The Milwaukee Bucks have had a relatively busy start to the 2022 NBA offseason. The team was extremely busy within the opening hour of free agency and went on a frenzy of signings. While the team did bring in free agent Joe Ingles from the Utah Jazz, most of the players that have signed so far this offseason have been from last season’s team.
Within the first hour of free agency, the team re-signed Bobby Portis, Jevon Carter, and Wesley Matthews, as well as signing Ingles. They continued their trend of keeping their current roster together a few days later when they surprisingly re-signed Serge Ibaka.
Outside of the Ingles move, the entire offseason approach for the Bucks so far has been staying true to themselves. It currently appears that every single player that was eligible to sign elsewhere in free agency will end up re-signing and being in Milwaukee again next season.
The Milwaukee Bucks are staying true to themselves in the 2022 offseason
The thing that the Milwaukee Bucks have done best over the last few years is not overreacting after early playoff losses.
After disappointing playoff exits in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020, the team easily could’ve made some irrational choices. Instead, they stuck to the core that they had with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez.
There is one move that they made to alter their core, though. The biggest offseason move that the team has made since becoming a true contender occurred after coming up short in the bubble in 2020. During the 2020 offseason, the Bucks traded for Jrue Holiday. It was a move that the team knew they had to make following Eric Bledsoe’s playoff failures in consecutive seasons. The team has not been known to make impulsive decisions after losing early unless it’s a scenario like Bledsoe where it’s necessary.
The willingness to continue to believe in their guys has paid off for the Bucks. The main core of Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Lopez, and the addition of Holiday brought Milwaukee their first championship in 50 years in 2021.
The belief in who they have doesn’t just stop at the players. There was a lot of pressure on Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer going into the 2021 playoffs. Many fans had become frustrated with Budenholzer and his inability to get it done in the postseason. The team decided to give Budenholzer one final go in 2021 and he rewarded them for their belief in him by capturing his first championship as an NBA head coach.
The Bucks easily could’ve overreacted and traded one of their key pieces or fired Budenholzer when they came up short, but they knew that everything would work out in the end. The team never lost sight of their ultimate goal and always believed that doing things their way would get them there. In the end, they did get there in 2021 by staying true to themselves.
The team has stuck to doing exactly what they’ve always done in the 2022 offseason. They’re not constantly moving their roster around. If not for a Khris Middleton injury, Milwaukee very easily could’ve represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals in 2022 and the front-office knows that. While a lot of other teams would be making blockbuster moves, Milwaukee is going to continue to be Milwaukee and believe that a fully healthy Bucks team can make another championship run in 2023.
Stay tuned for updates on the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2022 offseason.