The Great Milwaukee Bucks Trade What-If, Rollins and Dieng’s Historical Comps and Draft Questions
Milwaukee Bucks fans face a franchise-defining choice as the debate heats up: Should the team have kept Jrue Holiday and its championship core or still rolled the dice on Damian Lillard’s blockbuster trade? Justin Garcia and Camille Davis examine the ripple effects of the Dame deal, the pitfalls and payoff of roster changes, and what moves could have reshaped the Bucks’ fate in the playoffs. With Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future looming large and a loaded NBA Draft on the horizon, are the Bucks positioned for a quick turnaround or a longer rebuild?
Rising young talents like Ryan Rollins and Ousmane Dieng generate hope with standout NBA performances, while draft prospects such as Brayden Burries and Nate Ament spark discussion around the upcoming lottery—especially with the influence of minority owner Jimmy Haslam. Get the latest updates on Milwaukee’s player development, draft strategy, and the high-stakes decisions that will shape the Bucks’ next era.
00:00 Dame vs. Jrue Trade “What If”
12:02 Bucks Young Players’ Progress
20:25 Draft Prospects & Ownership Influence
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13 Comments
I shaved my balls for this what ifs?
Don't believe any among Rollins, Dieng, Sims, Nance and Ryan/Green are really starters for a contending team ( and yes, kpj may be but just barely bc he really strikes me as a great bkup point instead while Rollins is more of a bkup 2, certainly not a point on a contender, not yet anyway, imo); nevertheless, the Bucks have a solid, exciting young core bkup unit to build upon, smthg more self-evident whenever Giannis, Bobby, Miles and Kuz (tho Kuz less so bc he can keep up with the youngbloods and often plays better with them than with the vets) r not on the floor with them.
Trading Jrue and Grayson for Dame made the Bucks a worse team. I’d not make that trade again because of the terribly bad fit Dame had with Giannis.
I wouldn’t have done the Dame trade. I think the organization overreacted to some pretty bad luck against a Miami team that had their number. Miami also shot a ridiculously high percentage from three we caught them when they were on fire and Giannis hurt his back.
I’d much rather have the high floor of a defensive, and great rebounding team than whatever we’ve been watching since the Dame trade, and then focus on using your assets on finding a wing replacement to complement the Jrue Giannis Brook nucleus and blueprint. Maybe downscale Khris to a bench role on a cheaper deal.
Jrue was THE best possible fit at point guard to pair with Giannis AND he wanted to be here. Like 2 days before the trade he put out that post that said "I'm a Buck for life" and all that….and then they trade him for a guy that doesn't fit and doesn't want to be here. Credit to Dame for giving his all while he was here but we all know his heart was always in Portland….horrible trade… Luka to LA level
The bad trade was Bledsoe for Holiday. Bledsoe was just a better defensive player in the Bucks defense. Plus Holiday couldn’t guard anyone with a floater in the playoffs.
Kevin Porter Jr at the point , Ryan Rollins at the 2 , ousmane dieng at the 3, Giannis at the 4 , and sims at the 5 . I would trade Myles Turner , keep Bobby portis and kuzma off the bench . Keep prince of the bench. Keep AJ Green off the bench. Draft a point guard. Sign another young big to back up sims . The sleeper player of the draft , is Jaden Bradley from Arizona. Bucks need to get him as the backup point guard. Since for some unknown reason, there are certain bucks podcasts that hate on Ryan Rollins, which speaks to their limited knowledge of basketball, in the statistic of clutch players in the NBA , Ryan Rollins is in the top 5 with joker , and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That is amazing. His ability to make big shots in close games puts him in the top 5 in the entire NBA . And sadly we have people who wants to trade this 23 year old. Smh .
If dame and Giannis stayed healthy they might of stole a title. The true story is Quack Rivers killed the bucks with point Giannis. Rivers hiring marked the turn from title contender to expansion team. Horst keeps trading away the future bigly, and Justin wants to trade 3 picks still. The culture is a losing one now.
You just don’t trade a Jrue holiday
THE DAME DISASTER……
You say that team was much more likeable which is true BUT a lot of these Bucks fans have deleted their history because I distinctly remember even in our championship year the same fans who say go back to that team were calling Jrue trash and calling to trade him in many games, we all know Middleton and Brook had their haters. Bucks fans will just be Bucks fans. Same with all the Griffen and Doc haters (I also thought they were poor choices) most of them were calling for Bud to get the axe even within the championship year playoffs. Bucks fans will never be happy.
The Bucks engineered a deal that got their second best player to he biggest constant threat in the conference 🙂 Let that sink in. But some people get on Giannis.
Camille is 100% right. Dame trade extended their window another couple years because Jrue has declined since leaving Milwaukee. Also the most important reason you do it is because it got Giannis to re-sign. I feel like you and everyone who tries to relitigate that trade totally leave that out. Giannis probably wouldn’t have extended if they just trotted out the same team that had lost in the first round.