Milwaukee Bucks: Relitigating the Malcolm Brogdon decision

The Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to move on from Malcolm Brogdon last offseason remains a huge inflection point in their rise as a championship-caliber team.

After enduring such a playoff meltdown against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, so much surrounding the Milwaukee Bucks‘ future is clouded with questions.

That series exposed the Bucks’ foundational flaws that had only been seen in glimmers and flashes throughout a near-spotless run during the regular season prior to the season suspension. If only there were some decisions the Bucks could have made that would have prevented some of those flaws from being exposed and paving the way for their swift playoff downfall…

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In an offseason that was focused around keeping the band together around reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the restricted free agency of Malcolm Brogdon last summer proved to be one re-signing too far in the eyes of the Bucks’ front office and ownership.

Facilitating a sign-and-trade deal with the Indiana Pacers in which Brogdon signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $85 million deal and the Bucks netted draft compensation, including the 24th overall pick in this year’s draft, proved to be the biggest gamble that any team made last offseason, save for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now some 15 months from that decision, the Bucks have yet to show anything of value in regard to that gamble.

For as many narratives or falsehoods that have floated out there in the aftermath of the Bucks’ decision to let Brogdon walk, the fact of the matter is that the decision on Brogdon revealed more about the Bucks than the player himself. Again, a free agency they held complete control over due to him being a restricted free agent.

One doesn’t have to look anywhere else than when Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry spoke of moving on from the 27-year-old, referring to re-signing him as a “luxury.” I have no doubt that the Bucks’ front office felt similar concerns of committing a good chunk of money to a player that has had the number of injury and durability issues that Brogdon has had in his four years in the league.

But when it came down to it, the Milwaukee Bucks’ core ownership group didn’t buck up to go above and beyond to maximize their chances of winning an NBA championship, even in a season as unpredictable as this one.

In the aftermath, the Bucks’ front office helmed by general manager Jon Horst did their best to cobble together and replicate some of the elements lost in losing a well-rounded piece like Brogdon.

But now, many of the answers the Bucks depended on by committee have turned into questions themselves. While we wait on Wesley Matthews, who will have to decide whether to pick up his $2.6 million player option for next year, all three of Sterling Brown, Pat Connaughton and Kyle Korver will all enter free agency, with Brown being the lone player being a restricted free agent.

Not only is the Bucks’ wing rotation potentially going to look very different next season, the same may be applied to the Bucks’ overall backcourt and the top of their foundation. Trade rumors swirl around Eric Bledsoe after yet another year of playoff struggles and their point guard depth is already thin as is with just George Hill under contract at that spot for next season.

Milwaukee had to thread an incredibly hard needle of trying to keep their core together last offseason, Brogdon being the exception, and their continuity was viewed as a strength during a season where a whole slew of unforeseen circumstances dominated the 2019-20 season before it even began.

Now the continuity is not only in danger of being shaken up, the Bucks themselves stand in a position where continuing with the status quo, with Bledsoe specifically, is unacceptable to imagine if they want to realize their championship aspirations. Not with what is at stake with Antetokounmpo and his future firmly on the tip of everyone’s tongue in and around the league.

Those very needs such as playmaking and the outside shooting the Bucks reportedly seek this offseason very much overlap with what Brogdon now brings to the table for the Pacers.

And before anyone says that Brogdon’s presence wouldn’t have fixed the Bucks’ problems in the playoffs, it’s true that so much went against the Bucks that Brogdon alone wouldn’t have waved a magic wand over those very issues. The same goes for expecting Brogdon to play at a 50-40-90 standard as he did for the 2018-19 campaign.

The irony that the Bucks will look to address their playmaking potency as well as Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry pledging to into the luxury tax for next season were things the majority of Bucks fans and observers around the league could have saw coming if they fell short of their ultimate goal.

Again, those issues could have been exposed with Brogdon on board and as my colleague and co-site expert Adam McGee has repeatedly mentioned, having Brogdon and his salary could have greased the wheels more easily for building trade packages to land the upgrades they desire.

Instead, the Bucks face massive hurdles this offseason and only have so much expendable salary on their books as well as limited drafts assets to part with. All while pressure to win and win big stands at an all-time high. If only it all could have been foreseen some time ago.