Our IDEAL Bucks rotations plus Giannis playing EuroBasket & AJ Green extension buzz

Our IDEAL Bucks rotations plus Giannis playing EuroBasket & AJ Green extension buzz

Hey there. Welcome to the Euroep, a Milwaukee Bucks podcast proudly a part of the Blue Wire Podcast Network and GPN and presented by our pals at Prize Picks where you, yes you, can use code Euroep to get $50 when you play your first $5 lineup, win or lose. I am Ty Windish, one of your hosts, and triumphantly joined by the return of Rohan Cotti. Rohan, welcome back to the Euroep. I missed you, buddy. I missed you, too. I missed I missed being on the pod. It’s been It’s been a few weeks here. This is definitely like the longest it’s been since I’ve really been on a been on a pod and it feels feels wrong. Yeah, it does. Well, you missed a lot. Lot been going on lately. You actually did. I I hyped it up, so I I didn’t prep you on this beforehand, but before anything else, we’re going to do AJ Green extension rumors. We’re going to do Giannis Euro basket and then we’re going to talk about our ideal Bucks rotations. You’re big Cole Anthony guy. They got Cole Anthony. You have not gotten a podcast about Cole Anthony. I don’t know how much more I can say, but the floor is yours. Express your excitement over Cole Anthony signing with the Milwaukee Bucks on a one-year veteran minimum contract. I’m really excited. I’m not going to belver the point. I know this has been talked about and uh you did a great job talking about that on the last episode. Uh it’s it’s really nice, right? like this is a guy is uh we were talking about as free agency happened and it was like oh watch out for Cole Anthony as a Bucks buyout target u and it kind of happened which is one cool I call my shot I like when that happens uh and two it’s just you you have to if you’re the Bucks you have to be able to acquire young talent in by whatever means necessary right you don’t have a lot of draft assets uh you don’t have any sort of uh real trade chips to be able to say, “Okay, I want to go get a a younger guy.” I I think the Bucks, they’ve done a great job working around the fringes and trying to get younger players. And this is just another example of that. You get a guy in Cole Anthony who kind of became, you know, he was part of the Desmond Bane trade and Memphis does not need any more point guards on their roster. So you get a a guy who is a former first round pick and again that’s when you say former first round pick you know that things aren’t going well but it’s true in this case because he’s always sort of been in this magic team where they’ve had a lot of cooks in the kitchen right they’ve had a lot of guard prospects they’ve had a lot of guys coming in and out and Cole Anthony has never really gotten a chance to shine. Do I think he’s a star prospect? Absolutely not. Do I think that he can be a good reliable role player in the NBA for many many years? I believe so. And if you’re the Exactly. Exactly. You get a guy who has a defensive tenacity, can get downhill, athletic, bouncy, this type of guy, you don’t turn that down, right? Especially with the point guard position where the Bucks are going to be in flux for this season. You know, they have Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins. That’s not necessarily how you want to go into a a season. Like we’re both high on like Ryan Rollins and his ability to take over that starting spot potentially as this season goes on, but as of now, these is this is a very, very inexperienced point guard room for the Bucks. They need guys who have been in the league for a while, are able to handle the ball, and be able to make good decisions around Giannis facilitating a lot of this offense. And I think Cole Anthony can he can really be that guy. He can come in, he can uh be kind of a spark off the bench. He can be a a good defender in defensive heavy lineups. He can go small with lineups involving Cole Anthony because he is a rangy defender. It just makes sense, right? It it makes sense for the Bucks to be like, you know what, if our weakest spot is point guard, which I don’t think it is, but uh yeah, they have some holes on the the roster a little bit. uh if one of our weak spots is point guard, we’re going to be able to sign a guy who is a a young player who we can maybe see being a part of this franchise going forward or at least take a shot, right? It’s a one-year vet. You take a shot. You see what you’ve got. This is the lowest cost you can get for a young player who can still grow in the NBA. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the more I think about this one, probably one of the weirder buyouts we’ve ever seen in the league. Such a weird buyout cuz it was a reasonable contract. He was not like some malcontent. And like yes, they have guards, but your starting point guard’s John Morant who due to a bevy of reasons has not played a lot of games per season ever really. I mean, maybe he’s got like one. It’s very common for him to miss a lot of games. I like Scotty Pippen Jr. as much as the next guy. But I actually I do think there’s a world where Memphis kind of looks back in February and goes, “Oh, it would have actually been nice to have a guy who stays ready and embraces a bench role coming and scoring some points for us.” I mean, I know they pluck players out of nowhere all the time. And you know, I’m sure they’ll do that again, but it probably one of the weirder ones where it’s like nobody would have just taken this guy. You know what I mean? Like no no team was like, “Yeah, I’ll take Cole Anthony for free on what was it like $10 million.” I mean, it wasn’t a huge contract. very odd summer with some of the buyout things and like that that range of salary becoming like uh a black hole to teams or like a bomb like Terrence man takes a first to get off like I think Terrence man can play too some of these decisions are a little weird I think the second apron maybe overscared some teams but it sure worked out for the Bucks to your point um I also want the one Cole Anthony development sense did you see his signing video actually two developments he was so moved by the custom pen and watching it said if you’re if you’re listening you didn’t see it the Bucks posted it just it says Cole Anthony on it it’s like a Bucks pen very nice pen that he he signed the contract in Vegas the Bucks were very happy to see him of course and what I got from that is like oh Orlando is cheap cheap cuz he acted like the custom pen was like I don’t even like like they gave him a car he was like what for me really like what is Orlando doing down there where they gave him that big contract and everything and he was a starter a couple times times in his career. And the pen the pen moved Cole Anthony in a big way. It’s Yeah, it was very funny. But then also the the other Cole Anthony thing, he’s going to be wearing number 50 just like his dad did in Milwaukee, which I think is really cool. The Bucks social team has honestly been really killing it over the last year. Uh it’s been it’s been awesome. Like the graphics have been a boy. Like I’ll give credit where credit’s due. Like they they’ve been killing it. They got rid of the rejected double XXL cipher music on the highlights. like it’s it’s been a lot it’s been a lot better. They’ve come a long way. They’ve come a long way. But before we get too deep into things, D, I do want to give one shout out and that is Tuesday, August 5th. The Jordan Tresy is going to be holding an event at Boswell Books. Make sure you RSV. The link is in uh it’s it’s somewhere on his Twitter. Yeah, we’ll share it. Make sure you buy the book, too. I don’t know if it’s reversed on on my feed right now on my video. Oh, is it not reversed? No, it looks good on mine. I don’t know what’s going on with you. Yeah. Uh, so yeah, Building the Milwaukee Bucks, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Oscar Robertson, and the rapid rise of an NBA franchise by our good friend Jordan Tresky. Make sure you go get this book. It’s an incredible read. And, uh, just want to make sure, shout out that event, Boswell Books, uh, Tuesday, August 5th at 6:30 p.m. Make sure you go sign up, RSVP. It’ll be a great time. A lot of good Bucks people there. Yeah. And if you’re a, you know, a streamer, if you’re Oh, Rohan’s going to be there. That’s how Will you sign people’s books, too? I would not do that in front of Jordan. But no, after. Only after. Like, if if if they wanted yours and Jordan’s, would you also? I mean, I guess I don’t think anyone needs that. Well, we’ll see. We’ll see. I’m I’m trying to offer more carrots here. Not that anyone should need them, but I know it’s been a hot signature to get I think Jordan signed a Water World DVD once, so this is like a long-standing GPN thing, and it doesn’t matter if there’s like a real relationship or not. Uh, you’re you’re mentioned in the book, so it’s it’s closer than the Jordan Water World piece. Yeah, it was funny. Remember when we did a giveaway for Miran Fader’s book? Did you? Yeah. Did I was going to say, did you sign Mirren’s book? Yeah. You have a long history of signing things. One thing, one book. That was so funny. So that that’s the only I mean that person could send that into like PSA. the only auto Rohan on Giannis the Giannis the incredible rise of an MVP I think or sorry Miran if I forget the the main part is Giannis that’s the part to remember I have that book too it just says Giannis on the on the side actually I see it so I feel good about that now uh do that buy the book buy the book buy the book I was going to say if you’re a Zoomer it’s on ebook too I noticed on on uh on Amazon so if you want to do it that way it’s also available that way but I prefer to hold the book personally So that’s why I got the physical, but you can do either. You can go get it at Boswell at the event that might sell out. It’s going to be a hot ticket, but go go go. And subscribe to the new Talk of the Tundra YouTube channel if you’re watching on YouTube. We kicked them off of our channel. They they are expanding. Baby bird leaving the nest. So go search up Talk of the Tundra and make sure you subscribe. Newach’s doing shorts. He really feels unleashed there. I feel like he thought we were stifling his creativity. So he is uh he’s flying now. He’s making shorts. He’s doing all sorts of things. So, make sure to go check that out, too. Last training camp started. Just listen to Todd in general. Yeah, listen to Tot. They’re doing offense and defense training camp stuff. They’re they’re going to be busy. The Packers have a lot going on as they always do. So, check that out. Doing plugs cruising for bruising. Yeah, Brewers best team in baseball. Just dropped a great Brewers episode. Best team in baseball. Trade deadline coming up. So, what a busy time for everyone except us. We do have Euro Basket coming up. We do have Euro Basket coming up. Last thought on the Anony’s. Greg Anthony is underrated. One of the best color commentators in the business. He he he is he is and unfortunately the bar is really low. Yes. Uh but I I I’m always happy to hear Greg Anthony on the call and not now he’s just going to have Bucks buy. I I hope he gets a lot of Bucks games. He The thing about Greg Anthony, one he’s been doing it a while. his voice. Like sometimes you get that calming gravitas. I listen to Greg Anthony call a game. It feels like I’m like snuggled up. I’m like, “Oh yeah, this is great.” I think he did some 2Ks and that probably leads to it as well. But he doesn’t overextend himself. Sometimes some of these like, “Oh, I’m going to tell a minute long story. I’m going to try this ridiculous phrase. We’re looking at you, Mark Jones.” Greg Anthony is just like, “I’m just going to talk about the game. I’m going to sneak in an anecdote. I’m going to share my perspective.” Like the perfect amounts. Like if you It’s like how you shouldn’t study Steph Curry if you want to be a shooter, right? Like Greg Anthony is who you should study if you want to commentate basketball games. He just does it, I think, in a in a very aesthetic way. Yeah. And hopefully everything goes well with this tenure. So then he won’t have an antib bias. I don’t think he will. I hate how I’m saying that before it even starts because I’m just scarred. He’s a Bucks legend. Number 50, like you said, in honor of his dad. Uh but that’s Cole and Greg Anthony. That’s Jordan’s book. That’s Tot. That’s Cruisin. We got Euro Basket as well before we get to our rotation. So, Giannis is part of the preliminary roster. He does plan to play. He’s going to make the team. I I there is still space for him to not play if he didn’t want to, but I think he really wants to. So, yeah, I do think he will make the team. Uh it’s a 19 player roster and some notables on this roster unfortunately. And actually, I’m surprised to see noises at Tetakmpo even on the prelim roster where I thought he was cleared to play. Maybe it is still injury. I’m not exactly sure there. I don’t know if TA has chimed in yet. Um, and also no Yorgos Papianis, which is a loss, a dependable big center. Um, but no Nick Klethus and no Thomas Walkup, which I think as those are skilled players on the Greek team, but they are just neither one is good fits with Giannis. And the fact that Walkup isn’t in means Greek darling of the podcast, Tyler Dorsy is back in. Also, Kas Lucas and Kas Papa Nicolo are back, who are both big-time spacey guard/wings for this team. and Kasa Kmpo is back and could see more usage with no Papiana. So, I actually think a pretty exciting roster, although they did lose some of their depth pieces that we’ve seen in recent years. Yeah, it’s it’s going it’s the evolution of this roster, right? It’s been leaning heavily towards like an older team these last couple of years or not years, these last couple of competitions. And I love how we get to speak like we we know the Greek national team so well cuz we we we’re getting up there. We’re getting up there. I was going to say I don’t I mean there’s in English language I don’t know if there’s many who know it better than us at this point. It’s Yeah, we we really if they’re speaking Greek, they know it better, but I think the the English speaking side or US-based side, we’re up there. We will always default to the Greeks uh in terms of knowing the Greek national team more than us. Yeah. But yes, I agree. On the on the US Englishbased side, I’ll just say Englishbased side. Yeah. Uh we’re doing pretty good. Yeah. But I I think this roster has it’s not it’s not my favorite roster, honestly. So, it’s not the best I’ve ever seen. However, we do have to recognize that one, this is not the Olympics. Yeah. Uh, but it’s kind of as close to the Olympics as you’re going to get because these the the best teams outside of the US are mostly playing in Europe and this is Euro Basket. Yeah. So, it’s going to be a tough competition. I’m pretty sure Luca has already committed to playing in Euro Basket. I don’t think Joic has not committed to playing in Euro Basket. M um I believe but it’s still going to be a tough tough slate. France is always a a very very tough competition, a tough team to play as seen as evidenced by the last Olympics where they almost won. But it’s just it’s it’s a really tough slate of games. Uh and thankfully, uh I was about to say the Bucks, the Greek national team, the the European Bucks are going to be playing at relatively reasonable times, which is very good. Yes, it looks like they’re expecting Jokic to play as of about a week ago is what I’m seeing. I don’t think that that picked up much n I guess internationally, but that I am seeing some stories saying that. I don’t think it’s fully confirmed yet. Um, one nice thing for the Greek team is I think this is a pretty manageable group. They are in group C of Euro Basket which includes Cyprus, Spain tough. Italy pretty tough has beaten them before. Bosnia and Herzuggavvenia and Georgia. So I I I’ve got to look at where they need to place to move on. probably first or second or maybe then maybe there’s wild cards for the third teams but I I think they should slot in ahead of Cypress Batnia and Herzukinia and Georgia against our old friend Mamu. Spain and Italy got to be better probably than one of Spain or Italy. Italy. Old friend Dante is going to be playing for Italy. Dante Danchenzo’s on Italy this year. Yes. Wow. I’ve got to look up some of these other rosters unless I’m completely is is my personal friend uh Gallow here as well. I don’t know. Is he still I don’t know if he’s still playing or not. I don’t know if all their if all their rosters are out yet. I mean, we’re in the prelim roster phase anyway. The competition is not until Dante is going to be playing that. Wow, that’s going to be exciting. Um, so we’ll see who all shows up. Recently, like a week ago, he was granted his uh uh Italian citizenship. Wow. Eating the buzzer there. Dante. Oh, here’s the here’s the primary roster for Italy. Yeah. Dante, De Gallo, Nicolo Melly, Simone Fonteio. They actually have a pretty tough team. Niko Manion. Nico Manion. Uh, I’m not seeing Niko Manion actually. Oh, not on their preliminary roster. He played with them last time. Dunking with Wolves, but I I don’t think he’s not listed on this Facebook graphic from the Euro basket at least. Well, so a couple NBA level players. Uh, and I think Galinari is kind of a problem in in European play, although obviously he is getting older. It’s going to be good competition. You don’t have France, which I think is the best part for Greece in your group. Yeah. Uh, you don’t have France or Serbia. Slovenia. What? Or Serbia. Oh, Fran. Yeah. France or Serbia or Slovenia. You kind of lucked out there. You have the best I mean, you have the best player arguably in the entire competition, but you 100% have the best player in your group. Yeah. No, no. We’ve seen in previous competitions that it doesn’t really matter. I know I had mentioned like the the roster is not the best I’ve ever seen for Greece. I feel like it’s a little uh unbalanced. We’ve seen before that if you draw Giannis in these competitions, he’s going to get like 30 no matter what. 30 or 40 no matter what. It’s it’s just he’s such a force of nature. And I guess the good thing is he’s very well rested. Yeah, he’s had a lot of time off. Okay. Yeah, I just found all the preliminary rosters. Uh France, it does not look like Wemb’s going to play coming off of the the blood clot situation. So, that’s a pretty big blow to France. I’m also not seeing Rudy Gobear. So, the France team is going to look a lot smaller than we’re used to seeing, but they still have a lot of NBA players. Gershan, Yabiselli, Alex Sar, Rhysay, uh, Frank Nilakino, Teao Maladon, TLC, Timoth Luaw Cabaret, old favorite of mine, Man Jen, big chance for him to show something. Bal Koulabali. So, some good names there, but not the not the top end talent we’re used to seeing, I’d say, from France. Um, Germany will have Dennis Shruder, Daniel Ty, Tristan Dilva. Did not know Tristan Dilva played for the German team, but that’s fun. Isaac Bonga who’s good in these competitions. Fran Vagner but not Mo Vagner because of the ACL. So that’s a big deal for Germany size. And I’m trying to see I just read Italy. I’m looking for Spain here. Santi Aldama, Wancho Hernand Gomez, and Billy Hernand Gomez. Um wow. No one else I recognize actually. So not not the caliber of Spain team. They’ve been turning over a lot. Yeah. Yeah. since uh the the what is it the golden era guys retired. Yeah. Like the like the Cassals, your um what’s the like your Rudy Fernandez, Sergio uh I can’t remember a lot, but the guys of the past. Yeah. Lul was on those teams. Yes, that’s who I’m thinking. Yeah. So, I almost said Sergio Rodriguez, but I’m pretty sure that’s a soccer player. I think that’s right. Uh so, not the same level of Spain team. So I really think it’s kind of Greece and Italy for that for that group. So a big opportunity for the Greek team to get in the tournament and then from there anything can happen, right? So that should uh that’s always the goal of course from a group stage. Technically Serbia has not put forward its preliminary roster yet and neither has Georgia. I would assume Mamu is there but we will see. Yeah, we shall see. Did you say you do you have the schedule up for the times? I know it’s August 27th through September 14th, but I I have not seen actually the times yet. So, yeah, it would be great if they were uh accessible to us and time zone wise. Yes, I’m pulling it up right now. It looks like Oh, I don’t know what time zone this is in. Oh, no. What time zone is this in? Uh, sorry. or this is okay. So, the first game first game for Greece uh is against Italy on August 28th and they play at 1:30 p.m. Central. Uh which is really nice. Then they play uh against Cyprus on August 30th at 10:15 a.m. Um then Georgia 7:00 a.m. I think that’s one of the earlier ones week four against Bosnian Herzgoia 7 a.m. Um Spain 1:30 p.m. And then everything else is TBD. So very accessible. What was the Italy one? Was that the first one? I missed it. Italy wins the first one at 1:30 p.m. on August 28th. Nice. Mark your calendars. That’ll be an important That’ll be an important game. Thank you for the time zone translation there, Rohan. Try my best on the spot. Yeah, I appreciate it. I put you in a tough position. I thought you had it up based on your comment earlier. That’s my bad. But, you know, hey, we’re getting back into the rhythm of things here. Uh, one spot that’s always in rhythm, no matter the day, the time, the time of year, or the last time you checked it out, is our friends at Prize Picks. The number one place to turn your sports knowledge into cash. There are millions of members, including Rohan and myself, on Prize Picks, and they have made daily fantasy sports accessible to all, especially our friends here in Wisconsin, where Prize Pick is available to play. If you’ve never played before, all you do is pick more or less on at least two players and then you get a shot to win up to 2,000 times your cash. So, you can run your game all season long on prize picks and all year long. Pro basketball is done. We’re not able to. We We’ll see about this tournament coming up. Maybe we can include Jiannisko again, but baseball is in full swing and the Brewers look absolutely fantastic. And we are like six weekends from regular season football being back too. And let me tell you, waking up early on Sunday, making the prize pick slate for the games you know you’re going to tune into. Oh, it like plus your fantasy leagues if you’re in those. Oh, it’s just like it’s such a Sunday ritual. Oh my goodness. It’s I I can’t wait. I’m excited. I like the summer. I like the fall a lot. I think fall is probably my favorite, but man, I I love those fall Sunday mornings when you just know hours and hours of football and pick upon picks on prize picks. So, the action does not stop. And in the shorter term, baseball is heating up. Uh, obviously, the Brewers are dominant right now. A bunch of players excelling where you can go in and go through strikeouts, RBI’s, first inning runs. Andrew Vaughn RBI’s. He’s got more of those than games played, or at least he has. Maybe it’s caught up now. It’s been slowed down a little bit, but I’m still going the more then. I’m still a Vaughn believer. about making my call and playing for my shot to win real cash. Got to love the prize picks experience. So sign up today and get $50 instantly when you play $5 cuz you don’t even need to win. The $50 bonus is guaranteed and it’s flex Friday. A great time to sign up and have a protected flex play as well. So download the app today. Use code Euroep to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup, win or lose. That is code euroep on the prize picks app to get that $50 bonus instantly. Prize picks run your game. All right. Should we run our Bucks rotations? Let’s do it. Oh, we never did AJ Green. We never did AJ Green. Oh, whoops. AJ Green extension talks ongoing per John Horst. Uh, per the athletic. Eric name quoting John. Per the athletic per John H. I think that makes sense. uh asked you about AJ Green. This is what Horse said. First and foremost, the day he became officially eligible to have extension conversations. He was the first call I made. I called him. We didn’t dive deep into negotiations, but I just told him how much we love him, believe in him, and want him here long term. And I did the same thing with his agent, Matt Bolero, who I love and respect in this business. My brackets added. Matt Bolero used to work for the Milwaukee Bucks, started a sports agency, reps AJ Green. Should be a good relationship. End of brackets. Back to horse. And so we’ve already made the contact. AJ wants to be here. AJ wants to figure something out. Obviously, we’ve got to figure a deal out and we have the whole season to do it. I hope it doesn’t take that long. I think they hope it doesn’t take that long either, but as the dust starts to settle on a pretty busy off season, that’ll be the most important thing for us to figure out with AJ. And I know he feels the same about trying to figure it out with us. Uh, good quotes from John Horse. A good two-part exclusive interview with John Horse that I enjoyed reading on the athletics. So, go check out Eric Name’s work there. But Rohan, what are your thoughts on the status of the AJ Green extension? I think it’s I think it’s fine. Again, you still have so long to be able to do it and uh I’m glad that you know they’re in communication. What that uh little that quote read to me as is maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I thought, oh, the Bucks are kind of offering him less, aren’t they? Or or that they just want more money. I think that’s what it is. It’s just uh I think they they want an both sides want an extension to happen. Uh both sides want him to be a buck long term, but I think they just need to come to an agreement on the money. Yeah. I mean, yeah, that’s what I would assume. The money or maybe the years. I would assume the money’s probably more important to AJ. Probably the guaranteed money. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh we’ll see what happens. I mean, I I wonder if I wonder if a factor holding this up. I’ve done my conspiracy trade thing before. I I won’t do it again. And it does seem like they’re relatively content with this roster. So, we’ll talk about the rotations with this roster in a second here. I wonder if the holdup here is, man, nobody got paid by the Bucks this summer. I mean, Bobby got a nice deal. Obviously, Miles Turner got a big deal, but I would say like Green’s contemporaries on the team are more like Gary Trent barely more than Vet Minimum, right? like those those two I think are very an amazing value that has been completely overlooked by national media discussion of the Bucks. Kevin Porter Jr. the uh I think would slide in behind AJ but like 5 millionish per year like that’s fine. Ryan Rollins 3 millionish per year. Uh Cole Anthony vet minimum was a buyout so a little bit different. Tory Prince vet minimum. So, a lot of these other players who I would say are relatively the same boat as AJ Green just didn’t get a ton of money. So, I we’ll see. I don’t know how much that impacts things or not. Obviously, the reason for that was, you know, hey guys, we we kind of need to preserve some room here for Miles Turner. And that didn’t impact AJ because he’s already on the books on this contract. This is an extension starting next season to be clear. He’s under contract for this season. Technically, I think it just fully guaranteed, but uh even it not not worth it to wave AJ Green for for a shot. Yeah. For a shot at a little more cap space like they did with Chris Livingston. Slightly different leaguewide valuations there. If I had to guess, I would guess multi-year deal just under eight figures AAV. Yeah, that’s kind of what I had in mind. I think you max out at probably like 15 15 mil per year. Yeah, I think that’s Yeah, I think that would be a ton. I mean, Duncan Robinson is older, but you could say Flip Side is more proven, and you look at his deal on its face and it’s like, oh, Duncan got 14 mil a year, but it’s for one year. It’s almost not guaranteed at all after that. I do think the role player market is getting squeezed quite a bit. Um, yes, 100%. You either make very little or you make a lot. like you’re you’re the guys who win like Nquille Alexander Walker like you’re the bell of the ball or you’re you know usually taking less. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out that it’s like 3 years three years 20ome million. It’s very different with extensions because that’s where guys are more likely to get money compared to free agents. And that’s why people have a lot of gripes with the CBA is because free agents are kind of getting screwed over. Meanwhile, the real money is to be made with staying with the team, extending, and maybe getting traded later. That’s how you make money in the NBA nowadays. So, that’s why I would sort of lean higher on an extension because it’s it’s it truly is at this point apples and oranges when comparing free agents to extensions. Very true. But Duncan also opted out of that deal and then ended up getting Dun Robinson’s also a worse player than AJ Green. Oh, I think they’re pretty equivalent. I think I think AJ’s better. AJ’s better defensively. I think Duncan has more of an offensive bag. I mean, that’s I think your take is fair. Sure. Got a lot of money. I It’s But it’s the King, so it doesn’t really count. I think I And to be clear, when I say 15, I think that’s what AJ Green and his team would want. Yeah. I mean, I’m sure they I’m sure they I think that’s like the max that they would like Mac I think that’s max reasonable. Yeah. Price. Yeah. And if you do 15, you’re only doing two years. You’re not getting three years at 15. It depends on OP. May maybe can you get a team option if you go that high? Like I I don’t know. We’ll see. Or maybe some partial guarantees later on. I think the Bucks I think your initial like kind of like 8 n 10. I think that’s probably what they’re going to try to go for. Yeah. And I if I had to guess, I’d say they’d probably go 10 because they want that the eight figures. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if we found out it was like three for 29 or four for 36. I We’ll see what happens. If it’s four, you get a If it’s four, it’s a team option. If it’s three, I think it’s no options. They love player options, though. I was going to say it’ll probably be a three plus one player option at around 10 million AV. That’s the most bucks outcome. Yeah, but you want you want it to be longer. player options on. They don’t like to give player options on I guess Pat. They kind of had to do Pat because they messed they messed up the contract. Miles Turner got one just now. I don’t think Bob. Yeah, but it’s like you you only do it for typically they do the player options on like very very small contracts or Miles Turn or Pat Con. I mean that’s a lot of contracts we’re going through now. Yeah, that’s fair. They don’t sign many mid-tier contracts. Um yeah, we’ll see. We’re I mean we’re just wildly speculating right now, but I I think based on like around the league I think somewhere somewhere in that 8 to 15 range per year makes sense. And maybe they’ll shock us and it’ll be like 4 for 25. We’ll be like, “How the hell did that happen?” But they’ve that’s kind of been their whole summer. I mean, outside of Turner, every single deal they’ve done and kind of KPJ, I’ve been like, “How did they get that player for that price?” The Rollins one really I know it’s a very limited sample but three years for like four million a year is phenomenal work. Incredible. And Gary’s just remains Gary Trent. Yeah, we’ll talk about Gary Harris. I have some Gary Harris thoughts. I don’t have many. Real quick before this just hot and fresh new coups control Substack just dropped. Summer sessions work never stops. I got this during the pod. I’m subscribed here. Per Kyle Kosma and he dipped the pen here. He’s also doing a YouTube series now. I He’s in Milwaukee, which I thought was neat. I didn’t expect him to be in Milwaukee at this time of year. This has been one of my best summers basketball-wise in probably the last 3 to four years. No matter where I am, Germany, Aita, France, I’m always finding a gym and a weight room. The grind doesn’t take vacations. What? If you’re going to Europe, go to Greece. Well, I I I maybe the invite wasn’t there. It’s been all about getting back to the basics. A lot of shots, a lot of focus. I’m excited about where my game is heading. The work is showing and I can feel the difference. That’s your cruise control update. You know what? He’s saying the right things. Do I believe him? Not really. Uh I’m sure I’m sure he feels it’s the best basketball summer he’s had. Yeah. He said, “Off season, let’s get back to being coups.” Flex emoji, demon emoji, video camera emoji, popcorn emoji, basketball emoji, heart emoji. He just turned 30. Shush emoji. He posted this a month ago, so he was still 29. Solidly 29 at that point. Just turned 30 yesterday. Happy belated birthday, Kyle Koosma. Yeah, happy belated birthday, Kyle Kosma. I didn’t realize our birthdays were so close together. Yeah. Um, you know what? I’m not going to touch that. You know what? Let’s do the rotations. What do you want to start? Do you want to start at PG and go from there? Well, yes. I I was thinking about how we could do this. Uh, but I was going to say, oh, does it make sense to do like, oh, who do we think are the starters? But I guess if we’re going through each position, we are going to say who we think the starters should be. So, let’s go position by position group. And let’s start with point guard. And I guess we should sort of frame this exercise by two I I thought about it in two ways. Yeah. I thought about I thought about it in three ways actually. Okay. Wow. 3D chess. And we can pick one. We don’t have to do three. Uh I thought about it in the sense of what I think the Bucks are going to roll out day one. Yep. I thought about it in the sense of what the Bucks are going to do in terms of uh what what they should do in my opinion. and three what I think they’re going going to evolve to by the end of the season. So I would say mine and I put in the crown here ideal Bucks rotations. I would say I did ideal realistic was my take. So like I think Koosma will be part of the rotation which I don’t think is a nightmare but I didn’t start him. So, I tried to kind of do a blend of like I think this is probably close to what happens and this is how I would do it in that realm. And I wouldn’t change a ton. I would probably change a couple little things, but I I would be perfectly content if they started the season with the rotation that I did. So, I kind of split the difference between the first two. And I think maybe we go through it and then at the end we can we can cover the third thing as almost like a topic of like what do we think the changes will be as the year goes on. I think that’s fair. Let’s start with point guard. So, I think we we can probably say that Kevin Porter Jr. is going to be the starting point guard. Yeah. For the Bucks. I think that’s fairly set in stoneish. Maybe not set in stone, but I think that’s where they’re trending. I I think that’s that’s the default assumption. And I think I wouldn’t say set in stone, but I I think that’s the default assumption. Yeah, I think that’s fair. So, where I slotted in, and like just these three guys, yep, you need to have uh I think if you’re a starting point guard in the NBA, you’re getting at least 22 minutes. Oh, I you did less. I So, I slotted KPJ 26 minutes at the one. 26 minutes. Okay, here’s my rationale for going a little bit lower. Do you have him at the two at all? Not a ton. I think there are there are going to be some lineups and I’ll talk about this in a little bit where I I do think he is going to be a two and there is a lot of overlap there, but I I think that this Bucks point guard room is kind of up for grabs. Yeah, I I really I feel like this is the most up for grabs that it’s ever been really uh for the Bucks. And you have three guys there who are all feel like they can be a starter. Yeah. All starting games last season in the NBA. Yeah. I don’t think that I think all of them are going to be coming into camp with the like with the mindset like, hey, if I do enough, I could be the starting point guard for the Milwaukee Bucks. Yes. So, that’s why I had him at 22 because I feel like all three guys are going to get a solid uh chance to play. Yeah. And actually, Ryan Rollins, I had if I had him at KPJ at 22, I had Rollins at 20. So, how about you just I’m trying to think of the best. I did I did multiple I did players at multiple positions. So, I had but I for KPJ I just did the one 26 minutes at the one. For Rollins I did two minutes at the one which I think is kind of just like a transitional thing like during between different lineups but then 21 more minutes at the two. So, I also have him playing with slightly fewer total minutes, but then being the primary backup two guards. So, I’m seeing him as more of a combo guard playing with the two point guards cuz I call Anthony playing 20 minutes as the prim the real backup point guard. I had Cole at 15 minutes. I think it’s going to start a little lower. Okay. Like, we’ll see how he does in camp. Here’s the thing, and I think this is a good thing we can talk about with this guard rotation, and you have a lot of KPJ or Rollins, excuse me, at the two. Yeah, I think Rollins is a good player to have at the two. Yeah, I don’t know if the Bucks are going to be able to accommodate that with their roster. I don’t I think they are too lopsided towards their front court and they are going to Doc’s going to roll out some jumbo lineups. Yeah, I mean, well, that we He kind of has to. A lot of his best players are in the like four or five and some of them are going to have to play the three. Let We’ll get there. We’ll get to that convers. How about How about I do mine and then we can discuss it and then you do yours. Does that work? Cuz I feel like I feel like we’re crossing streams a little bit at this point. Yeah. I feel like we’re I thought we’d be more aligned on this. We’re not We’re not very aligned. So for my point guard, I have KPJ 26, Cole Anthony 20, and then Rollins 2 just to get him a little bit more. I mean, I ideally I’d probably have them even be more than this. Maybe I’d do KPJ 24 and bump up Rollins by two. Then they’re just about equal. That probably makes a little more sense. And then at the two, I have 27 for Trent and 21 for Rollins. And the way I see this uh quick comment before the rest of it, I see the Bucks as having a lot of guys playing between like 20 and 27ish minutes per game. I don’t think there’s a ton of high minutes players. Um I just think that talent-wise that makes the most sense. And that’s that’s like the seasonl long average. Obviously, if Gary Trent is, you know, five of six from three in the first quarter, maybe he plays 34 minutes in that game. Like, you know, you can you can move it around. But I I I put Rollins two minutes. I don’t even know if he’s really playing the two guard. I’m not I’m not like saying it’s like a rigid positional thing where like, you know, you’re running floppy for him or whatever, but he’s he’s not the lead guard. He might be. I just think you have they’re gonna do two point guard lineups because I just think they have three playable point guards. I think they’ll they’ll want to play together and I put Rollins at the two because I think he fits with either. I wouldn’t really like KPJ Cole Anthony lineups. So, I think those two I would want more staggered and then Rollins can play with either. He could be handling the ball in some of those configurations. I don’t think it’s impossible for him to do. I just think he’s the more versatile to play with them because of the defense and the shooting. So that’s why I saw him at the two. At the three, I have AJ Green 28 minutes, which will probably feel low to folks. It is more, I think, than he played last year. And again, it’s I just don’t know if they’re going to have a lot of guys who play 30. And then I have Kyle Kosma at 23 minutes. I cut Tory and Prince. I I maybe that’s not realistic. I just don’t see where the opportunity is because I didn’t give Koozma any minutes to the four or five. And that’s personal preference, but I think that’s also just being realistic. I gave Yiannis 32 minutes at the four all of his minutes. That’s a little high. He actually played like 36 post all-star break, I think, like when Dame went down, which feels like way too many. I would prefer he’s in the low 30s. Maybe it has to trend up. I hope it doesn’t that high. And then I have Portoris with 16 minutes at the four and then eight more at the five. So that’s 24 minutes for Bob. Sounds low. He usually doesn’t play 30 for the Bucks and he is again in that firmly third big role. So I don’t think it’s that low. Uh and you know if you want to call Giannis to five and move the eight minutes I don’t care like that that is the Giannis Portoris lineups is what I’m thinking there. Turner 30 minutes at center is pretty standard and then Sims just like 10 minutes off the bench. So this is an 11man rotation. Uh I wanted to include Sims. Maybe it’s more realistic that he doesn’t play and we get 10 minutes of Tory and Prince instead, which isn’t the end of the world to me, but I just think Sims showed enough that I’d like to see him play more, but it is less likely. I also had Turner Sims 310, so Oh, nice. Okay, so we’re pretty close there. Yeah. I mean, I’m sure our Bob Giannis distribution is probably pretty similar, too, right? Yeah, I had Giannis 33. I had Bob like 17. Okay, so way lower than me on Bob. So, are you go through yours? I’m guessing you’re going to have some koozma at the four minutes then. Yes, I am going to have some like I I think I’ll start the other way cuz it frames my it it frames the guard discussion because I I think a lot about this team. I think a lot about this team in general, by the way. Yeah, same. Uh this team, like I said earlier, is so so it’s a lopsided roster, right? players whe Doc Rivers. Uh and also quickly before I start, I think we did miss one bit of news. Uh and maybe you talked about this. I I I can’t remember exactly, but that Darvin Ham can’t take a different job because it he can’t make a lateral move. Well, he could, but the Bucks aren’t are blocking it. Yes. Like I say, he can’t do it because the Bucks won’t let him. Yeah. So, uh, a couple teams wanted Darvanham to be their lead assistant, but Darvinham is the Bucks lead assistant, so the Bucks said no. Don’t think I really covered that. It was that. Yeah. But that good good call out. Darvin is still around, which is pertinent to the Tory Prince conversation. Exactly why I thought about it. Yeah, that’s You mentioned Tory Prince and that ring a bell. Uh, because the Bucks, it’s not like they’re going to say, “No, don’t do that.” It’s like they’ll if he’s up for a head coaching job, they would let him go 100%. You’re not allowed to block I think if it’s if it’s a if it’s a promotion like that’s a league rule, but you are allowed to block if it’s lateral. Yeah. Uh so last thing, so this Bucks front court, I do think Torian Prince is going to get some minutes and I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world. I think he’s fine. Just don’t have him be a two yard. Again, we’ve t we’ve bel labored that point. Just don’t have him be a two and he’s probably a good good player for you. Yeah, just referenced the first half of last season. Uh, you can see that I think Turner I already mentioned Turner Sims 3010. That’s your that’s your five rotation. That’s pretty set in stone. Uh, you don’t pay and and uh do all this to get Miles Turner just to not pay play Miles Turner a lot of minutes. And that’s good. You should play Miles Turner uh a good chunk of minutes. He’s very good at basketball. Uh I’ve been getting actually very excited about Miles Turner as a member of the Bucks. Uh the NBA has actually been recently putting out like, you know, like their dunk highlights from the the season like on their social accounts. I’m just seeing Miles Turn and I’m like, “Oh, when’s the last time the Bucks had a force at the five like this?” I mean, I know it’s Brook Lopez a few years ago. Uh so maybe that was a little disrespectful, but it’s it’s nice to see again. I will say I’m super excited. I couldn’t be more I mean it’s it gets played out as like, “Oh, they gave up so much, but yeah, it’ll be a nice fit with Giannis.” I think it’s going to be a tremendous fit with Giannis. I just I can’t wait to watch them play. It’s going to be so fun. Uh power forward Giannis, you know, 33. Uh yeah, he’s going to be playing a majority of his time there. Again, I’m not going to get too bogged down in positions. Yeah. Uh he’s going to be playing mostly two big lineups. That’s how the season’s going to go. That’s how what they have the roster for. Yeah. I can see sometimes some stretches where they’re going to have Giannis as the sole big on on on the floor, but I don’t think those stretches are going to last very long. I don’t know if they’re ever going to do it. And I don’t mind. I I think Bobby Giannis I’m guessing you’re calling that as too big, but they they play small as a team when like conceptually when they do that. So I don’t mind if that’s their small configuration. If Bob’s playing the way he played last year, like I have no issue. I could see Prince being slotted in there. Yeah, it’s sort of that I feel like they worry about the rebound maybe for like five minute stretch. I think if they do it with anyone, it’s Cuz to be honest, because Kuz is a little bigger and rebounds a little better. Yeah, Cuz I initially had him at 25. So I had less even though I’m the newsletter subscriber. I said initially. Initial. Okay. As I was doing and I’m cutting it down to like 20. Yeah. I I think I think he’s going he’s he’s still kind of I don’t know what to do with Kyle Kosma. I don’t know what to do. He’s probably his biggest opening is at the three. I don’t think he’s very well suited to play the three. I think he’s better as a four. And again, I think I think you’re I think you’re right. If there is going to be like a a double like a a Giannis as a sole true big lineup, I think Koozma makes the most sense. Uh it’s weird not counting KZ as a big even though he’s like 610, but he’s just Yeah. No, I mean plays like he’s a forward like Yeah, he’s a big small I think he is a big small forward. I don’t he doesn’t really even the modern game he doesn’t really play like a power forward to me. Yeah. So, I had Koozma at 20 and with Giannis at 33 when you have Bob at 17 and you have Turner Sims eating up 40 minutes. I don’t see a lot of runway for him to really be at the four. No. which is why I see this guard rotation kind of being shrunk down a little bit because if you’re going to put Kyle Kosma somewhere and you’re gonna have him play 20 minutes a game, Prince Torian Prince is going to play. I I just think I think he’s going to play. Uh and if you slide him in at around 10 15 minutes a game, that’s your three four five rotation locked up. No, there’s still there’s some there’s some three minutes there. Not very many, though. 18 if you if you’re sticking with Yeah, probably like I’d say anywhere from 10 to 18 minutes. I I think those should probably be AJ Green playing up a little bit, I would say. So, I think out of the And this is why I’m glad I worked backwards actually. Yeah. Yeah. Uh is because I think the uh I AJ is a two guard in my opinion. Yeah. In an ideal world. Yeah. I think he is out of that group. He is the best suited to play the three. Yeah. Uh because of his size, because of his uh defensive acumen, and just because he’s a force of nature from beyond the three-point line, it’s he he’s big, he’s sturdy, he’s going to be able to handle more physical assignments, and it just makes sense. I don’t I don’t I don’t feel like I need to explain this too much. Yeah. No. So if you have AJ Green at like maybe 10 minutes at the 10 to 12 minutes at the three, you kind of have to play him a few minutes at the two as well. And if you’re playing Gary, I had Gary at like 25 minutes. You’re playing Gary 25 minutes at the two and you have uh that’s basically 35 minutes of two guard action locked up. I don’t think Gary’s going to be able to slot down too too much. No. Then you’re left with probably 50 some minutes for three point guards. Exactly. And only like eight of them where two of them can be on the floor. Yeah. So I think we’ve come to what is basically and I I don’t think I thought of it this way coming in. So I’m glad we did this exercise. The inflection point of the rotation is big or small. That’s the decision because and obviously I’m not we’re not saying you know again uh year Giannis Turner Poris urer uh the new our new our new German front court year um or they just really they they they really love and aspire they yearn yeah they just yearn heavily um that’s stamped I think no question I think Gary at the two is stamped I think AJ playing somewhere a good amount is stamped that’s about all that is I I think that is certain like I think the guards will play some combination of minutes. I don’t think anyone should feel comfortable saying, “Oh, this guy’s for sure going to start and this guy’s going to play this and this.” I think it’s open. They haven’t seen all three of them together on the team before. I think they’re excited about Cole Anthony. I don’t think he will start, but I we’ll see what happens in camp. I think the big decision for Doc and we will see how much all of the lip service Doc and I don’t know how much of this you caught, but over and over like, oh, we like to play fast. We saw these groups with AJ and Trent and how important it is. I think it’s really like who starts at the three and plays there. If it’s Koozma andor Prince playing a lot there, then one of the guards gets squeezed. And I think that makes them a worse basketball team. I think they have more talent at the guard and shoving some of that into the three, even if it’s not ideal positionally, so that all three of the point guards, Trent and Green, can play a lot. I think that is their best path forward personally. But maybe it’s not as realistic to say Prince won’t play at all. I will say got a smaller the contract than everyone we just talked about except Anthony pending the AJ Green extension and that stuff does matter a little bit. It does kind of show you where they’re thinking at least a little bit. A little bit. I mean, yeah. Yeah, I can see that. It’s Yeah, I think that I think you hit the nail on the head there. That is the inflection point for the season. And I think it starts with basically Kyle. Yeah. Like Kyle Kuzman Prince. That’s that’s where that’s where you go and that’s where these decisions are made. Um my my gut tells me that they’re going to lean big because because of all the if we’re talking if we’re saying money kind of spells things out, their money’s tried tied up in big guys. Yeah. Or I mean the flip side is like do they just say like hey we actually we we’re not interested in playing Koozma as much this year and we played him eight minutes in our do or die game and we played Prince I think less than that and now we don’t need to play him at the four. I they brought him in to be a three. I I I’m buying into the Doholm syndrome. I know I am. He just keeps talking about like oh we want to play fast. We want to go young. We need the shooting. AJ and Rollins and Porter and Trent are all going to have career years. He hasn’t said Koozma once. Maybe that means nothing. He has not talked about him. He has not talked about Prince. He cannot stop hyping up these young fast guys who played so well with Giannis down the stretch. We’ll see. Maybe I’m I might I I’ll say it. I’m probably being a sucker. I’m we’re I’m saying all this crap and first game it’s going to be Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Harris, Gary Trent, Giannis, and Turner with Koozma coming off the bench to play the two guard. I think that would be the most entertaining basketball game. I just I feel like at some point early in the season, it’s going to be like, wait, how much is Gary Harris playing? I don’t I I think he makes us neither of us have neither of us mentioned G mentioned Gary Harris. And I I’ve been thinking about this a little bit. I mentioned this earlier. It’s the one signing I don’t really get. Yeah. I just I don’t I I mean I get it from like a It makes sense agent piece. Yeah. Yeah. Same agent as Miles Turner. It makes sense from that perspective. But let’s say in Miles Turner’s head is it’s like, “Oh man, I got to make sure I do right by my agent and get Gary Harris here before I sign with the Milwaukee Bucks.” Like like or maybe that’s how you get a meeting with it. I don’t That’s how you Yeah, I think that’s it’s more of like getting the agent in favor and then the agent has some I mean obviously Miles makes the decision, but I I do think here’s my Have you heard my pitch for what it is? I think for me it’s just been use your break glass in case of emergency. Wait. Yeah, he’s new. He’s Pat Conan but on a minimum instead of 10 million a year. Like didn’t I say that? Did you? I think I said that way back in Wow. I said it like a week and a half ago and felt good about it. So, someone someone dig up the archive in case I stole that from Did you also say that Cole Anony’s going to be like TJ McConnell? No, I did not. That’s me. Okay, good. I was going to Oh, that one. I was really felt good about coming out and be really worried if you had said that first, too. Uh, but if that’s what it is, that’s totally fine. Like, that’s good, actually. Like, I I I think I’ve seen this with the Livingston thing, too. Livingston got a contract. We talked it doesn’t need that much discussion of like, oh, how could you do this if you’re not going to play him? you need to sign 15 guys. 15 guys won’t play. I think it’s totally fine if you feel like he’s a good prospect and play him in the herd. And if there’s an opening, I don’t think they should be like, “We need to play Chris Livingston.” Like, you’re trying to win basketball games. I like Chris Livingston. If he plays well enough to earn it, fine. I don’t I don’t subscribe to the idea that like we need to play the young guys to see like earn a spot or don’t. There’s 15 spots, you’re not going to play 15 guys. Like that’s how it goes. Tyler Smith. Yeah. Andre Jackson Jr. Gary Harris are the guys that were basically saying I think Gary Harris and Ajax are the most likely to play out of that out of that foresome. But I don’t think either is all that likely. No, I mean it’s I think one thing I wanted to mention in this discussion is Ajax. We neither of us even came close to mentioning him uh in this rotation. No, it’s just it’s just too packed. It’s too packed and his skill set doesn’t they don’t trust him. I mean that that’s it. They don’t trust him to play offense. I yesterday shared my favorite video to the push a tea song of West Matthews Ducks highlights and said if they find one guy who gives them this consistently, they’re going to be great this season. 18 West Matthews would be the perfect three on this team. Oh my god. And you even he’s small, but like he he could do it. Like there’s clips in there of him. He’d be perfect. He blocks Jaylen Brown at the rim. He strips Kevin Durant on the way up. Like he could guard anybody that year. And a lot the most common response I got was Ajax. And it’s like there are offensive clips on the highlight package and he’s not as good of a defender as Wes Matthews was. He’s more athletic and bigger, but that doesn’t mean you’re as good of a defender. He is not the play-to-play disruptor that Wes Matthews was at that point in his career. People also said Tyler Smith, I mean, you just got to prove more. And it he hasn’t had opportunity, but I it was a nice summer league. He has not he has not shown anywhere close to that level of play. that he can be a three, which is what we were looking for. I mean, he was picking up full court. I will say that. I was kind of like, okay, like you’re guarding smaller players. That’s nice to see, but um the ball handling was not good at all. So, that that’s not great for him. Some people said Kevin Porter Jr., some people said Gary Trent. Those are the two where I’m like, maybe one of those guys could maybe do it. We haven’t seen it consistently two-way from both. I mean, neither of them will be as good as West was defensively. Yeah. But again, that’s where it comes down to that inflection point. There’s an opportunity for those guys to slot down, probably Gary more than KPJ. Yeah. To slot down, but if you if all your minutes are already tied up in your front court and and your big guys, there’s there’s no opportunity for you to play there. I mean, that’s the biggest conver biggest question or what they need the most is and I’ve seen like, oh, I think their point guard rotation is so unproven. Like, kind of it is. I I feel good enough that they’ll get 40 good minutes a night from those guys. And I I think it’ll actually not even good, like serviceable minutes. Yeah, I feel really strongly they’ll get serviceable minutes every night from that combination of players. One might not have it some nights. You have two other options who all three have shown in the past, last season, that they could be plus players at that position. Not that word. Who can guard threes and do something offensively? That to me is like the biggest thing they need to figure out. That’s the number one question pending any sort of a roster move. Yeah, 100%. Who’s going to be your standout defenders in this lineup? Your perimeter defenders is is AJ Green their best perimeter defender right now. Trent showed me something in the playoffs. And I I do think the guard room, the point guard room, like Kevin Porter Jr.’s kind of tall. I mean, he’s not going to guard true wings, but seeing what he and obviously Rollins is pretty good. He’s just a little smaller. But maybe Roll I think Rollins when I’m the more I thought about the West thing, Rollins is probably the closest I think they have to a guy who could play like Wes Matthews did for them. I think so. He’s just unfortunate for him. He’s just undersized. Probably longer wingspan than West though. If Wes could guard Kevin Durant, can he guard Jaylen Brown? Maybe he’s not bulky enough. Wes was stronger. That’s the other thing. Yeah, Wes was a lot stronger. That’s what they’re missing. It was the strength and the length. I think AJ is probably the strongest. Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Is he the best perimeter defender on the team? I’ll give it. That’s That’s my other answer. Actually, when I thought about this, I’m glad it came up. You look at the East and there’s not a whole lot of like three fours that I’m all that worried about. And I don’t think It’s crazy you say that because as I was saying that, I’m going through my head like who they have to guard. I was about to say like, oh, assume they play T-Max. who’s going to guard X and I’m like, “Oh, what’s the scenario? What’s the scenario?” And there’s not one. I went through this the other day. So, Boston has Jaylen Brown, uh, good player. Like, they don’t have a perfect player for that. Like, Giannis can do some and then some of their other wings like Koozma off the bench. Yeah. Like OG, like the Knicks have a lot of guys, but uh, Giannis probably guards OG. Male, I’m fine with the guards guard. I mean, male Bridges, if he beats you, that’s fine. I think they have some guard defenders they can throw. Brunson’s going to kill them like he always does, but Turner is so much more well suited to guard Cat than Lopez that that I think that matchup will feel totally different next season. Uh the Pacers Seakum like Giannis, okay, that’s fine. Um the Cavs like Giannis on Moley, they have two guards who give them problems, but like the East does not really have that team with Tatum out of like, oh, they have the two wings. Like how are you gonna guard both wings? Like I don’t think that really exists. If you’re talking about like that size of player, maybe Cade. Kade’s like 6’8. Yeah, Kade Kad’s harder. Kade Kad’s a good one. But again, like I’m saying, no team has two of them. Yeah. Like I I think when you have two, and this was Boston’s whole thing of like, you know, you have to put really bad defenders on like Derek White or Drew who are like good offensive players and then the Jays could get switches. Like I I don’t think there’s many teams out there that are going to be able to do that with size in a way that they maybe Hawks. Yeah. like Jaylen Johnson who again I think Giannis will guard him and then I I’m fine with Turner on Porzingis. I’m not really worried about like Reese Shay dicing up AJ Green. You know what I mean? Like I’m just thinking about big teams because the the Hawks I think they only have one player under 66. Yeah, they’re big but they’re not most of them aren’t big in a way that like oh that guy’s going to put you in the basket every time. They’re not big and fast and like twitchy or it’s just like they they’re not going to play bully ball. I don’t think offensively. Defensively maybe. Offensively though, I think defensively they’re going to play a lot of volleyball. They are going to grind teams into the ground. I think the Hawks are going to be pretty darn good next year. I’m so back and forth cuz then I look at them, I’m like, who’s their second best ball handler? Jaylen Johnson, I suppose. Tyson Daniels. It’s not very good. It was better last year. It’s a little better last year, but Jaylen Johnson is probably the correct answer. Jaylen Johnson, which is it’s a good option. That’s pretty good. That’s pretty good. And then third is like Dyson Daniels or Naw. Yeah, it’s Yeah, but there that team in the East doesn’t really stand out, right? I guess the Pacers like you got N Smith, Nemard, but again like No, is is N Smith bowling through AJ Green? Not really. No. Like the my first thought was like, oh, how would the Bucks guard the healthy Celtics if they have to start AJ and Trent? But that team doesn’t exist this year. And I don’t think there’s another team that really has like a three four who are like, “Oh, we we could never guard that team if we have to start a two with a three.” Like I think it’s a good year for them that to lean into that if that’s what they decide to do. I think they should. Yeah, I think so. I think I mean I’m in agreement with you. I think that’s what should happen. I just don’t think it’s going to. I think we if we’re doing ideal realistic, this is how I would parse out my ideal realistic lineup. I don’t think it’s realistic to say, “Okay, we’re cutting we’re cutting Koozma out.” Unless he’s only playing the four next to Giannis when you have Miles Turner. Like, that’s just there’s not enough minutes of that. No. Unless you want to cut into Turner’s minutes and say, “Oh, you’re only playing 25 a night.” Which doesn’t seem like good value. Like, he’s your second best player. You need to be able to you need to be able to to showcase your second best player. How many minutes does he actually usually play? I don’t know if I looked at this like 30. I don’t know if 30 is high for him or he was 30, but then 27 then 29 then 29 then 31s. Yeah, high 20s to 30. And that’s fine. That’s what the Bucks have done with their with Brookke. That’s that’s what they did with Brooks. So, it’s hard to play center. Most centers aren’t playing like 36 minutes per game. Yeah. And Turner’s not the kind of guy who’s like, “Oh, well, maybe we’ll put him at the four for a few minutes.” No, no, no. I I think Koozma will play I the Prince thing is the big one, but also I guess if I want to make mine a little more realistic, you really just you cut our guy Jericho Sims and then we’ll take like one or two minutes from a couple other players and then there’s like 13 minutes for Tory and Prince as well. Yeah. And then you just have more Bob Yiannis at the five, which I’d be okay. I mean, I’d be sad for Tori and Prince or for Jericho Sims, but I mean, as soon as they brought in Turner, not my first thought, but one of the first one of the thoughts you get to is like, oh, there’s just less for Sims now. I mean, cuz you you want the quote unquote small lineup where it’s Giannis and or Bob and obviously Turner’s going to play a lot. We’ll see. I I think that could be one of the to your point of like changes. Maybe Sims starts out with less of a role and maybe that grows over time if you know Prince and or Koosma aren’t playing well. We’ll see. We’re on the team. Yeah, that’s the other one is I think this I I still think this team is primed for a Kyokus trade. I just I can’t like the more I think about how this rotation is going to look, the more I think they need to move on. Yeah. I mean, look, there’s still a lot of business pending in the league. Uh, I think the I think we’ve talked about like the Malik Monk multi- teamam trades with Koosma. Like, yeah, it’s it’s all it’s all thanks to the Warriors just doing nothing. No. Well, apparently the reports are they have Orford and Melton lined up, ready to go pending the Koozma deal. A koozma. Hopefully. Hopefully the Koozma deal. Uh yeah, but that’s that’s a big pending because there’s like no progress. Teams are offering. They don’t like the offers. They don’t want to take Monk on, which I thought. A little strange um for the Warriors to take that. Don’t have a lot of guard play on the team outside of Steph, but I guess that’s they they’re big pods. They don’t have a lot of play on the team aside from Steph anyway. Yeah. I uh I don’t fully understand their visual not good. I like Jimmy. I like Steph. I like Draymond. They’re all very old. And outside of those three, it is kind of like, oh god, who’s next? Yeah. Sorry, I should have said Jimmy, too. I mean, it’s just those two. Yeah. So, I think I think there’s, you know, I think they’re I don’t think I don’t think the Bucks are desperate to make a trade. Maybe they should be. I don’t think they are, but there is certainly still room. Like, there’s going to be deals happening where players making that kind of salary are moving and that’s where you could jump in and, you know, do something with that salary slot. And I think I think it’s more likely a mid-season trade because we we’ve talked this inflection point for a while now. And they’re going to I mean hopefully they’re going to see which one works, right? You’re going to see you you’re going to try both in different stretches, different circumstances against different teams. I hope Doc, please. Yeah. And then you make your decision. You see, okay, is it’s by some miracle this actually works. We’re playing Kyle Kooz the three and we’re we’re very bottomheavy. Uh yeah, it it works. We’re we’re doing good things. Okay, cool. Let’s let’s you know, maybe maybe it’s a Jericho Sims trade or something. Maybe he becomes a vi like or he’s just like maybe we’re just like, hey, we’re going to start giving Giannis is off a game, Turner’s off a game, and he just he’s ready to play a lot in those circumstances, you I mean, it’s not I I don’t know if they signed him with any concrete promise of of minutes, but you’re you’re the next big up. If any of the bigs are out, you’re going to be able to come in and play a lot of center minutes. And those three guys are going to miss some time throughout the course of the year. I mean, Bobb’s been very healthy outside of the suspension, but Turner the last couple years has missed games. Giannis is not going to play 82. Maybe he’s just a he’s also the break emergency guy. That’s why he gets Yeah, literally. Um, you know, hey, it’s we kind of jokingly read through the Koosma newsletter or whatever. If he comes in and shoots 36% from three, things start to crystallize a lot and that becomes a lot more realistic that he can be like their main backup three and it could work. You could also just stagger him with Giannis. I mean, that’s the other thing outside of Cole Anthony. Pretty much everyone besides Koosma and Giannis do shoot. So like Giannis goes out, someone else goes out and it’s like Portoris, Koozma, Turner, Rollins, Green or something like a lot of spacing there. Yeah, there is. I think Yeah, I think there is a roadmap for it to work and I think that’s going to influence the decision and if it doesn’t work then you can, you know, start to get your trades lined up. Yeah, I’m still looking at even the summer. I’m still looking I mean Sacramento is doing something. Sure. seems like I think Toronto if not by the if not before then like they they’re not going to be a tax team. I don’t even if they were kind of good I don’t think they’d want to be a tax team. Uh just kind of cheaply got rid of Messiah Yujiri. I don’t think they are all out balls to the wall for this basketball team. Usually not a good sign. Uh we don’t want to pay the guy who built the team anymore. Usually not a great omen for to be fair. He didn’t What team had he built? Well, no. I’m I’m not saying he did a great job, but he put this team together and they immediately were like, you can go now. Does not usually show you that the ownership has a ton of faith in the direction, which means they probably don’t want to pay the tax for this team. We’ll see. Maybe they start 30 and one. If they start 30 and one, I’ll wear a Raptor shirt the rest of the season. I could have probably gone Boulder, but I’ll do it, too. We’ll wear we’ll wear Raptor shirt. Like there’s been one team that’s done that. Yeah. If they’re if they’re the next one, then then we’ll wear a Raptor shirt for the rest of the season. There’s been one team in NBA history that’s actually accomplished that. Yeah. And if it if it become if it doubles, we’ll be buying some Raptor shirts. You heard it here first. We’ll become a Raptors podcast. No, I don’t want I don’t want to go that far. Who cares? It’s not going to happen. You can first two games. I’ve learned I’ve learned crazy things have happened. I’m not I’m not going to go too crazy. I was going to I was going to say tattoo. Don’t want to do a tattoo about the Raptors. So, it’s okay. You don’t have to. You never know. I do. All right. Well, I will get a Raptors tattoo if they go 30 and one. How about this? You want to do a,000 to1 odds? I’ll bet you $1 that the Raptors don’t go Okay. See? Exactly. Exactly. There’s a line somewhere. Wait. $1. So, I give you $1 if the Raptors don’t go 30 to1, but you give me $1,000 if they do. Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s do less than a thousand. That’s not a h 100red. 100. Okay. $1,000. Not fun between friends. So, yeah, it’s I will I will I will VMO you a dollar if they lose two games before they win 30. Yeah. And I’ll still I’ll still keep that tattoo on the line. Okay. I’m It’s like the from the office like if John Cougar Melanchamp, you always take a,000 or 100 to one odds. You just do it. Although I did see someone put like $100 or $10 on the White Socks to finish sixth in the AL and it was like one of these things where they tweet out like, “Oh, you’d win this much.” You just threw that away. And maybe I just threw away $1. You You threw away $1. $1 is less though. And it is It was content. It is. It is good content. We can track this for about two days in the season. Yeah. Are we going to remember this by the season? Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe I’m not even out a dollar. We’ll see. Yeah. Listeners, keep us keep Yeah. Keep keep us honest here about this bet. This big time bet. I bet I could get better than 100 to one odds, but it doesn’t. No, I’m not going to do it. No, it’s like a million to one. Again, there’s been one. Did the Warriors even do that? I don’t even know if they did that. No, they probably didn’t cuz they were what 24-1 when the Bucks beat them. I mean, did they win? 26 and one. Was 26 and one? What was that? 201 14. No, that was KD team, was it? Oh, yeah. No, that wasn’t KD team. Oh, was it? That was 73 and N. Yeah, that was Oh, it was 1516. Yeah, 1516. You’re right. Yeah, when they 73 and lost. 1516 Warriors regulars season. I spelled every single word wrong in that, dude. I feel like I rely too much on like the the robot fixing it for me and then when it does I get mad. They did not go 30 and one. They they lost they went 29 and two. So probably the first team has ever No team No. Yeah, it’s correct. No team has ever gone 30 and because they were the only team that made it that far. Something just something to watch here with the Toronto Raptors. Who Sure. Something to watch three games about. Yeah, probably. Probably. I’m giving them a win in there. That might be a little Yeah, it’s I know it’s it might be two games. Two games and done. I haven’t seen what their schedule looks like. Is schedule even out? I don’t think it’s out. Yeah, it’s not out yet. So, I need them to have a soft I need them to have a soft first 31. Uh, no. I don’t think the Bucks get a Christmas game. Although, a lot of guys are out. So, maybe like the Celtics probably don’t get one either. The Pacers would have, but probably don’t. So, maybe they do, actually. Yeah. Or it’s just all West teams. It’s going to be a lot of West teams. I mean, the Lakers Lakers Mavs, I think you can pen in there. Yep. The Warriors probably still get one cuz they draw the Knicks. The Knicks will of course. Do they do like Warriors Cavs? They might do Warriors Cavs. The question is, I think for the Bucks, the question is, do they give it to the Sixers, the Celtics, the Pacers, or the Bucks? I could see one of those teams getting in along with the top two. I don’t think they’ll do Orlando yet. I don’t think they’ll do Atlanta, but maybe. No, I don’t I don’t think yet. It’s It’s categorized the same way as Orlando. They haven’t really shown it. And they I mean, like, they don’t have a Webby, right? Like Webby gets there. I don’t know. Oh, yeah. Spurs. Spurs will probably be there. Yeah. Clippers. Uh oh. Yeah, they might. Chris Paul retirement tour. Yeah, last Christmas game. They probably could take the Suns off. I think the Suns have been on recently. Oh, Rockets though. Rockets will be there. So, Rockets, Clippers, maybe. Yeah. How many games are there? Five. Five games. So, Cavs, Warriors, Rockets, Clippers, uh what’s the other one? Um Lakers Mavs. Lakers Mavs, Spurs, one of the East teams I mentioned, maybe. Yeah. And then that would leave one more. Am are we forgetting anyone out west? No, we got the LA teams and the Warriors. Oh, it’s Thunder. Thunder. Someone th Oh my god. Sorry. Thunder. Thunder will for sure get a game, right? Thunder. Oh, probably Thunder. Thunder Nuggets rematch of that playoff series. We haven’t said Nuggets. I can see that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, the Bucks aren’t getting a Christmas. No, remember the Spurs and one East team that I hadn’t mentioned. I think it’ll be them versus Did we say the Knicks? Oh, did I not? I think that’s the Knicks. Oh, so probably the Knicks. So, yeah, they probably won’t then. Sad. Yeah. Oh, well I mean the streak already ended and they didn’t get one last Yeah. I mean, God, did they leave out the Cavs? They probably don’t, right? Maybe the Clippers don’t get one. I just think the key thing. I think the Rockets will for sure. Second seed adding Kevin Durant. I think they’ll want to do that. Clippers is probably do it based on that. They do it based on Kevin Durant. Who’s Yeah, true. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know if CP moves the needle enough. Yeah, I don’t think maybe maybe I was It’s like Kawawaii Harden, Chris Paul, Beal. It’s just a lot of names. Yeah, Rook giving you a Christmas. Sorry. Brook Lopez Zubots. Blazers. Need to get him on Christmas. Hansen Yang. No. If the Blazers get one in the Bucks, then I will have a big I should do Blazers Bucks. You imagine? God, probably the worst Christmas game of all time. Or that’s or uh wasn’t the worst Christmas game when the Didn’t the Bucks like blow up the Knicks by like 30 one year? Yeah, back when the Knicks weren’t good, but they just always put them on there. Yeah, that’s like one of the last games they won. I mean that comeback against Boston. But normally their Christmas games have been bad. Yeah. Five months from today. We’ll see. We shall see. And we shall see what the Bucks do the rest of with the season. The rest of the season season hasn’t started. Um and uh we’ll keep you updated as this summer and this off season progresses. Uh maybe we’ll do some some more fun things like some more some some wacky ideas. Got our Bucks composer thing still. People say don’t forget to do that. We’ll do that. Do that cuz it’s going to be August. Yeah. I I pre from now till Euro Basket, assuming no news. I mean, we’ll cover any news. I think I think that’ll be the time for us to do that. Yeah, we’ll have some fun stuff planned uh for August, but we’ll keep you updated for all things Milwaukee Box here on the Euroep. And I’ll say thank you for listening uh to this episode of the Euroep uh part of Blue Iron GPN presented by our amazing friends over at Prize Picks. Uh, make sure you check out all the pods we mentioned earlier, Jordan’s book, the event, all that fun stuff. Uh, check out gspnn.info for all our links. Make sure to subscribe to wherever you’re listening to or watching this podcast. Uh, whether that’s your podcast platform of choice or YouTube. Again, check out the new Talk of the Tundra YouTube Pod Random. We’ll talk to you next time.

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The Milwaukee Bucks have a full roster with more than 10 players worthy of rotation minutes, which portends a puzzle for head coach Doc Rivers. Gyro Step hosts Ti Windisch and Rohan Katti took a stab at figuring out the rotations for Doc, both drawing up their ideal realistic Bucks rotations position by position. For once, they disagreed!

Prior to the rotation talk, Ti and Rohan covered the Cole Anthony signing one more time, Giannis Antetokounmpo joining Greece’s preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2025, and the reporting from Eric Nehm of The Athletic featuring Bucks GM Jon Horst discussing A.J. Green’s extension. Busy pod for late July!

GSPN’s Bucks podcasts are presented by PrizePicks – Go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/GYROSTEP and use code Gyrostep for a $50 bonus when you play $5! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that easy.