Milwaukee Bucks: Letting Malcolm Brogdon go was a mistake

Conclusion

Letting Malcolm Brogdon go was a mistake. This move, from the outside, appears to have been about getting the ownership to avoid the repeater luxury tax for as long as they possibly could rather than helping the Bucks maintain a team that was more than capable of winning a title now.

Keeping Brogdon was the Bucks’ best chance, both in the short-term and long-term, to getting them their first NBA championship in nearly 50 years.

They may have done well to get Wesley Matthews on a minimum contract after their sign-and-trade of Brogdon, but neither he nor the Bucks collection of young shooting guards, are very likely to come anywhere close to the production that Malcolm Brogdon provided on both ends of the court. This team is objectively worse entering next season because of the loss of Brogdon.

The NBA title race is now the most open it’s been in several years. Everything broke Milwaukee’s way this summer to be the best positioned team to win the NBA title next season. By letting Malcolm Brogdon go, they are closer to their competition than they should have been if they had just made the decision to keep him.

Things may still work out for the Bucks next season, but they’ll need a lot to break their way in Brogdon’s absence for that to happen.