For years, the Milwaukee Bucks were always one of the oldest teams in the league, if not the oldest. For a while, it made sense. A team competing for a championship year in and year out being made up of battle-tested veterans was a reasonable strategy. One time, it even got them over the hump. Yet, in the past few years, the NBA has become a youth-driven league.
Young, athletic, energetic teams are dominating the league, such as the top franchises in the East and West, Detroit and OKC. Yet, as teams started building through youth, the Bucks kept trying to do so with veterans. It didn't work. Everyone was faster, quicker, and able to keep the pressure on for longer. Something needed to change, and it has in a hurry.
Despite having little to no assets, Jon Horst and the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks front office have quietly been assembling a nice young core that could keep this team afloat for years to come due to how well they complement the roster's veteran counterparts.
Bucks finally have some youth on their side, and there's more to come
Where to start? Ryan Rollins. Kevin Porter Jr. AJ Green. Ousmane Dieng. Cam Thomas. Pete Nance. All of these players are 26 or under and are playing key roles for the Milwaukee Bucks. There's simply no way to avoid Milwaukee's poor draft track record over the last decade, but they've quietly started to make up for it by finding gems like these players through other avenues.
Green, the oldest of the bunch at 26, was an undrafted pickup. Rollins (23) and Thomas (24) were two players discarded by their old teams and picked up by Milwaukee as free agents. Nance (25) was on the hunt for an NBA opportunity when the Bucks signed him. Porter (25) and Dieng (22) were picked up through trades when their old teams were looking to offload them.
All of these players are giving Milwaukee key minutes. Green, Rollins, and Porter have started for much of the season. Nance has played well with Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the lineup. In just a handful of games, Thomas has already been an electric bench presence. Dieng has tallied two of his top five scoring outings of his career with Milwaukee already.
While the team still runs through Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks now have a handful of young players who perfectly complement him and other veterans like Myles Turner and Bobby Portis. In the past, that felt like a far-fetched idea. Why would the Bucks add youth when they could go out and get a household veteran? That thought process has changed for the better.
The Milwaukee Bucks have caught up with the NBA's youth movement, and they have plenty more room to grow. This summer, they will have a first-rounder in the 2026 NBA Draft. Bogoljub Markovic didn't come stateside for his rookie season, but the young Buck is having a strong season overseas and could make the trip next year. The front office could always find another hidden gem or two.
The Bucks have done a good job finding these players, but they must keep their foot on the gas.
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