3 Sizeable roadblocks the Milwaukee Bucks face in upgrading their roster
By Dalton Sell
If they are indeed done making moves, the Milwaukee Bucks have pieced together a well-rounded 18-man roster heading into the 2024-25 NBA season.
Once the Milwaukee Bucks made sure that he'd be staying in town, general manager Jon Horst spent the summer trimming the edges of the roster and finding upgrades with very few resources. All things considered, he did a great job. Yet, as the Bucks seek another illustrious title, there are always more upgrades to be made, so Horst's job is never done as he scouts for more talent.
Though Horst will be active on the trade market in search of more upgrades, he will be met with more challenges this year than in previous ones. Let's analyze them.
The Bucks are limited by the second apron
The Milwaukee Bucks are a second-apron team. That means a lot of things, but the big takeaway is that they cannot combine salaries or take back more money in a trade than they are sending out.
Last season, the Bucks were rumored to be shopping Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton. They could have shipped them out together and brought back a player with a pretty hefty salary. Players such as Golden State's Andrew Wiggins and Memphis' Marcus Smart, both raking in over $20 million annually, were mentioned among possible targets. This year, the Bucks cannot combine those salaries.
Obviously, that takes away plenty of flexibility for Jon Horst. In the past, he made plenty of deals that worked because he was able to combine countless salaries - moving D.J. Augustin and D.J. Wilson for P.J. Tucker and moving Jordan Nwora, George Hill and Serge Ibaka for Jae Crowder come to mind as recent examples. That is no longer a luxury he has at his disposal, so trades must be smaller.