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Author’s note: I was out in the Mountain West over the weekend and only returned to the magnificent flatlands of middle America late last night. To remain consistent with the MMMR’s posting schedule, this week’s special edition of the column is coming to you on your lunch break rather than with morning coffee. Enjoy!
In the words of my inimitable colleague Kyle Carr: There is only one player to whom the moniker “Milwaukee Buck for life” applies. Giannis Antetokounmpo is, in the cutthroat game of NBA roster management, the only player who is truly exempt from the outgoing rumor mill. Even someone as entrenched as Khris Middleton may find himself included in a trade one day if a can’t-say-no deal would come across the GM’s desk. As a reminder, Jrue Holiday looked like he was going to be a Buck For Life and even had a story published in the Journal Sentinel to that effect, only to be promptly traded shortly thereafter. It worked out for him in the end, but it was stark evidence that untouchability is hard to come by.
Unless, perhaps, you are Brook Lopez.
GM Jon Horst’s interview with Eric Nehm at The Athletic was wide-ranging and covered plenty of free agency, trade, and team development ground, but the most interesting bit (to me) had to do with Brook. Specifically, Brook and rumors he was on the trading block this summer. Horst (emphasis mine):
First of all, rumors and chatter are what makes the league so interesting and so fun, so people are always going to speculate and talk about it. And I typically don’t talk about any of this stuff with the media, but I will say, because Brook is so core to who we are, we have zero intentions of trading Brook. Of course he has value around the league. That’s a credit to him. But we’ve not engaged in any real conversations about trading Brook. There are teams that have a lot of value and interest in him. It’s my job to take calls, receive calls, have conversations, but Brook has been and will continue to be core to who we are.
Objectively, it all makes sense, but let’s also dispel the notion that Lopez wasn’t thrown in the trade machine a time or two this summer. That statement is standard CYA procedure on the part of the org (which I don’t fault them for).
What matters, though, is that which lies between the lines. Namely, the Bucks will extract an eye watering price to let Lopez go. They have never made much of an attempt to acquire or develop a replacement and Brook has largely rewarded them with consistency of availability. The consequence is that he is just as, if not more, valuable to Milwaukee than to anyone else out there. Ergo, barring his demanding a trade or leaving via free agency, he might be the heir to Giannis’s Buck For Life mantle.
If that is the case, the Bucks will need to do their level best to follow a path similar to, say, the Boston Celtics with Al Horford. Nobody will contest how crucial Horford has been as a spacer and physical presence for Boston since he arrived. As he has aged, both sides have found a way to keep him relatively paid while gradually reducing his impact on the payroll. He signed a two-year, $19.5 million extension in December 2022 that will see him make $9.5 million in this, his age 38 season.
The truth of Brook’s interest in heading to Houston as a free agent or the Bucks dalliance with trading him this summer has a role to play, but it appears this is a marriage in which both sides are best served sticking it out. For the sake of team flexibility, it would behoove the Bucks to find a way to dial back the annual pay without compromising their relationship with arguably the second most important player on the roster as it is currently constructed. Whether they can thread that needle and find Brook’s successor in the meantime is to be determined.
In the meantime, its not bad job security if you can get it.
Let’s roundup!
Milwaukee Bucks Links
Bucks GM Jon Horst details team’s quiet offseason, Giannis at Olympics and Year 2 of Lillard (The Athletic)
Providing the link again for easy access for those who want to read Horst’s answers in full on items besides Brook Lopez. The sense that comes through is a very high level of satisfaction within the organization with how the summer went. We’ll see how it plays out next season!
Giannis Antetokounmpo, from stateless person to flag-bearer for Greece (Le Monde) & Giannis Antetokounmpo being first Black Olympic flagbearer for Greece a ‘huge honour’ (USA Today)
Not sure we’ve gotten Le Monde in the MMMR mix before, so we welcome our French colleagues to the fold. In the buildup to the Olympics I had forgotten that Greece traditionally leads the parade of nations as the birthplace of the Olympic Games, so Giannis being one of the Greek flagbearers was that much more special.
Eight Must-Watch Men’s Basketball Games in the Group Stage (Olympics.com)
A tough start for the Greek national team having lost to Canada, but the slight margin of defeat means the damage isn’t as severe as it could’ve been. Victory over Spain tomorrow, July 30th, would set up some high drama for the face-off against current group leader Australia on August 2nd. We’ll keep an eye on the results and update coverage here at the site as we go.
NBA offseason grades for Eastern Conference teams (CBS Sports)
This seems like a fair evaluation of the offseason for Milwaukee (spoiler alert: the team got a B-). Great veteran free agent signings will go a long way to stabilizing the floor for the season. The question around the defense will remain until we see actual evidence of a real jump on that end.
Theoretical Bucks Lineup of the Week
New Guy Small Ball
Damian Lillard / Delon Wright / Khris Middleton / Taurean Prince / Giannis Antetokounmpo
Use Case: Defending guard/wing-heavy opposing lineups
Strengths: Semblance of point-of-attack defense, matchups, three-point shooting, Giannis hero ball
Weaknesses: Non-Giannis rebounding, questions about help defense/switching
While Brook Lopez puts down ever stronger roots in the Milwaukee area with another five to six seasons ahead of him, the quest for viable Giannis-at-center lineups continues. That particular gambit hasn’t been used a ton in past regular seasons, and Giannis has essentially missed the last two playoff runs, so we can’t say whether the right fit was ever there. Why not try with the new guys?
The idea here rests on the reputation of Wright and Prince as plus defenders for their positions. Jon Horst thinks both guys can guard up to three positions in a pinch (Wright the one through three, Prince the two through four); this grouping would go a long way to proving just that. In an ideal world, Doc Rivers could deploy this lineup with Wright taking on the most difficult guard assignment, Prince the wing assignment, and Giannis cleaning up whatever big or forward an opponent has out there. If Khris can dig deep and give you a thing or two on defense as well that’s gravy. Dame will be on the floor. On offense, the three-point shooting so important to any Giannis offense would be available in spades while clearing the interior entirely for Antetokounmpo to do whatever he likes in isolation. Whether he executes is another matter.
Downsides include the fact that Prince is an indifferent rebounder and you’re asking Giannis and possibly Khris to do a lot of heavy lifting and battling for loose balls. Center Giannis lineups also usually try to be as switching-capable as possible to take advantage of his athleticism, but having Khris and Lillard could put paid to that strategy against certain matchups — can Giannis find a way to function in a drop to cover for that possibility?
You run this group out there in hopes of simply overwhelming an opponent with speed and lethality on offense while holding your own defensively. I don’t see it as a unit that will dominate an opponent off the floor on both ends of the court, but it could prove to be the best small(ish) group without massive compromises built in. Have we found the Giannis-at-center lineup to end them all? Probably not. However, it is a start.
The Social Media Section
He is flying up the charts of my favorite Bucks posters
Forward unto whatever the next week holds
Back to Spain for Serge. Still determined to do the damn thing. Respect.
Should I sign up?
Lethal Shooter spending another summer ruining our players. Great.
Stick with it, kid
Shoutout to the family and friends
Greece has two more group stage games left this week before we find out their fate as far as the elimination bracket goes. They’ll face Spain tomorrow morning at 4 AM (Central) and will have one final matchup against Australia on Friday, August 2nd at 6:30 AM (Central). Defeat against Spain would essentially make it a wrap for the Greek basketball team’s hopes of advancing (although the seeding situation is chaotic/confusing), so we’ll know a bit more about their fate shortly.
Happy Monday!
Source link : https://www.brewhoop.com/2024/7/29/24208704/monday-midday-media-roundup-brook-lopez-milwaukee-bucks-links
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Publish date : 2024-07-29 17:30:00
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