Bucks Off Season Thread

[FlaPack]

So let’s move on:

Roster Locks
Giannis $25,842,697
Bledsoe. $15,625,000
Snell. $11,392,857
Donte. $2,905,800
Wilson. $2,961,120
Projected. $58,727,474

Probable
Brown. $1,618,250
Connaughton. $1,719,000
Ilyasova. $7,000,000
Projected. $10,337,250

Cap Holds $69,064,724
Cap. $118,000,000
Cap Space. $48,935,276

Now it get interesting for 4 spaces on the roster.

Hill is a team option but not sure at $18m. Not sure want his value is so a big decision

Lopez was a bargain at $3,382,000. He’s going to get a raise but will it be Milwaukee. Guess is in the $10m to $12m range

Brogdon will get no less than $15m per year on the open market so the question is who gets aggressive with an offer sheet.

Middleton is the wild card. He will get a max deal but from who is the question. The question is can you replace 18 ppg.

Middleton and Brogdon account for 36 PPG out of the starting lineup. It comes down to keeping a 6-8 forward who can go into funks or a 6-5 guard who while solid on all parts of his game is not an All Star player, yet.

If you keep both you have zero roster flexibility. The thing is now there is much more flexibility and depth at guard than forward. DiVincenzo has the skill set to replace Brogdon and if you bring Hill back you have depth.

At forward Mirotic is not a SF wing like Middleton so don’t see that as an option and his skill set especially on defense was exposed in the playoffs. If you let Middleton walk who steps in at SF? You have to count on a mid level exception.

My crystal ball:
Middleton and Lopez come back
Hill comes back at reasonable cap figure
Leaves 1 spot open for draft or ML exception

 

[GBP4EVER]

I let MIddleton walk he's nothing special. Brogdon offers more to this team then Middleton does. I give DJ Wilson chance to replace Middleton at a much cheaper price. Also I think you can afford to bring Mirotic back if you give up Middelton and go with Mirotic and Brogdon instead. MIddleton to me is not worth much more then the 13 million he was due next year anyways paying 20+ million a year is overpaying and taking a bad contract that you will want to dump in a couple years. Hill and Lopez both gone no money to pay either of them. DiVincenzo I am not counting on him at all to be anywhere close to what Brogdon can provide.

 

[FlaPack]

I let MIddleton walk he's nothing special. Brogdon offers more to this team then Middleton does. I give DJ Wilson chance to replace Middleton at a much cheaper price. Also I think you can afford to bring Mirotic back if you give up Middelton and go with Mirotic and Brogdon instead. MIddleton to me is not worth much more then the 13 million he was due next year anyways paying 20+ million a year is overpaying and taking a bad contract that you will want to dump in a couple years. Hill and Lopez both gone no money to pay either of them. DiVincenzo I am not counting on him at all to be anywhere close to what Brogdon can provide.

DJ Wilson is not even close to Middleton. If he would get Middleton minutes you need to count on him for 18-20 per game. Not happening. For all of his flaws if you let him walk there is not one forward on this team that can replace his production and defense. And if you get rid of Hill and/or Lopez again who replaces the production. Mirotic is a one trick pony. A 3 point shot with limited mobility and can’t play defense

 

[FlaPack]

And if anyone is worried about Giannis not signing a super max deal, getting rid of Lopez, Hill, Middleton does not send a strong message of a commitment to win. This team did win 60 games, went to the East finals and did not get embarrassed except for game 4.

 

[GBP4EVER]

And if anyone is worried about Giannis not signing a super max deal, getting rid of Lopez, Hill, Middleton does not send a strong message of a commitment to win. This team did win 60 games, went to the East finals and did not get embarrassed except for game 4.

Well Bucks are limited in cap space unless the owners would be willing to go over and pay the tax.

 

[FlaPack]

Well Bucks are limited in cap space unless the owners would be willing to go over and pay the tax.

Luxury Tax threshold is $132m. They would have to spend north of $80m to get there

 

[Crease Creature]

My (pro) basketball fan friend was telling me today that they'll find a way to keep everyone they want to keep, and then when they've got that, they'll be able to sign Middleton to the max deal because they can still offer him that while going over the cap because they hold some rights or other on him .

That is my limit of knowledge on the topic

 

[FlaPack]

My (pro) basketball fan friend was telling me today that they'll find a way to keep everyone they want to keep, and then when they've got that, they'll be able to sign Middleton to the max deal because they can still offer him that while going over the cap because they hold some rights or other on him .

That is my limit of knowledge on the topic

Your knowledge is spot on

 

[57packer]

I don't really know how the NBA salary CAP works with all it's exceptions and manipulations. The thing for me is - how do you make this team better?

Giannis will continue to hone his game and become incrementally better over the next few years. What happens beyond that. I think Brogdon still has some room to improve, but not much. IMO he's near his ceiling. DJ and Donte are still young players who have room to grow so they provide some hope as well. After that, it's old guys (Ilyasova, Hill) and limited guys (Snell, Brown). They are useful and you need them, but they are not difference makers.

It's probably the case where they will re-sign almost everyone and keep the status quo. Of the available free agents, Leonard and Durant are not coming to Milwaukee, Irving and Walker are not fits. A tough minded guy like Butler might be a plus but I don't see him to the Bucks. If GS wins the title I suspect Thompson stays there. That leaves you with Middleton. I suppose they will need to re-sign him to something close to a max deal. I don't feel great about it though. I just don't see him as a clutch player. Look at game 6. I think he got one shot off in the entire 4th quarter. That doesn't scream max player to me. Good shooter and solid defender but not a star worthy of a max deal.

Beyond Middleton I think you work hard to keep Brogdon and probably Lopez. You let Mirotic walk. I like Hill, but I'm not paying him at his current deal so I suspect he's gone. The other thing I do is sniff around the Boston franchise. They are going to be open to trades I think. Plus Horford is a free agent and I might talk to him to see if he's interested in taking a little less money to win a ring. Would he be an option in place of Lopez?

In the end maybe you can find a way to get to the finals by attrition. If Leonard leaves the Raptors and goes West, and they blow things up a little in Boston maybe you are there by default, though the group in Philly will certainly have something to say about it.

 

[Crease Creature]

Your knowledge is spot on

So then theoretically you can pay Middleton money that doesn't exist for anybody else. But then I have no idea how the contracts work down the road. It certainly doesn't seem like you're set up for success the season beyond the next one.