The Milwaukee Bucks’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion in Game 5 on Wednesday, as a 128-126 loss to the Miami Heat in overtime sent them home.
With that, the championship aspirations that everyone had before the season and before the playoffs are now dead, and it’s time to move forward to the future; General Manager Jon Horst will have some decisions to make. Mainly his decision to run it back with the same roster as last season didn’t work, and now the question looms what will Milwaukee’s roster look like next season?
Milwaukee has 10 players who are set to be free agents, and since the strategy didn’t work to bring back every free agent last season, here are three guys who are more likely to come back to the Milwaukee Bucks.
1- Thanasis Antetokounmpo
This is pretty obvious. As long as Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the Milwaukee Bucks, Thanasis Antetokounmpo will have a spot on the roster.
Known for his exuberant energy, Thanasis is a guy who keeps team morale high and is there to give Giannis motivation when he needs it.
But let’s be clear, Antetokounmpo deserves a spot on the roster because while his offensive game is limited, there hasn’t been a 13th guy on any bench in the NBA who has had as many posterizing dunks as him.
His games played have decreased in the last two seasons since playing in 57 games in the championship run. Antetokoumpo played an important role in that run as Head Coach Mike Budenholzer would bring him in with less than 30 seconds left to be a defensive stopper. I would like to have seen that role get brought back for the playoffs, but since the Bucks lost in five games, it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
The Antetokounmpo lineage is strong in the Bucks organization, as you have Giannis and Thanasis, but you also have the younger Alex Antetokounmpo, who plays the Bucks G-League affiliate, Wisconsin Herd.
The goal for the Bucks organization has been to do anything to keep Giannis happy, and giving his brother a spot on the roster does that.
2- Brook Lopez
If the Milwaukee Bucks were a train: Brook Lopez would be the engine.
The Bucks have been a top defensive team since Lopez joined Milwaukee in 2018. Lopez was sixth in the NBA in defensive rating (StatMuse.com) and finished second behind Jaren Jackson Jr. in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Lopez played in 78 games this season (his highest since the 2018-2019 season when he played in 81 games for Milwaukee.)
While in Milwaukee, Lopez developed his outside shot and refined his game to become one of the NBA’s premier shooting big men. He is a weapon shooting from the outside, and with teams packing the paint against Giannis, it’s good to have a threat like Lopez who shoots from deep.
The downside to Lopez’s game is that he’s not quick; he’s had trouble in the past with bigs who can shoot from the outside and staying in front of quicker guards. Milwaukee has a drop-coverage philosophy with Lopez on the floor, and it’s easier for guards to get to the paint and shoot floaters due to that.
The four teams who have been eliminated from the playoffs (Clippers, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, and Bucks) all have the same problem, which is bigs on their roster who have trouble guarding outside the paint. This isn’t noticeable in the regular season, but in the postseason, every team will want to shoot threes, and that has been Milwaukee’s downfall the last two postseasons, an inability to guard the 3-point line.
Lopez will get brought back because of the center market in free agency. The NBA Draft isn’t strong, and Milwaukee doesn’t have a draft pick, so they couldn’t improve their roster in any area.
3- Joe Ingles
If anybody needed a bounce-back year, it was Joe Ingles.
Coming off ACL surgery, Ingles didn’t make his debut for the Bucks until December 19 and ended up suiting up for 46 games this season.
What Ingles provides for the Bucks is invaluable; a playmaker, ball handler, and a sensational passer. Milwaukee didn’t have a guy like Joe Ingles in the 2022 postseason against Boston, and having another guy on the floor who can create for other guys would have helped in that series.
Ingles had a tough series defensively, specifically staying in front of Jimmy Butler, but he shot 50 percent from three; he did his job in terms of helping Milwaukee stretch the floor.
Milwaukee should re-sign veteran guys who play selfless basketball. In Game 5, I watched a team play selfish basketball.
Keeping Ingles is important for Milwaukee because he’s a player who makes the extra pass, never plays outside of his game, and is consistent, which is something that Milwaukee didn’t do enough of offensively in Game 5.
Milwaukee needs to keep guys who play with an edge. Bobby Portis, Ingles, and Jae Crowder fit that description. Those three helped embody the city of Milwaukee by being willing to do the dirty work to help make the Bucks who they are.
What Ingles did for the Milwaukee Bucks this year can’t be found anywhere else, and it would be a massive mistake for Jon Horst to let him walk in free agency.
It’ll be interesting to see who will be in a Milwaukee Bucks uniform next season.