The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #3: Remaining Free Agency Decisions
By Tim Wray
The Bucks have been fairly active during free agency, most notably with the acquisitions of Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic. On the other hand, the team has also said goodbye to a number of players. What are your general thoughts regarding Milwaukee’s arrivals and departures?
Tom Pheister (@BucksPhanTom): Obviously, with the departures outnumbering the arrivals, my first thought is to wonder what will be the next move. Who else will they be bringing in?
Secondly, the arrivals thus far do seem to point towards a commitment to Giannis as the primary playmaker, which is quite an exciting thing to see. It seems that all of us at BTBP have been talking about the Bucks need for shooting forever, and the Bucks are starting to find role players who will help keep defenses honest. The shots will be there for Delly and Telly, and history shows that they should be able to knock them down.
Also, as a side note, I do want to wish all the guys leaving the Bucks well, especially O.J. Mayo. Addiction can be a killer, and I sincerely hope he is able to get the help he needs to get healthy.
Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11): The last couple of moves will definitely be important, but I’m thrilled with what they’ve done so far.
With the rising cap there has arguably never been a summer that could be more potentially damaging to a team’s long term cap outlook than this one. So far not only have the Bucks made good value deals that will be an asset on the team and tradable if things don’t work out, but they’ve also picked up proven quality role players.
Bayless will be missed, but in terms of production the Bucks got very little from the rest of this summer’s departures. Delly and Telly should be real role players and that will be a big boost to the quality of depth in Milwaukee.
Riley Feldmann (@RileyFeldmann): I certainly came into this free agency for Milwaukee expecting a lot of the guys listed to be coming back. Mayo and Vasquez may have been on the outs anyhow, but I was surprised to see Bayless, Inglis, and JOB depart in a pretty quick succession. One would’ve worried initially about a drop in shooting ability without Bayless, but Teletovic and Dellavadova should fill in perfectly.
On the whole, however, I think it has been an excellent free agency period. They didn’t shoot themselves in the foot for the long-term, they filled roles and needs at reasonable rates, and they’ve left themselves with enough roster spots to be flexible in trying to acquire other guys through trades or if anyone from the Summer League roster shows enough to earn a spot on the team.
Ti Windisch (@TiWindisch): I love Milwaukee’s free agency signings thus far. As our own John Heffernon wrote earlier this week, the shooters Milwaukee has brought in are better than the ones the Bucks have lost.
Maybe the most thrilling part for me has been that the Bucks have yet to sign an overpriced free agent. I was terrified they would go after Dwight Howard or Dwyane Wade and actually land them on a ridiculously expensive/long deal. Both of those guys have landed in other cities, and the touches will still be there for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Jordan Treske (@JordanTreske): The offseason for the Bucks may not have the big free agent splash like last year, but to me, the moves they’ve made so far have been the ones I’ve wanted to see, especially coming out of last season. On their own, both Mirza Teletovic and Matthew Dellavedova don’t make the Bucks a better team, but they’re the right pieces to put around the team’s current core of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker.
As far as the departing Bucks players go, I think things ran their course with all five players. I will say I was a little surprised that there was no interest in bringing back Jerryd Bayless, especially considering his ties with Kidd and his growth as a shooter this season, but the moves they’ve made through the draft and free agency were probably hints that both sides would be moving on.
Tim Wray (@TRW24): Realistically speaking, I don’t think the Bucks could have played free agency much better in a climate where long-term salary cap management has reached such unprecedented importance, as Adam mentioned. Like Ti, I was afraid that the Bucks were going to overpay a high profile free agent, subsequently creating salary cap issues down the line when the front office presumably has Giannis and Jabari tied up with long-term contract extensions at the max.
Instead, Milwaukee has given sensible contracts to affordable role players who address the team’s key weaknesses and add vital depth to the rotation. With Dellavedova, as Tom raised, the Bucks get almost the ideal point guard to play an off-ball role next to Point Giannis, who is going to give the team scrappy defense and solid three-point shooting, especially in catch and shoot situations. As for Teletovic, Milwaukee gets a three-point flamethrower who will definitely help the Bucks more effectively space the floor at power forward. To put into context just how much this could evolve the Bucks offense, Mirza made 181 three’s last season despite playing only 21 minutes per game for the Suns. Had he done that for the Bucks, it would have been the 4th highest total in franchise history behind only Ray Allen and Michael Redd, who both played at least 800 more minutes than Telly in those seasons.
Turning to the departures, I thought Bayless was a very strong chance to be re-signed after he was clearly Milwaukee’s best veteran guard last season, starting a handful of games and shooting almost 44 percent from deep. However, like everyone has acknowledged, in terms of production, the Bucks additions this summer through the draft and free agency should outweigh what the team is losing. O.J. Mayo’s drug violation is unfortunate, but ultimately his on-court output fell well below what he was expected to provide. The same can probably be said for Greivis Vasquez, although he was injured for most of last season. Sadly, this is the end for Johnny O’Bryant, the Milwaukee Bucks franchise leader in three-point percentage, but he and Damien Inglis offered very little, consequently making them easily replaceable.
Next: Remaining Free Agent Targets