Where will the Bucks finish in the East? Vegas odds are in…and is Andre Jackson Jr long for MKE?
Where does Las Vegas think the Bucks will finish in the Eastern Conference standings? How far off base are their projections? And what’s the future for Andre Jackson Jr.? Camille and I dig into those topics and more 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 Lockdown Bucks. I’m Justin Garcia joined as always by Camille Davis. We thank you for making this your first listen of the day each and every day. You can of course hear me uh during the season on the Bucks Radio Network. You can find Camille’s work on the Locked NBA show and the Technical File podcast every week. Uh we we started the show Camille mentioning the overunders have have come out. the win totals, I suppose we should put it, have come out. And um this was one of those more so than any other recent year where I was really curious to see, all right, where do they have the Bucks? And then you go in alphabetical order and you start to see some of the numbers come in for teams like Boston and Atlanta. Like, okay, I wonder if it’s going to be splitting the difference there or if it’s going to be closer to Boston. and um more the latter. So, we checked a few different sports books. Obviously, uh FanDuel is the number one in our hearts, but uh it ranged anywhere from 43 and a half to 45 and a half wins for the Bucks. Now, they won 49 and 48 in each of the last two seasons. So, they have been gradually kind of moving south of 50 wins. And just for context, that uh we’ll go with the 45 since that popped up more. 45 and a half wins uh would put the Bucks tied with I believe two other teams for fifth in the Eastern Conference, which is right where they were a season ago. And I think frankly right in that range. And if you forced me to pick where I would probably slot them in to begin with, like my range is look, if everything breaks right for this team, I could see them finishing third in the Eastern Conference. Yeah, if it takes a little bit of time if they have injuries, I could see them potentially pushing to get out of the playin tournament. So, fifth seems like the sweet spot, and I think that’s where most of us kind of assumed it would be. Yeah, I’ve been saying top six for sure is where I can pencil this team. I could definitely see it being as high as third in the East. Um, if things go terribly wrong, I could even see the Bucks being a playin team. But more realistically, I think somewhere in that five, four, five range, which as said, similar to how they finished last year, is where I think they’ll be. And when thinking about the win totals, the first thing I went to go check when I saw the 43.5 from FanDuel, you know, around 45 wins on other sites, it’s just like when is the last time the Bucks actually won fewer than 44 games and you have to go back to the last year without Mike Benhoer, the 201718 season when the Bucks went 44 and 38. Um, and they finished seventh in the East that year. And as we know, they lost in the first round um as well as the Prunty uh Boston series. So that’s the last time you have to go back quite a few years for the last time the Bucks finished there. And then my thought is looking at the standings from this past year, which teams ran through the conference, right? Boston was one of them and the Cavaliers was the other. And if Boston is scheduled to take more L’s this year, which I think is a safe assumption, it’s like where do some of those other wins come from? So, it’s really interesting kind of thinking about how the East might shake out. And my first gut instinct for the overunder for the Bucks, if I had to take one or the other of 43.5, I think it’s going to be very close to that, but I think I would take the over, even slight, very slight over for the Bucks at that number. Um, assuming full health here and assuming there’s maybe at least one other move to happen yet, I would lean towards the over as well. Um, just because I mean sometimes technology doesn’t work out the way that you hope that it does. But Justin’s talking about how he would take the over uh for the Milwaukee Bucks as well for a few different reasons. We got him back. We I mean we said before the show when it happened before we started recording, we should be good. It got out of the system here, but apparently not. Man, uh I would take the over just in large part you got Giannis and you mentioned the last time they had won that that few amount of games was the final Jason Kidd Joe Prunty year. I mean, looking through the history of the Bucks um with Giannis with Giannis at not even that level, but just Giannis getting removed from rookie year and sophomore year when he really started to put together um all the conversations of man, every single statistical category has gone up each year. From that point forward, it’s it’s been a different team where they’ve you can pencil them in for a winning record. They have had a winning record nine consecutive seasons now and been in the playoffs nine consecutive seasons. So, um I don’t think there’s a 50- win season here. Maybe there is. You know, with with East being down and if what we saw the final eight games of the season, you see large doses of that, all right, maybe you’re right where you were a season ago in win total. Um maybe you could get up to 50 wins. But I think 45 and a half what we mentioned we saw more frequently is kind of right where I would place it in like 44 45 46 wins for this group this season. And that I suppose is one of the more interesting parts too is the Bucks won 48 games last season and that was um the five seed and you know we mentioned 43 and a half with a lot of these sites is fifth sixth or seventh in the Eastern Conference. So they’re really not high on those teams. you started to bring this up too, but I I think one of the other interesting things to look at is the Cleveland Cavaliers um across the board are predicted to win the most games in the Eastern Conference. I believe 55 and a half was unanimous in every one of these services. Um the Knicks 52 a half, the Orlando Magic 51 and a half. So, those three teams projected to be the class of the Eastern Conference and the only three teams to win at least 50 games. The Western Conference, meanwhile, has the Oklahoma City Thunder at 62 and a half. That is the highest win total before a season that we have seen since the Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors. Um, so you have them at 62 and a half. The Nuggets and Rockets are both in the mid-50s. Timberwolves 51 and a half. Lakers are 47 and a half somehow. We’ll see about that. But um the the Cavs is the interesting one to me because of what they did last season being a 60- win team. So you’re down to 55 and a half, but also know we kind of see this pop up where you come on strong. You have the most wins in your conference. you flame out is a bit harsh, but your postseason ends sooner than expected and then the spin next season is we weren’t healthy. We are going to be this year and we’re going to rest our guys and we value the postseason over the regular season. So, I do wonder if you know everybody’s saying Cavs are the best in the East. If the Cavs aren’t going to be the one seed, if the Cavs are going to be the two or even the three seed and just say, “Hey, if Orlando wants it, go get it. We’re worried about the playoffs.” Same for the Knicks to a lesser extent. Same for the Atlanta Hawks as well, who’s a team that’s getting a lot of hype so far. And the Knicks, I’m interested to see what their season looks like under new direction because we know how Typo like he liked to run now that they’re actually going to play a bench. Like what does that mean for that mean? What does that look like for them? What how does that change the equation for him? So curious to see that. And then you have a team like the Sixers who finished 13th in the East last year with the rash of injuries they have. We haven’t really heard much about Joel Embiid and his health so far throughout this off seasonason. It’s been very quiet, but their FanDuel uh win totals is set at 43.5 just like the Bucks. Um so that’s a team that I’m looking at too because they have some interesting young pieces over there with Maxi, with McCain that we saw. They just drafted VJ Edgecomb who looks the part in very limited summer league at least athleticism is there for him. So it’s like what can you get from there but what’s the health status of Joel Embiid? What is Paul George going to look like this season? Do you have enough bench depth on that team as well? So like the teams I keep looking at like how things finished last year and then what teams are projected to be maybe better or worse this upcoming season. It put you into an interesting boat because you had four teams last year that won at least 50 games with the Pacers, the Knicks, the Celtics, and the Cavs. And two of those teams, Pacers, and Celtics. You’re not expecting that same type of outcome from them this upcoming season. So, it’s like, well, who then moves up? We’ve mentioned Orlando. We’ve mentioned Atlanta, a team that’s been really hot, too. I think you got to give Detroit some respect as well. I think that the Heat will be more more coherent this season, not having to deal with the Jimmy Butler thing. Uh they didn’t they won like 37 games last year. I could see them around that 40 42 mark again this year, too. So like there’s going to be quite a few teams I think in the East kind of jockeying around that same point for the Bucks, which again is kind of what you expect when you hear a conference is wide open. There’s some interesting teams in that when you look at to me the two two of the more interesting teams, the Hawks and the Magic for the obvious reasons. And you know, not only that, but you you look at those are two teams that can point to injuries derailed our season a year ago that I believe when the Bucks beat the Pacers on New Year’s Eve, the Hawks were in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. the magic where um in fourth for large portions of that runup to um to the second half of the season before ultimately the injuries were just too much for them to overcome. So are those the two teams that come on strong? You mentioned Philly too. They’re the ultimate unknown with what Embiid is going to look like, what Paul George is going to look like, how the young pieces fit in and and just what are the expectations there? So, it really is a fascinating year here for the Eastern Conference, but unfortunately not for reasons that you would have hoped of a couple of years ago and it’s Bucks, P uh Pistons, Bucks, Sixers, and Celtics. These three teams, who’s going to win it a little more tempered now this season. So, leave your thoughts in the comments. Uh we’ll split the difference here and say 44 and a half wins for the Bucks over or under. again with still some ways to go here in the offseason and some moves that this team could potentially make. Uh speaking of moves they could potentially make, we hinted at this on yesterday’s show with one of the decisions the Bucks made for a current player under contract. We’ll get into that conversation coming up next. Time to talk to you about our friends at Monarch Money. 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Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That is monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. All right, Camille. So, the big piece of uh business now for the Bucks, number one, what happens with the other roster spots? Um, what happens with our guy Marovic as well, Marovich? Um, and what happens with Andre Jackson Jr., who we mentioned on yesterday’s show at a partial guarantee, the Bucks mutually agreed with Ajax to push that back. And in exchange for doing that, uh, they’re guaranteeing a little bit more of his contract right now. So, why would you do that and push back the guarantee date? Um, I mean, it almost certainly has to be. We’re trying to see what other flexibility we can create here. And we don’t really want to attach a 2031 first round pick to any other deal. We might have to give up a young player. We definitely not giving up AJ Green. We kind of like the hype videos that have come out so far from Tyler Smith. So, let’s name that one. Uh well, we got this other guy that’s not making a ton of money. very athletic, very good defensive player, young, maybe you could get something out of him. Is this a uh we’re pushing back the guarantee date because maybe we’re working on something here. It could be. It could be. The word I keep coming back to is the flexibility of it. I hit him with the windhorse fingers because what does this mean? That’s that’s exactly what I said when I saw it of like that’s just kind of interesting. I mean, I Yeah. I mean, I I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but honestly, what else could it be? Right. Right. So, with that and knowing summer league starts in a few days, um I did see some people thinking like maybe his summer league performance will dictate everything. And I don’t know if I would go that far to put that much weight on summer league, but he is a guy entering into his third season who’s still at summer league. There are still things that this team wants to see from his development. And even before last season ended, I pointed to this off seasonason and said, “This is going to be a very big off season for Andre Jackson Jr. because he has certain tools that you can look at and say like, hey, if we can figure out these other pieces, we want him on the court because he is a 66 guy with some crazy athleticism.” Although you don’t always see that athleticism on the offensive end. sometimes the decision-making can be a little slow. Uh the playmaking that he was heralded for in college hasn’t necessarily translated all the way so far in the NBA. So for summer league and Andre Jackson Jr., it’s been a question of like can we see the decision-m process quicker? Can we see the offensive trigger be a little bit quicker as well? like he doesn’t seem to have any hesitation at this point now shooting like the corner threes and things of that sort, but there have been times when he’s around the rim where you’re like go up like you you’re you’re athletic like finish and it’s a pass out. Like just making the right decision so for the Bucks to push back the guarantee date again. It’s more flexibility for them in case something else comes up that they want to make a move on. Uh but for Andre Jackson Jr. I think it’s another reminder too of just like hey there things can change quickly. Um and Chris Livingston I know Justin but Chris Livingston is another example of that of like sometimes in development you’re putting it in but you’re not seeing the results so you make a move to do something different. Um so that could be the case for Andre as well. Yeah. And another thing we talked about, I think this was yesterday’s show, is the the depth that the Bucks have suddenly built up here. And there’s been one national voice, we’ve talked about it, but one national voice that has actually embraced that and said, you know, they actually have some depth here and it’s not highlevel uh talent that you’re talking about to round out this roster. Uh the the big question that still remains to be answered, who’s the second best player on this team? Is it Miles Turner? Who’s the number two scoring option? But the Bucks have suddenly started to find basically everything that they were looking for and carving out that back court and finding young talent. Um for all intents and purposes, Giannis is the oldest player on this team now. So most of the objectives have been met. that that national uh voice by the way, Nate Duncan, who was just talking about it on their show yesterday. But, you know, Andre Jackson Jr. at this point, as we mentioned, is is basically a three. And the lack of a consistent shot is going to hurt him and make it tough for him to play in the back court. Um, the overall size, like he has great defensive instincts. He can move his feet. He’s got enough of a wingspan that he’s he’s great at defending those types of positions, but he can’t really go up too far that it’s depending on the point guard, depending on the two guard and the small fork. That’s what he can handle. So, he kind of slots into that three spot. Torian Prince is in front of him in the depth chart. Um, I know that’s going to draw the eye of a lot of Bucks fans, but Torian Prince was what, a 43% three-point shooter last year. And when he was not asked to play out of position, um he was perfectly fine on the defensive end of the floor. Is Andre Jackson Jr. a better individual defender? Yeah. But the whole package, Torian Prince is in front of him. Kyle Kosma is I guess it it depends on how you view it, but he’s a three slash4 for the Bucks. Kyle Kosma is in front of Andre Jackson Jr. as well. Even though what we saw from Cuz in a Bucks uniform, the offense was certainly comparable between those two, but you know, contract, all of it. Kyle Kosma, and he’s while not great, he is shown to be a more consistent shooter than Andre Jackson Jr., so he’s in front of him. Uh, you’re going to have a number of lineups where you’re playing AJ Green and Gary Trent Jr. on the floor together. That pushes Andre Jackson Jr. down. You bring in Gary Harris who is probably largely regular season depth and again you’re going to see the same thing where lineups with Gary Harris and AJ Green or Gary Harris and and Gary Trent Jr. that’s going to impact Andre Jackson Jr. So the long and short of it and I suppose we could see Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. on the floor together too. So we’ve just mentioned what seven names that are in front of Andre Jackson Jr. on the depth chart that that’s really the big difference from this year to last year is you got Dame and you had Chris Middleton to start the season, but oh, he’s not going to start here. He was on the roster, I should say, to start the season, but he’s not going to start playing. So, maybe here’s some opportunities for Ajax in the backup point guard spot. Still very fluid last year. You brought in Dylan Wright, but as we saw, not a great start. That those were the opportunities. And all of those one by one have just kind of been addressed either through the moves the Bucks have made now or retaining guys that made steady progress a year ago. And that’s just kind of walled off the doors for Andre Jackson. Yeah. And Doc gave him the opportunity like part of the turnaround that the Bucks experience happened when Andre Jackson Jr. was insert into the starting lineup. And when I look back on that time period, I don’t know if it’s as much Andre as it was just getting certain guys out of the rotation and just kind of tightening up there. But again, you saw him being used utilized as a starter, although the minutes aligned a bit more with the bench player. He got the start, but the minutes weren’t necessarily big starter minutes uh for Ajax. And as the season went on and more guys came on the team, you saw him follow the docs rotation. So of all the different young Bucks that were on the team, he was the one that I’ve been keeping my eye on of like we could have seen his last year in Milwaukee already just based on how things went, based on how the rotation went, and based on how this offseason has went. But the the thing about Ajax that still has me kind of like I hope he can figure something out, and I hope that the Bucks can continue to work with him is his size. like he’s 66 67 and as we mentioned like all the names like outside of Torian Prince and Kyle Kosma you’re still dealing with a lot of guys that are 6’4ish. Um and when we had our episode about the Bucks needing small forward depth it wasn’t necessarily they don’t have the bodies. For me it’s more so just we need some more positional size at the position and Ajax can give you that. So, like that’s the one thing for Ajax where I’m like that’s part of what’s keeping me interested and just again to see how the decision- making and how his growth has continued to go because if he can’t put it together, he still is a young player. You can see why you would want to try to utilize a player like him. Yeah. I mean, it’s I I know and and Eric Name had a piece on the Athletic talking about a lot of this too and some of the potential options for the Bucks. Waving Andre Jackson Jr. is one of them. I think and and I’m not saying Eric is suggesting that’s top priority, but I I think that’s probably last on the list for the Bucks of if there’s nothing else and something else opens up where Marovich or Maravic um he’s going to be over here and we already kind of had this in mind for one of those spots. We’d like some flexibility or we want something else here. So, we need to open up a spot. That’s the only scenario where I I see Andre Jackson Jr. being waved. Um for that reason also he’s a young talent in this league that is we talked about stay younger, get athletic. You don’t want to move away from that. But um it’s hard not to be a conspiracy theorist or jump to conclusions when you see, okay, why would they push back the guarantee date and uh partially guarantee a little bit more when you could just say we’re not in a roster crunch. We’re not up against either of the aprons. It’s not like we’re keeping them here to save money. You could just retain him. So, that’s that’s the interesting part with all of this. Um, all the moves the Bucks made have now become official. And it left me with one burning question when looking through those moves and some of the messaging from the Bucks. I don’t think you’ll guess what it is, Camille. So, we’ll get into that coming up next. All right, my one burning question. Now that I believe every single move has been tweeted out by the Bucks and we’ve gotten the press releases for each player, uh I forget who the most rec the final one was just okay. Yeah, got it just before we started recording. Um so here’s my question. I got the email and for Miles Turner and it included a link to the Bucks Pro Shop encouraging you get your Miles Turner gear now. So I went there because I was curious what number is Miles Turner going to wear. He obviously can’t wear 33, right? Um you would assume he can’t wear 13 that we saw some of that messaging too. So all right, let’s see what number they they putting on him. Every single piece of Miles Turner. Did you look at this yet? I did not. Okay. Every single piece of Miles Turner jerseys and apparel in the Bucks pro shop had the same number. Um the number was0 Jericho Sims which belongs to Jericho Sims. So I must ask is he actually wearing number zero and Jericho Sims is changing jerseys? Was this just a let’s get it up there. You ordered the jersey and you get a note of like um you know how fanatics will give you the thank you for ordering this. We’re not going to ship it for five weeks. So good luck waiting if the Bucks give you a similar message of we’re going to ship this out to you, but the jersey number may change, but double zero. Um I was almost inclined to reach out to some of the the Bucks contacts in media relations and just say is he gonna wear this? Because usually in the press releases they will include that too. Miles will wear number, you know, such and such for the Bucks. So that’s the one burning question I still have. What number is he going to wear? I wonder his I just had to look like what was his number in college? He had a very interesting college number. 52. Yeah. I was going to say was it 55? 52, which my mind always goes back to like watching mobile. I go see when I hear numbers like that large, my mind goes back to like looking at the TV Guide channel as a kid in like 52 was like, “Oh, that’s MTV.” Like, you want to be MTV out here? That’s the That’s the number that you want. But, I mean, it it we’ll have to see if it is zero and Jericho Sims is switching. I mean, we’ve seen clips this offseason Jericho Sims shooting with both hands. So, like maybe he’s fine with switching things up, but my instinct would be to think that that’s just a placeholder at the moment, but I have no idea what number he actually will dawn as a Milwaukee Buck. I think the Bucks are just trying to get that uh those Turner jerseys out the door pretty quick, and I’m checking to see if those Brook Lopez ones go on sale anytime soon. Um 52 is interesting because it is open and it has basically been reserved for big men in Bucks franchise history. So I I mentioned Eric Mobley who uh one of the legends from the early days of Bucks B when early days for me when I was really really invested in the Bradley Center era Bucks Chucky Brown remember that name? I believe he won a a ring with the Rockets. He wore 52. Uh Deir Marota wore number 52. And then Calvin Booth wore 52 in his one season with the Bucks. Um so yeah, I’m inclined to also think it’s just going to be a placeholder, but um Jericho Sims did change numbers with the Knicks, too. was what, like 44 or something was his first number before switching to zero. So maybe we’re seeing Jericho Simpson. I mean, ultimate conspiracy theory. Jericho Sims, if it was 44, I may be off by one, but if it was 44, maybe that’s what we’re waiting on is we got to see what’s going to happen with Andre Jackson Jr. Maybe. Maybe. And then there’s going to be some more jersey swaps to come from that, which that would be a little strange, but that’s the way that it tends to go um in in the NBA. As long as it ain’t 22, you know, I’m good. That one that one 22 21 I mean, absolutely not to 112. That would just be the biggest slap in the face. Like, as long as none of those numbers, like those are soft retired for the moment. Let’s let’s keep that energy going. But I know we’re getting ready to wrap here. Let me ask you this really quick, Justin. Um, there have been reports too, you know, that the Bucks are still looking to try to possibly bring in a veteran guard. Yes. Uh, since they’ve gotten Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins, two younger prospects there at the position, there’s been I don’t know how likely this source is, but no. Russell Westbrook to the Bucks. Would you be on board with that? If not, based on who’s left and if you are looking to bring in like a veteran point guard for that grouping, who would you lean towards? Um, and by the way, Jericho Sims, we’re number 45 with the Knicks and number 20 at Texas, which is also taken by the Dairy Bird. Um, look, I’m not a Russell Westbreaker, but you can’t have Russell Westbrook on a team with Giannis. It’s diff. Yeah, you can’t have those two types of shooters on the floor certainly, but even if that’s what you’re rostering, you’re you’re constantly going with one non-shooter on the floor. Um, so to me, no, the fit just doesn’t make sense in terms of who’s out there. Uh, look, I’m I agree with all all of the pros that everybody’s thrown out there about Chris Paul and some of the things that the Bucks have certainly been lacking. Oh, he’d raise your basketball IQ. He’d be a great organizer. It’s a true point guard. He can get guys set. He can create open looks for guys. I I don’t disagree with that. But I think that the door is closed there. I think we’ve moved on from that era of player and a big signal to that is all the moves the Bucks have made this off seasonason where for the most part they’ve gotten younger. The only guys older than Giannis are uh what Gary Harris and that was it Torian Prince. Torian Prince and Gary Harris. So, I guess just kind of homing through quickly who are the best remaining free agents and it, you know, the reporting that was continuing to come out throughout the day, too. Sounds like Bradley Beiel is going to sign with the Clippers if and when he’s bought out or at least they’re the front runner. I don’t know, like Malcolm Brogden. Is that the is that the name of the group that’s left that makes the most sense for the Bucks needs? I believe so. He’s again a little bit older because he was an older rookie when he was drafted to the Bucks initially, but I think he’s like he’s 32 going on 33. So, he’d be I believe the oldest player on the Bucks if he was signed here, which is really strange to think about in certain ways. But if you’re looking at the rest of the list, like there’s Gary Payton II, who again, you still have some shooting concerns there. like he’s a little bit more liberal with it, but still necessarily there. You have like Corey Joseph, Patty Mills, if you want to run back the experiment from last year that did not work with campaign or Don Wright like it it just unless you want to go like Dano Banton, Jared, maybe you get the Dylan right in that final game against the Bucks and how he looked for parts of the playoffs. If you get that version, you know what? Maybe still still an adventure every fast break though. And if the Bucks are trying to play faster, I’m not sure that’s what you want to go with. But if I think if I had to pick from that list though, I think I would lean a bit more towards the Malcolm Brogden um fit there. If it is that the Bucks are looking for a veteran point guard to bring in for the group. Yeah. Um, leave your thoughts on, you know, don’t leave your thoughts on Russell Westbrook because I think we know what we’re going to get there, Camille, but leave your thoughts on of the group left if we’re focusing primarily on point guards. Who’s the name out there that would make the most sense for the Bucks? Uh, maybe we’ll get into this in an upcoming show. Maybe not. Maybe this is just us being petty. But as we wrap here, one of the things you and I were discussing before recording, Camille Boy, I hope we bring that same energy that uh is out there to this day for Giannis, for Nicola Joic and the Denver Nuggets with the reporting today that Jokic has informed the Nuggets he will not sign a contract extension this off season. He intends to wait until next summer to engage in those talks. So certainly that means Nicole Joic is eyeing a move out of Denver and we should start moving this machine behind trades to get Jokic away from the Nuggets especially after you hear ownership talking about some well you know we’re an injury away from trading Jokic. So like hey all the stuff is there in national NBA media for you to run with it the way you run with stuff that happens with Giannis. So we’ll keep an eye on that. See how that shakes out for the Nuggets and how people cover that. But an interesting nugget, no pun intended, to keep an eye on. And we are not uh wish casting Nicole Yokic out of Denver as somebody people that root for the smaller market and wanting their superstar to stay with the same team forever. Uh it’s mostly pointed out the double standard that exists with our guy versus seemingly everyone else. So uh leave your thoughts on the point guards out there for the Bucks and that win total figure as well. Where do you project the Bucks sliding in? Um 44 and a half. We’ll go with the over or under for the Bucks. That’ll do it for today’s show for Camille. I’m Justin. We’ll talk with you once again tomorrow on Locked on Bucks.
Bucks’ win projections spark debate: Can Giannis and co. exceed expectations?
Las Vegas oddsmakers set Milwaukee’s over/under at 43.5-45.5 wins for the upcoming NBA season. Justin Garcia and Camille Davis analyze the Bucks’ potential, Eastern Conference rivals, and roster moves. The duo explores Andre Jackson Jr.’s contract situation, Myles Turner’s jersey number mystery, and potential veteran guard signings. Key discussions include the Cavaliers’ high win projection, the Magic’s surprising odds, and Russell Westbrook’s fit with Milwaukee.
Tune in for expert insights on the Bucks’ path to success and how recent developments could reshape their season outlook.
0:00 Las Vegas projections for Bucks
5:23 Eastern Conference win totals and predictions
10:34 Interesting teams to watch in the East
15:14 Andre Jackson Jr.’s development and future
20:58 Bucks’ roster depth impacts Jackson’s role
26:22 Speculation on Myles Turner’s jersey number
29:42 Potential veteran guard additions for Bucks
34:07 Jokić extension and media coverage
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44 Comments
Please explain Pat c trade?
Corey joseph
Why would you get rid of a young lock down defender like ajax but keep players that did nothing for you in the playoffs. Can somebody explain this?
#letAjaxplay!
The issue is if Giannis is out we aren’t winning shit
I commented few weeks ago sign Miles Turner and it did happened. Whereas, i wonder why everybody not having any hope in Sixers making the playoffs😂
if the roster remains the same we looking between 5-7 seed at best with all movements done in the east maybe even play in team which is sad
i put 5 dollars on giannis winning mvp and 5 dollars on bucks making the finals . if i get something i will take a giannis jersey
Guys if we finisht 5 at 45 wins lets forget it. Just trade giannis and be done with it. You are not winning the chip from the 5 seat. My expectation is to get to 52 wins as a min and be top 3 in the east.
last season we had ajax destroying our ofense and dame destroying our defense with lopez and khris sometimes
The Bucks organization is literally the definition of insanity. We just saw OKC and Indiana run every team out the gym. But we're still talking about a old Taurean Prince and Gary Harris. We are rebuilding the same slow team. FYI after last year kuzma's playoff Andre Jackson Jr is better than him if Andre Jackson Jr doesn't score at least he gets loose balls rebounds and defensive plays. We are literally on a talk show talking about keeping Giannis not developing any young players again and cutting Andre Jackson Jr because Tori and Prince can hit 3-pointers. Even though Tori and Prince could not keep any young players in front of him. Math is not mathing . So what you can hit threes if we have no one who can stop anybody on defense we're going to be in the playing and losing the first round 👎
Top 4
Not playing Ajax cost us in slowing down the pacers.. even just having him in rotation on guards would have been great but no lets play Prince and Kuz 😂
play in
Getting sweep 🧹 again in the playoffs in 2026 playoffs that go happened too the bucks again and they sure not going too the finals stop the cap
They will be a 50 win team.
What is with bradley beal?
we need bradley beal at least to finish in the top 5,, we still havent found someone who will score 20+points , like a dame type ..and a backup for myles turner Al horford will be a great addition to the team.. Clevland will still dominate and the knicks as well and i see ATL and Orlando Magic will surprise us
Patty Mills. Older but still a fast and nice locker room guy. Sorry as an Aussie I had to say it
It’s definitely pronounced “Marko-vitch”. Always “vitch” with Serbians…
Like Jokic, Mirotic, Vucevic, Bogdanovic etc.
Realistically the bucks are probably a 2-4 seed. Cavs or Knicks will be the ones they are battling. Magic just doesn’t move me
10th?
If they trade Andre Jackson jr I'm done following this team .I'll follow his new team. I'm throwing up sick & tired of this team drafting these young athletic guys who show potential. Refuse to give them consistent & meaningful playing time., then give them away for some over the hill , washed up, injured , useless veteran who doesn't contribute & doesn't want to be here
I would be okay with Brogdon
Where is the Tyler Smith hype video? I can't find it anywhere…
Does wind total really matter? Look at the playoffs in the east this year.
The dunk contest performance got Ajax yanked from the starting lineup and rotation lol
Brogdon is not coming back to Milwaukee. Especially after his comments after he left. I don’t see it.
Bucks offseason consists of a lot of horizontal moves. I dont think we got better at the level by which we needed to. Joker not signing that extension means that GA probably won't too. Next season will determine if those teams trade Giannis & Joker or not. Cuz if you let those two walk for nothing….. I promise you both teams going straight to purgatory.
You guys is totally wrong the team won 48 games last . They much better this year they going to win 50 plus at worst they 3 seed
I dont think people understand how hard its gone be to score in the paint with Turner Greek kuzma defesne and energy level …if we still add Westbrook we will be best defensive team and deep bench ..Westbrook Trent kuzma Greek Turner…
Kpj Green harris bobby sims bench
Prince rollins sears
Doc and health are the only hindrance to a 50 plus win season but assuming health Doc is the issue and that's what vegas is taking into account, even more than the limited backcourt(if you play your cards right i think the backcourt is fine).
It's nice they have a chance to be competitive but let's face it they're bankrupt until 2032. We won a title but at what cost? When history is written the mortgaging of draft picks and the Lillard trade may be what ended NBA basketball in Milwaukee. By 2040 NBA will be demanding a new arena and we may well be on a 10 year losing streak.
This is a terrible take, you guys are going to eat so much crow, when they finish 2nd. Take that to the bank!! Btw how dare you underestimate the best player in the world
Keep Ajax for at least one more year and develop him further.
I actually really like the idea of bringing in Malcom to be a SF for us.
I’d take the over before the schedule comes out. There’s no way they can give us the extreme number of back to backs and travel disadvantages that we had last year. That alone is worth 2 to 3 games in my book.
The bucks with health could most definitely finish 3rd in the east!
If they play Defense like the did at the end of the season, we will be great…! We added more defense and we have a lot of fire power!
following sport betting thinking .. you both under estimate Turner… Bucks could be seeded 1 or 2(.)
coach bud liked a-jax,, rivers hates him.. i feel sorry for him
there is an ex buck with foot issues… brogdan should come back.. good chemistry w/ giannis
Just beed up the Front Court and Sign Thomas Bryant
I don't get the math at all.
Bucks were 10-4 without Dame to finish the regular season
They were awful against the top. Celtics and Knicks were 0-6. Celtics are way worse and the Knicks are a question mark with a new coach.
The Bucks are going to be a much better defense with this roster too
Yeah, Dame's points aren't there, but Giannis is going for a MVP season and average almost a triple double
50 wins is very doable IMO.
Are people also forgetting that the Bucks started 2-8 last season? They went 46-26 after that!!!!! That's a great record!
Stop it. This Bucks team is going to be really good! If one of the Knicks/Cavs disappoint, the Bucks are getting one of the 2 first seeds!!! Save this and come back next year
Russel will be good to play Giannis role when Giannis is out. And Crish Paul will be good to "teach" the point guard position to the younger dudes