ago again when you’re at your best to have Giannis and Bobby Portoris, Jericho Sims in the mix and then a traditional center only this time it’s somebody that’s eight years younger than Brook Lopez and gives you basically the same profile of play in Miles Turner. So that’s definitely the strength of this Bucks team, but it just leaves that small forward spot as the one thing of h let’s let’s wait and see how this looks here. And you know, it brings you to an interesting name that we’ve certainly talked about uh quite a bit through the last uh what 13 months basically. And that is Bradley Beal, who has been linked to the Bucks a couple of times. We mentioned some of that reporting, I believe, by Mark Stein last week that the Bucks were one of the teams that was interested in Bradley Beal’s services if he were to hit the open market. John Gamadoro, the um pretty plugged into the Suns reporter and radio host in Phoenix, has been saying for a while, Bradley Beiel is not going to be on this team next season. And uh as of Sunday’s recording, making it sound like it’s coming close here. It’s nearing the end and the Suns are working on a buyout with him where they will then wave and stretch him and pay him over five years. The big hold up there is that uh Bradley Beal I believe is making slightly more than Damen Lillard. So um they can’t just outright wave and stretch him because that would absorb more than the 15% of the cap which you can’t have. So, sounds like they’re working on a buyout and they will then wave and stretch him and then Bradley Beal is free to sign with anyone. Now, some of her friends in Boston are um working through that cope right now. You’ve heard not so much the Warriors, but other teams talking about Damen Lillard and him hitting the market and the interest that’s being shown in him. I think one of the selling points there is, okay, well, if it’s the veteran minimum, absolutely, we’re interested. Now, we don’t know that it’s a veteran minimum that Damen Lillard would be willing to take, but I think the same applies to Bradley Beal. For as much as you and I throughout the last year plus have said, I don’t know if this is really the fit. Well, if you’re telling me it’s $3 million, then yeah, it’s a fit in my mind. Yeah. Yeah, the situation’s a little different if he’s a buyout candidate rather than what we’ve heard over the last couple years, even prior before he was traded to Phoenix when he was still in Washington. And there were rumors of the Bucks having interest in Bill. At that time, I wasn’t interested in the Bradley Bill, Chris Middleton trade because again, I one Chris Middleton went healthy, his fit with the Bucks and with Giannis. It just felt too invaluable to me for Bill at that time. And on top of that, he’s a smaller guard. Yeah. Yeah. And and look, there’s been no indication that Bradley Bill is interested in the Bucks. We’ve just heard a list of teams that have reportedly shown interest in him. I point that part out because you brought up that Chris Middleton deal. I mean, Bradley Beal spoke about that and I forget what his exact do you remember? But it was basically like I wasn’t as interested in Milwaukee when I heard that because he kind of questioned their loyalty if they were willing to move on from Chris Middleton. Yeah. And he said he didn’t want to do Chris like that. And yeah, all right. Whatever the case may be with that particular situation, it didn’t happen. Um and then you know we even threw it out I think as a joke. I think Frank mentioned it of like dame for you know Bill straight up who says no. We were like ah don’t even don’t even do it. Don’t speak it. But again, a situation where he’s not being paid 55 million, uh, but rather that contract is a bit more reasonable changes the expectation for what you get from the player. And for Bradley Bill, like the idea of another score, a a shot creator on this team sounds good. But for me, again, he’s another guy who’s 6’4. So, it’s it would add to the room of a bunch of 6’4, you know, 63 guards that you’re trying to also play at the three spot, which you can. Um but having some more positional size I think would be would be positive. Yeah. Uh a couple of people brought that trade up throughout this whole off season here about well what about making this move and I mean in a vacuum yeah it it helps the Bucks more than it does the Suns and that’s why it was it was really never going to happen because Phoenix is not just going to take on Damen Lillard’s money and especially who knows what Phoenix is doing. It seems like they’re rebuilding, but they’re not. Um, but they they need help now. And that was the issue with a a deal for Dame trade. Uh, but if you’re the Bucks, if you could essentially do that and say you also get Miles Turner, I do think that’s a massive win for you to say, “Hey, if we’re getting Bradley Beal at this cost, at a veteran minimum, and that’s all it could be, too.” Which I we kind of cleared it up last week, too. But the Bucks don’t have any options. There’s no mid-level. There’s no taxpayer mid-level. There’s no bianual because they became a cap space team. So, they just had the room exception, which I believe I don’t know if it’s was confirmed, but that figure is the same amount that they paid to Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. So, I’m guessing they used it on those two guys. So, it’s just a veteran minimum that the Bucks could offer Bradley Bale in this spot. And there’s other teams that I’m sure would be interested and have more to spend, which that makes it interesting. Uh Bradley Bill’s preferred destination certainly makes that interesting. Um I mean, I have an interesting question for you that we’ll save for the next segment here. So, we’ll ask that question. We’ll take a look at some of Bradley Beiel’s splits as a small forward uh last season with the Phoenix Suns and say goodbye to yet another name reportedly for the Bucks coming up after this. So, all things being equal, who would you rather sign on a veteran minimum contract this season, Bradley Beal or Damen Lillard? Oo. And by equal, you mean assuming both were healthy, or are we accounting for the fact that Dame will not be playing for this? You know, let’s assume that let’s let’s just take the injury out of it and say Dame’s ready to go at the start of the season. Oo, we I think I would. So, here here’s my dilemma between the two, thinking of them both on a minimum, right? the dame aspect of it taking injury out assuming health here. Uh you’ve seen some of the results of what that looks like with him in a Bucks jersey, right? You’ve seen him and Giannis look be the highest scoring duo in the league, but you’ve still seen where you’re like something about the pairing playoff games, right? Two playoff games. Something about the parents still felt like there was money left on the table between the two of them and just the utilization of the players. and maybe that would change if you do go the route of playing Dame a little bit more off ball and allowing him to run different units and how you utilize him in that way. So, there’s some hope there, but we’ve also talked about the the 62 the 61 guard um and some of the challenges that that can cause defensively. Like teams are going to test Dame. That’s just what they’re going to do until he shows he can, you know, stop it or that the team can figure out a way to stop the action. the Bradley Bill component of it. You have a little bit more size honestly, not all that much more defense um based on the way that Bill plays. So, yeah, the question becomes like, do you trust the way that Bill can get a bucket? Um and he’s used to playing off ball. That’s not something that he’d have to get accustomed to. Um a little bit more size like I said, and you know, the shot creation is there, but it’s a that’s a tough one. That’s a tough one. I think I would lean Beal just because we’ve seen the Dame um experiment and I would feel comfortable with the back court with C Kevin Porter Jr. um and Ryan Rollins out there for the defensive edge that you get there. So I think I would go Bill and I’m actually kind of shocked after working that out. Yeah. So, about a third of Bradley Beal’s minutes on the floor, uh, lineups that the Suns rolled out last year with Beal on the floor, about a third of them, Beal was this the small forward, uh, which is more than I anticipated. I mean, I know it was clunky to have Beal and Devin Booker out there and Kevin Durant, but he’s done it. Uh, to your point, he’s not the ideal size for it. Now, if you’re saying, “Well, we’ve got Giannis next to him and we’ve got Miles Turner behind Giannis to protect the rim,” then I can talk myself into it a lot more. Um, the debate between the two of them, I said, “Let’s look at it all things being equal and take out the Dame injury.” Because I think without that, and I hesitate to even say this because it sounds like you’re bashing Dame, but without that, I don’t really think it’s a question because of the fact that we don’t know when Dame is going to come back this season. Um, I would assume he is going to come back this season given the work we’ve seen him put in and the teams that have already reached out to him and reportedly interested in signing him this off season, but we don’t know when that’s going to be. You know, like some people have already floated out all-star break after the all-star break, which maybe possible ambitious though. Good on him if it is. But yeah, I mean it’s it’s probably like late March is the safe bet. maybe just in time for the playoffs. So, there’s that uncertainty. And, you know, again, the thing that we tried to stress up until last week when Damen Lillard was still on the roster is that look, I’m not going to bet against the guy, but right, history and the numbers are not in your favor. They are not great when you look one by one. And I forget who it was, but somebody released an infographic chart a couple of days ago. Uh you saw this I’m assuming with the nod showing the most notable players in the last what 25 30 years more than that because Dominique Wilkins was on the list. Um but the most notable guys to suffer an Achilles injury and what those numbers were post Achilles and there is one guy that bucked the trend and that’s the guy that just so happens to be historically maybe the most efficient scoring forward of all time in a league that still has LeBron James and um Larry Bert, right? and Kevin Durant that he was a guy that you said it came when he was I think 30, 29 or 30 years old, but he’s still a seven-footer that can get up his shot over anyone. And that has continued. His numbers went up. Every single player on that list, the numbers go down. A lot of them go down drastically. And to your point about Dame being an undersized guard and relying on burst and needing your Achilles for that, that is certainly something you can’t just dismiss. So, I think if you leave that in there, it’s probably going to be easier for teams to talk themselves into Bradley Beal. Um, Buck’s certainly the biggest one of those to say, “Hey, we just had the conversation or or will continue to have it quite frankly with the makeup of this group.” Barring another John Horst uh stunner that we don’t see coming. I don’t know who the consistent number two scoring option is. I think the Bucks have rounded out a roster with the best player in the conference, arguably the best player in the league, and a handful of guys that if I told you they’re your third option, you’d feel pretty good about it, but not really a second option. And that’s again, maybe he’s not the ideal number two option, but it’s another area where Bradley Beal could be pretty helpful to you. He could. He could. And maybe the the Bucks decide to go in the way where it’s a more just uh by committee approach to scoring. I mean, maybe Miles Turner giving some of the juice about what the Pacers offense was doing over there. Um, and just moving the ball, getting all these different guys involved, but I think that’s the just how this team is constructed right now because I don’t feel comfortable saying like they have a bonafide number two on their roster. They got some guys who can put the ball in the hoop for sure or can get hot. Like we’ve seen Kevin Porter Jr. get hot. We’ve seen Gary Trent Jr. do it. We’ve seen Bobby do it off the bench. Like they have some guys where you combine them, you can get some scoring, but no one who you would go to like that’s the number two for sure guaranteed. Like again, Giannis and Dame were the highest scoring duo in the league. You’re trying to replace like a given what 25 points a night pretty much from Dame. So it’s going to be difficult, but it might have to be by committee form. Yeah. And I mean I I I didn’t really anticipate spending this much time on Bradley Beal. Uh this one’s on me, but um you know, we can point to the numbers and say, well, they went down in Phoenix. Uh that is true. So did the usage rate massively that it was, you know, the two years in Phoenix, his usage rate was the lowest it had been since his first three years in the league. Um so I mean that’s a component there, too. The the the three-point shooting was great his first year in Phoenix. It was good last year. was a 39% three-point shooter at five attempts per game, but he was a 43% shooter his first year in Phoenix. And again, that’s the other selling point is look, we got other shooters on the floor and we got this guy named Giannis that’s going to create a lot of open looks for you. So, we expect the efficiency numbers to rise if in fact this happens that Bradley Beal is bought out, waved and stretched, and then there is a mutual interest between uh he and the Bucks. But I do think it’s a much different scenario than it was last year when we were talking. And two years ago, too, when we were talking about this and we were all kind of like, I don’t think so. Not for me. Um, for this price, yes, this one would be for me. Um, last thing to touch on here. It is I don’t think anything has been officially announced yet as as we record this on July 6th. It’s the start of free agency and moratorium lifting. But Mark Stein had the report a couple of days ago, we’ve referenced Mark Stein a lot on today’s show, that uh the Orlando Magic had a strong interest in Bucks assistant coach Joe Prunty. And now it appears that the front dog is going to be joining Jamal Mosley as one of his assistants in Orlando. Yeah. Two-time interim head coach of the Milwauke. Yeah. Two time with the Bucks. Three time period interim head coach Joe Prunty. The front dog. Um the fact that he’s been here through the different regimes too um at different times. Like I’m a fan of Joe Prunty. I wish him the best in Orlando if this move becomes official. But it makes some sense. Like before we started recording, we talked a bit about just his role on the staff and Doc bringing more of his guys in. So him looking for another opportunity elsewhere could make some sense. Um, so in end of another era, but if this Joe Prunty saga has taught us anything, there’s a chance he could be back in the future. That was the, you know, when when you go back to, god, two summers ago already, the hiring of Adrien Griffin and wondering, okay, who else is going to be on his staff and then seeing, well, Joe Prunty and Terry Sts and and the warm and fuzzies that came back with Joe Prunty being back in Milwaukee. I mean, he is, I think, at this point, arguably the most beloved assistant coach. He is without question the most beloved interim coach in Bucks franchise history. But, uh, he’s up there. He’s on the Mount Rushmore of most beloved Bucks assistant coaches through the years. He’s got to be. He’s got to be. Like, I can still see him on the sideline in that Boston series after Kid was fired and I was just like, “Bro’s going to do it. We gonna find a way.” It didn’t go that way. But but that’s one of my favorite Joe Prunty like coaching moments was just that series against Boston that year. Um Chris Middleton hit a a big shot down the stretch like it was just a fun series. That team wasn’t breaking sideline shot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was a fun one. So that’s one that always comes to my head when I think of Prie and the coaching. But again just the different eras that he’s been here like to go from kid to Griffin to Doc like that’s that’s quite a swing. I was uh I was hoping to vamp a little bit and trying to to go through my notes um and pull up the uh press conference that Prunty gave the pregame before the second game against the Cavs. Um because so when he was the interim coach named the interim coach last year it was two Cavs games and a Pelicans game and the first Cavs game I don’t think we heard from Prunty until postgame because that’s when John Horst addressed the media and talked about the decision to move on from Adrien Griffin. The scuttlebutt was already out there about Doc Rivers. They obviously couldn’t comment on it at the time, but talking about what they were looking for in a coach and yada yada yada. The second game was when we got the full Prunty and I can’t remember and I was trying to to find the notes and dig through it and find the quote, but that one was where you just again were reminded of, man, this guy is truly the best because it was just dead pan self-deprecating humor all throughout his pregame press conference. And that was the Joe Prunty experience for the most part where he could be earnest and honest with you and he could break down the game with the best of them when you hear some of the hits that he’ll do at halftime with Mel and any other media that he does like he can talk you through what’s happening and the the man’s illustrious background too in international coaching. He can break it down with the best of him. But I think what made him so endearing was just the personality. Frank and others have called him Mr. Smithers and it’s just the total package for Joe Prunty. So that’s what again once assuming this is official that he goes to Orlando. But um that’s going to be the bummer and certainly some very very fond memories of Joe Prunty throughout his time here in Milwaukee. It’s going to make for interesting joining the Magic staff because Jamal Moley obviously has the Milwaukee ties and now you’re adding Joe Prunty into that mix. It’s going to be a lot of Milwaukee tie-ins when the Bucks and the Magic play, and we hope those are going to be pretty fascinating and pretty good games now that the Bucks have kept this core intact, gotten younger, and brought in Miles Turner in place of uh of Brook Lopez. But, um, yeah, I mean, it was a staff that was getting quite large. And you can’t help but wonder, Camille, if there’s Joe Prunty’s gone, if there’s a former player for Doc Rivers that’s going to take on that spot who did quite a bit of job shadowing with the Bucks last year. Are you talking about Mr. Rondo there who might uh want to officially step into the coach? May or may not be referring to him. We’ll have to see. We’ll have to see. like the the coaching trees are starting to shake a little bit more at this point in the season too. So, uh we’ll have to see because there was some interest in Darvin Ham too from some other teams, but that would be more of a lateral move. So, I believe Mark Stein was also saying he doesn’t think that Ham will leave, but something to keep an eye on as coaching staffs continue to fill out around the league. And one of those teams was the Phoenix Suns, which would just be very fascinating if Darinham turned them down last year with Mike Benhoer and then jumps there, right? uh this year. Um we’ve got and bad bad job here by me, Camille, because um it was a holiday weekend. I think we all kind of took advantage of that and have just kind of been aware, made aware of like, all right, I got to stay in the loop for news updates here. But outside of that, haven’t followed everything as closely as I should have. Uh summer league schedule. Have the Bucks started Summer League yet? They have not started summer league yet, but we do have the roster. Yeah, I know we have the roster and I saw a lot of people questioning too like Chris Livingston is on the summer league roster. I mean, it is an awkward situation, but Chris Livingston needs to find a job, right? So, this is a way to showcase yourself to other teams and catch on with someone else. Yeah, it’s an opportunity for him. So, that doesn’t surprise me so much. But I mean, tomorrow’s episode, we can talk a bit more about that summer league team, who’s on it, um, and guys that we’re interested in seeing because summer league, I believe, kicks off on the 10th. Thursday. Yeah. Yeah. So, we’re we’re getting close. We’re getting close. Uh, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Wednesday the 16th, is the Bucks final game, assuming they don’t advance here in the tournament. But, Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, an 8:30 tip for the Bucks first summer league game. So, we’ll get you set for that one. as we draw closer and closer to uh basketball return. And before you know it too, Camille, we’re gonna get the NBA schedule that’s probably five weeks away now at this point. So, it’s starting to pick up steam now this off season. That’ll do it for today’s show. Thanks to everybody for tuning in. We’ll talk with you once again tomorrow on Locked on Bucks.

Bucks make waves with Ryan Rollins re-signing and Bradley Beal rumors. Is Milwaukee gearing up for another championship run?

Justin Garcia and Camille Davis break down the Milwaukee Bucks’ latest moves, analyzing Rollins’ multi-year extension and its impact on the team’s future. The duo explores potential roster additions, including the buzz surrounding Bradley Beal, and how these changes could reshape the Bucks’ offensive strategy. They also discuss Joe Prunty’s departure to the Orlando Magic and preview the upcoming Summer League action.

Tune in for expert insights on how these developments could affect Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ championship aspirations. Will Milwaukee’s roster moves pay off in the upcoming NBA season?

0:00 Intro: Busy July 4th weekend for the Bucks
5:21 Analyzing the Bucks’ offseason moves so far
12:13 Kyle Kuzma’s potential role as small forward
15:59 Bradley Beal buyout rumors and Bucks interest
21:20 Comparing Bradley Beal vs. Damian Lillard
27:07 Bucks’ scoring options and roster construction
31:45 Joe Prunty likely joining Orlando Magic staff
36:05 Upcoming Summer League schedule for Bucks

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