Monday Morning Media Roundup: First Half Opportunities

Milwaukee Bucks links for your perusal on September 16th, 2024

The first half of an NBA regular season is an important kind of first litmus test on a number of levels. You’ll have a clue whether your team has a clue what they’re doing on either end of the floor. Early-season award campaigns get underway before finding a sustainable gear or drowning in the muck of an 82 game campaign. We get our first batch of piping hot takes about how X player is a Huckster Fraud Loser, Y team should be moved to Vladivostok, and Z coach is maybe the dumbest person to ever live of all time. As the leaves begin to fall, our hearts go from the open joy of the summer to a dark cruelty reflective of the conditions outdoors.

Underneath the radar of hot air and blather there are smaller tests going on. Does a rookie look like he has a semblance of “It”? How have free agent arrivals ingratiated themselves into rotation holes they’re paid to deal with? Have any early-career guys taken a step or two forward in their progression as NBA players?

All three of those questions will have some level of relevance in Milwaukee. Intelligent analysis will suggest it is the FAs who will ultimately decide this team’s fate. What if one of those guys fails to impress? There’s always the buyout market or trades, but that’s a lever not totally in your control as a GM. When short-term problems require immediate solutions, you must look internally. Against the odds, the Bucks enter this year with six full-roster players who can change the team’s calculus with impressive showings in the first half of the regular season. Who, then, will go in with the greatest opportunity to turn heads?

It has to be Andre Jackson Jr., right? AJ Green is a known quantity, even if reasonable people can wonder about how real his defense is; that knowledge means he is likely the most reliable younger guy, but also one with a lower possible ceiling for progression. AJax is young, chaotic, has some size/length, and both rough around the edges and smooth as silk seemingly out of nowhere. If his game tightens up even a little there’s room for serious dividends paid on the court.

Of all the new free agents, Taurean Prince feels like the biggest question mark to me. He also happens to be AJJ’s direct competition for minutes. While coach Doc Rivers may tend to ride with experience over audacity, it is also in his best interest to find out what the Bucks may have on their hands at the end of the bench. After all, if Andre develops into a rotation NBA player he solves a number of roster-building riddles on his own.

So consider this my appeal to Andre to go forth and take advantage of the chances that will likely come his way from October to January. Make the move from intriguing question mark to recognizable contributor in whatever guise works best for you. I’m looking forward to watching!

Let’s roundup!

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Milwaukee Bucks Links

30 Teams in 30 Days: Minor roster changes mark Milwaukee’s offseason (NBA.com)

The replacements of Jae Crowder, Malik Beasley, and Cam Payne/Patrick Beverley with Taurean Prince, Gary Trent Jr., and Delon Wright (respectively) will be a major point of focus for Bucks fans who will have to watch the team on a nightly basis. Interesting, although perhaps unsurprising and fair enough, that those names are more shuffling of role player deck chairs than meaningful enhancements to the rotation. I tend to agree with that assessment. Their presence may improve the team’s floor a bit, but their impact in the playoffs will likely be marginal at best if all goes according to plan.

Ranking all 68 traded future NBA first-round picks (CBS Sports)

In a summer largely bereft of talk about the Milwaukee Bucks, I consider it a true honor to see their 2029 first-round pick get the top marks for the most valuable future-traded NBA draft pick. That selection currently belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers (with some shenanigans that may bring the Wizards in, too). The rationale is about what you’d expect: This team is old, only getting older, and the old dudes who are important to Milwaukee will struggle to find much of a market elsewhere equivalent to Milwaukee’s expectations.

That leaves the future unclear and reliably gets the thinkers around the league pondering whether Giannis has the wherewithal to see the team stick whatever landing the front office may plan. As site managing editor Van pointed out, though, not all hope is to be lost just yet if the Bucks maintain all the cap space they’re projected to have in the summer of 2026:

Damian Lillard to receive the first-ever Bill Walton Community Impact Award (Maurice Lucas Foundation)

Congrats to Dame for being honored for his work in the communities he’s involved in. Give it some time and those efforts will surely expand to encompass Milwaukee alongside Oakland, Ogden, and Portland.

John Henson Confirms Retirement, Thrilled About Next Career Phase in Sports Media (Responsible Gambling.com (???))

In an inexplicably long interview and piece about John Henson, the former Buck confirmed his final retirement from competitive basketball. He’s bopping around here or there doing media, including color commentary for ACC basketball games, some SiriusXM program, and football programming for some reason. Cracked me up reading that his breakthrough into media came via a connection with a fan at a country music concert whose interest in NFTs and Bitcoin helped a friendship with Henson blossom.

Enjoy the fishing, big man, and congrats on finding next steps to fulfillment.

Know Your Enemy – Eastern Conference Foes Edition

With the posting of the official Brew Hoop staff lineup roundtable last week, I feel it is time for the MMMR column to pivot to yet another random recurring segment. For the next month we’ll be looking in to the moves made by other Eastern Conference playoff teams to get a sense of how the landscape may have changed around Milwaukee during the summer. First up, the Boston Celtics.

2024-2025 Record & Result: 64-18, 123.2 ORTG (1st), 111.6 DRTG (3rd), first seed, NBA champions

Departures: Svi Mykhailiuk, Oshae Brissett, JD Davison

Additions: Lonnie Walker IV, Baylor Scheierman (draft), Anton Watson (draft)

Projected Starters: Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford (until Kristaps Porzingis returns from foot surgery)

The Celtics were, unfortunately, a menace to most of the league from the day the 2023-2024 season began and they capably dealt with the group of comers in the playoffs to earn a title at the end of the rainbow. Milwaukee was one of few teams to split their season series, although their two victories came with a combined six point margin of victory. Generally, though, Derrick White proved himself to be an extremely reliable two-way guard, Jrue Holiday did his thing with a reduced offensive burden to boot, Kristaps Porzingis only broke down in the playoffs, and Al Horford’s deal with the devil hasn’t come due just yet.

If there remain weaknesses in Boston’s setup, it ties pretty directly the things Giannis Antetokounmpo in particular should be good at exploiting: Porzingis is a capable defender, but leaves a little to be desired in terms of strength, and Horford is nearly 40. Barring a miraculous defensive series from one of the Jays or a Jrue Holiday masterclass, it will demand a total team effort from the Celtics to slow Giannis down. All that attention can be overcome both through Giannis’s singular skill and a group of teammates who, on paper, can pay off opportunities he generates with his action. Khris Middleton remains an ace in the hole in this matchup in particular.

I’d argue that Milwaukee is superior in top-end talent (Giannis) while hanging in there at the tier below. The real question is whether the Bucks go into any series with health and clearly defined roles for their bench players. While the team had to operate amidst a firefight against the Pacers you could sense that there weren’t many clearly defined and strongly held roles for anyone not named Lillard or Middleton. Boston will not have that problem from the moment the season begins thanks to continuity, although it is mitigated by the fact that Milwaukee will have all season to iron things out.

As is proper, Boston will go into the year presumptive favorites, although perhaps not overwhelming ones just yet.

The Social Media Section

Forgot to include this in the appropriate MMMR a few weeks back. Mea culpa.

Would be very on-brand for the Kings to ruin my 2024-2025 season like this

Shoutout to whoever the hell this guy is

“Purple Blast”

Not sure I’d call these (fire emoji) per se, but OK, whatever

Big summer of big days for the Antetokounmpo family

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Two more guests on deck this week for Deer Diaries (A Milwaukee Bucks Podcast!)’s continuing Season Preview interview series:

• Brew Hoop staff editor Gabe Stoltz
• Brew Hoop managing editor Van Fayaz

After that we have a special crossover episode in the production studio now which I think you’ll enjoy for something a little off the beaten path before we finish interviewing the rest of the BH staff and bringing in some more guests from beyond!

Happy Monday!