Last season didn’t end the way that the Milwaukee Bucks hoped. After finishing the regular season with the best record in the NBA and entering the playoffs relatively healthy, a run at another title seemed within sight. Then Giannis Antetokounmpo got hurt, the Miami Heat touched the sun, and the Bucks were out in five games.
That forced the Bucks to face the music heading into the offseason. With key members of their core hitting unrestricted free agency, the new CBA putting financial restrictions on contending teams and Mike Budenholzer sent packing, this summer was lining up to be as critical as they get.
How did the Bucks do this offseason?
The Bucks seem to have explored a number of options, from trading for Bradley Beal to churning through their bench. In the end, however, they looked at their team and decided not to break up a contender. They brought back nearly everyone, made some additions around the margins, and decided to run it back.
Was that the right move? And how well did they execute the vision of keeping a contender around Antetokounmpo? Let’s go move-by-move and give the Bucks a grade on each, compiling a report card for them to take back home.
Grades in the ‘A’ range excellently brought together the team’s needs, the value of the move and took advantage of the opportunity (for example, the Bucks never had the scratch to trade for Damian Lillard or the draft equity to take Scoot Henderson). A grade in the ‘B’ range was worth making, a ‘C’ was questionable, a ‘D’ looks like a mistake and a ‘F’ was clearly a disaster, a “Lakers trading for Russell Westbrook” type of trainwreck.
How did Milwaukee do? Let’s start with their best move of the summer.