Already widely viewed as the frontrunners in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics swing major trades. With Damian Lillard in Milwaukee and Jrue Holiday in Boston, which team should feel better about the last few days? Would the Bucks have made the trade for Dame if they knew Boston would acquire Jrue? What are the big questions for each team? Will there be more moves for both rosters? Has Giannis somehow become the forgotten man in this rivalry discussion? Kane from Locked on Bucks and John from Locked on Celtics chat about the last few days in a crossover special.
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40 Comments
With Jrue Holiday now in Boston, how do Milwaukee fans feel about the matchup with the Celtics as it stands today?
I miss Jrue a lot, but the media has overblown this now he's a Celtic. The Celtics will still live and die by the 3, if the Bucks can play team defence and at least make that hard for them, I think the Bucks have enough other weapons and depth to win in a 7-game series. Both teams will rely on their stars in the Playoffs, and Giannis is still the best player in the series.
We are not worried. 😂 Bucks in 4💪🏿
They over hyping jrue I miss you we gone be alright
I love Jrue, but how he got annihilated by Jimmy B. in the first round of the playoffs was awful, especially with Giannis' injury. I don't think that can be overlooked or minimized now.
they're making moves to beat us. Not the other way around. Their team is also full of playoff shrinkers. Bucks don't give a shit where holiday ended up
This framing is a bit shortsighted. Boston has a ton of picks and tradeable contracts. If it wasn’t jrue, they would have been after and traded for someone as good or better. Dame makes them better, full stop.
jrue couldnt buy a bucket.
Celtics will win because of Jrue
Bledsoe 2.0 is Bostons problem now.
Bucks in 3
Milwaukee had the number one defense in the league before we acquired Jrue. Our front court with Giannis and Brook covers for any shortcomings from the back court defense. Also, Khris is underrated defensively dude has a damn near 7 foot wingspan
Love Jrue a lot and we def don't win the 2021 title without him. That said, over the last 2 playoff runs he had a TS% or 46% and got absolutely torched by Jimmy Butler, who's good, but looked like MJ against us.
Dames last two playoff runs, this dude had a TS% of 66%. That is an astronomical improvement…
On top of this, the best two Giannis defenders the Celtics had were Rob, Grant, and Smart. If Jrue manages to clamp up Dame or slow him down, you still got to respect him, but you also have Giannis coming at you in the paint.
I'm biased but genuinely don't understand how anyone can look at these two moves and not say "Milwaukee is better off"
Edit- furthermore, Over the last 5 years when going against Kristaps, Giannis has averaged 38-11-5. So i don't wanna year about this dude. Lol
I might get heat in these comments but to me the bucks bench suspect and they don’t have to much money. I say that to say bring Melo out of retirement to help & he gets a ring
Bench
C. Bobby
PF. Melo
SF. Crowder
SG. Beasley
PG. Payne
Lopez
Antetokounmpo
Antetokounmpo
John Karalis is a god. Celtics in 3
The bucks have Giannis and dame who else of note?
With Dame you can't build the wall anymore against Giannis, that is going to make him unstoppable. And while Giannis isn't a good closer, Dame is the league's best closer. These 2 are a perfect fit like Shaq and Kobe. Bucks are going to destroy the league including Boston.
Well, I've been watching bucks basketball since I was a kid. This is the first time I can really. Truly say we have a closer all time, clutch guy. & our bench is much improved if marjon makes that jump like I think he can. I would put him in the starting lineup. With his his length & Athleticism I think that would be great for the starting lineup.
Boston submits in 3🤙
Add Alex Caruso (an elite Point-of-Attack defender) to the Bucks for Pat Connaughton and the Bucks will be clear favorites again. Just need to fill Jrue’s defensive role with another proven PoA & off-ball perimeter defender.
Why isn't Boston really concerned about his interior D? I mean… they really think one-legged KP or 76yo Hortford could stop the greek? The losses of both Williams plus Smart who defended bigs often are gonna hurt them inside imo. If I was a Celtics fan I would be praying for Hortford living a second (or third, or fourth) youth or maybe KP learning how to defend a la Brook style to be a real factor down there. I think they have more chances of getting the first one.
Their perimeter def is insane tho, Jrue+White is as tough as you can get. The five that could scare me more from them features this 4 (Hortford, KP, Jrue, White) plus Tatum. Also, it's gonna very interesting to watch Lillard facing Jrue "the Dame stopper" 5 years after with something more than CJ surrounding him, those Pelicans back then could double-team, even triple-team him way more comfortably than the Celtics should imo.
Damn that series against New Orleans… Jrue was on the Pelicans, and Mirotic! and he was making 3s in the playoffs! (and Rondo and AD, but Boogie was out) and Portland was coached by Stotts, playing Lillard, Pat and Meyers (and Harkless, Ed Davis, Collins, Nurk, …). I don't think Jrue's defense would have the same impact on Dame and they're less capable of slowing down Giannis compared to previous seasons but we'll see!
The Celtics are full of unreliable players like the Bucks were the past couple of seasons. What makes Dame top 75 is his crunch time consistency on top of his insane skill. Jrue, bless him, is not reliable. Even if they don't rely on him offensively he still turns over the ball like he's playing tennis.
Hell yeah you do the trade. Shoulda kept Jrue and traded Khris tho.
AMBER ALERT for Jrue Holiday. He hasn't shown his face. That's how you know he is VERY upset by being blindsided by this trade. He will play the Bucks hard!
Kane Pitman sir, I enjoy this show so much from Madden face to the fans coming for me with my comments. Bucks in 6 for Life!
With no Rob, no marcus smart, giannis will destroy KP. Boston went small with very small center depth. Al Horford the only one worthit but he is 37z
Bucks have solid depth, they have a great lineup, i mean Payne, portis, beasley is not ebough to compliment the bench, what do ppl want lebron off the bench or something? Lol
I think both teams are better.
Boston matched up well BEFORE w/ Grant Williams, Robert Williams, and Marcus Smart. Yes, Jrue makes the perimeter D formidable, BUT the interior is weak! You CAN’t rely on a fragile Porzingis, and 37 yr old Horford. Additionally, The toughness that those 3 brought has left a good team, but not one I’m scared of like I was prior too.
Im sorry but we must go step by step..we took already the title?or we went to the finals? we are going to be better because coach bud is not excist amymore..
How was Boston already on top?
Bucks had a better record.
Boston didn't make the finals.
On top?
On top of what?
Okay I am so damn sure we’re ahead. I’ve already done the doubting and the pessimism.
Honestly. Giannis and dame are going to have a little learning curve and then it’s game over.
Boston needs to stop overhyping Jrue. The Bucks are gonna easy dethrone the celtics.
Same as I felt before. Series is a coin flip. Celtics got weaker with their bigs, while now needing to guard the Dame/Giannis pick n roll and Milwaukee got weaker guarding the perimeter against a team that will be shooting outside more. Both made trades they had to make, but it’s wash and the series is still a coin flip IMO. Milwaukee can hide their perimeter defense better than Boston can hide a poor pick n roll D against teams like Milwaukee and Denver.
Bucks had to make the trade, their offense wasn't good enough to cut it last year and would have been wasting Giannis years running it back without a great chance to do much better. They have a higher ceiling than before. Celtics took advantage of the situation and got Jrue, and have a higher ceiling than last year. It's interesting how the pieces will go together playing each other. I'd say both teams have injury worries due to history and age. Giannis and Dame could help bring the best out of each other, it'll be interesting to see if all the new Celtics players can bring the best out of each other. Celtics probably have more talent, so if it all works there's a chance that they put pressure on Giannis and Lillard to carry the Bucks. It's hard to guess, it probably comes down to biases until they play
Sad we lost Jrue, but glad the Celtics lost size to defend Giannis!💪
Seriously what the hell? Are we even having this discussion? Ok we' ve lost perimeter defense. So what? we were already bottom half on three point defense in the league, because of the drop zone coverage we employed under Bud. Besides Jrue proved to be useless against taller wings plus he was an unreliable offensive option during the playoffs. So Bucks got a bit worse defensively but got A LOT better offensively.
I do agree that Boston can utilize Jrue better because he will be a 4th scoring option behind Tatum, Brown and Porzingis instead of a 2nd option in the Bucks (due to Middleton's injuries).
The only question in my mind is if Mαrjon can take that step forward or if Crowder or Andre Jackson Jr can contribute.
Giannis talks about, is the team as committed as much as he is to winning a championship. Really? Where does his commitment show? His FT %, mid range game, and 3PT % have all regressed in the past year or two. And rather than getting healthy in the off season, he'd rather play international basketball on bad knees. That doesn't show commitment to me.
If jrue starts making shots in the playoffs I’m gonna be pissed.
I truly believe Adrian griffin will be the best coach & playoff coach in the nba and win COTY this season. This is the start of a dynasty in Milwaukee. I see a three peat on the way
Rather have Dame than keep Jrue