In recent years, the Milwaukee Bucks have always been heavily reliant on veteran players, sometimes to their own detriment. However, heading into the 2026-27 season, they have a number of young players ready to step up, and one executive feels the team will be competitive and that those veterans cannot get complacent during training camp.
Spotrac's Keith Smith spoke to executives of each team during Summer League, and a Bucks executive said this about the group:
"We’ve got a lot of vets who are going to play. But behind them are kids who are going to push them. We should have a really competitive camp this year. From talking to the guys, everyone feels energized and ready to go. We’re excited to get back to work already in the fall."
Training camp will dictate Bucks' early starting five
A new-look roster gives new head coach Taylor Jenkins pretty much a blank slate to work with going into this training camp. There is competition for places in the starting five, but even on the bench, there are players who can contribute in multiple ways, something recent Bucks rosters have been missing.
The Bucks made the bold move to bring in Myles Turner last summer, and a perhaps lackluster first season in Wisconsin will see him fighting to tie down the starting center spot with Kel'el Ware, the standout prospect from the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. Turner is likely to be the starting five come opening day, but there are no guarantees.
Along with Turner, Kyle Kuzma will be expected to start at the power forward position. With the forward positions lacking the most depth out of all the roster groups, his spot looks safer, but there are still Ousmane Dieng and possibly Nate Ament who can compete for a wing spot.
Finally, the backcourt is littered with bodies, and places really are up for grabs. As it stands, Ryan Rollins and Tyler Herro will be the obvious starters; again, there are guys who can compete for places, with Brayden Burries being one of the Summer League standouts.
Bucks finally have young talent to compete for minutes
The Achilles heel of the Bucks for several years was that they couldn't compete with younger, more athletic teams. Think back to the 2024 first-round exit to the Indiana Pacers, where they were relying on key minutes from Patrick Beverley, Brook Lopez, Jae Crowder, Danilo Gallinari and Khris Middleton before surgery on both ankles to try to keep up with the fast-flowing Pacers lineups.
Now, their average age has dropped significantly. All four players acquired from the Miami Heat can feature straight away in the rotation, along with Burries and Ament from the draft. Bogoljub Markovic will need more time before he nails down consistent minutes, but in the Summer League he showed flashes of what he could bring to the team this season.
Milwaukee is still at 17 standard contracts and needs to get down to the maximum of 15.LeBron James' decision, finally made on Friday, might finally kick free agency and any potential trades back into gear with training camp looming.
It is clear that the Bucks have plenty of depth and guys ready to compete and contribute, and it hasn't gone unnoticed in the organization that there is plenty of young talent ready to take minutes from the veterans if they are slacking.
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