AJ Johnson s summer league breakout and MarJon appears to be stuck in neutral

AJ Johnson s summer league breakout and MarJon appears to be stuck in neutral

today’s lock on bucks is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code lockdown NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply on today’s show we recap the third Summer League game for the bucks another loss but uh a lot of bright spots from Aj Johnson some news on Chris Middleton and Frank’s thoughts on the signing that the bucks made earlier in the day the addition of Gary Tren Junior we get into that coming up after this unlocked onbox you are locked on bucks your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome into locked on bucks I’m Justin Garcia joined by Frank Madden and we thank you for making lock on bucks your first listen every day we’re free and available wherever you get your podcasts and you can find us on YouTube as well part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day uh we have the third pre preseason third Summer League game for the bucks uh on Tuesday night another loss to the Los Angeles Clippers with a lot of interesting moments um there’s some of the not so good to get to and we’ll do that in a second but uh Frank it seemed like this was the game that uh Aj Johnson really captured the hearts of a lot of Bucks fans out there well I I mean I didn’t get to discuss game one with you guys over the weekend but you know certainly game one was an encouraging start you know I think um a lot of the maybe worst fears about you know um him as a a prospect were allayed just by you know the speed and and uh kind of flashes that we saw in the first game on Saturday but certainly you know quiet quiet game on Sunday and then today um you know again at his age and and just you know he’s going to be turned 20 I think you know fairly early in the season but you know the physical maturity obviously is not there right I mean he he hopefully I don’t think he’s ever going to be like 210 pounds of muscle or something like that but you know he’s 167 pounds and he looks it right I mean he looks like a little kid out there still in a lot of ways um but scores seven quick points got got a little friendly roll on an early three-pointer but um again just the speed kills you know especially in perhaps a disorganized setting like this um you know his quickness in the open court um you know is just really difficult to handle and I was encouraged he got an early Drive in the half court he he what I what I’m seeing from him is he loves going to his left but then finishing with his right hand um and uh and you he mind he actually writes left-handed which I noticed when he was signing his contract so it’s always always interesting these guys who you know there’s been a bunch of guys like this like LeBron and Larry Bird are also left-handed but obviously play right-handed um and so it’s always interesting to see like guys who do this uh you know are they then maybe a little bit more capable with their left hand on the floor so far we have not seen evidence of that from AJ but um he seems capable of go going to either side which is very important for a guard um and again you know like we’re certainly seeing a lot of like maybe dribble happiness um from him in these games which not shocking for a young guy but um you know the ability to to get to the rim and maybe not finish super consistently but tonight did it repeatedly and uh you know again like at this age and this kind of relative maturity I think you’re largely looking for kind of those flashes right and you know that the Polish is is going to have to come and there’s you know a lot that still needs to happen for him to to ever become you know a a you know valuable NBA player you know rotation type of player but I think the important thing is we’re seeing the broad outlines we’re seeing why the Bucks were willing to make a gamble like this uh on a guy uh who obviously you know has not proven that he can be productive at a high level having barely played in Australia so um you know the thing for me is like just and I’m like looking like you know other High School stats I haven’t been able to find like high school stats in terms of his shooting splits I have no idea like is he like a good free throw shooter can he shoot threes like all of these things were like very you know mystery box for us coming into this game you know he shot 30% from three and 50 some percent from the line last year in Australia but it was super low sample so to see him the last couple games you know hitting threes with some consistency I think it was three for five tonight I think was he two for three um two for four something like that in the second game I think two for nine in the first game but you know his percentage from three has actually been respectable and he looks confident doing it um not to say he’s you know Dame ler 2.0 but again like all it’s all small sample but that’s all we have with him and so do I think that he’s gonna you know he’s making his push and he’s going to be you know a guy that persons into the rotation no but um you know I think every I think people like to think of like Tyrese Maxi given his experience with Doc I think Tyrese was more polished you know as a rookie than than where um you know AJ is now but um you know I can kind of see it right like almost like a you know like a change of pace tail back in the NFL right like kind of like the this the speed guy third down back like maybe it doesn’t happen this year but maybe you know in year two or something like that or or who knows um you know maybe he can use that speed and at least be you know kind of one of these guys that that uses that to to Really push the pace and I think importantly tonight too is we saw I think him make some plays as a passer that was encouraging to see because again I don’t know that he’s ever going to be a super high level pass a super high level you know processor of the game but um yeah this was just a I think overall just a you know a really encouraging performance I mean to put up 22 points on you know efficient shooting some rebounding some assists um couple blocks you know I think all in all just um a really encouraging performance from him and regardless of what happens in these next couple games you know I think something to definitely kind of take from this pre the summer league regardless of of kind of anything else you and Camille talked about it too in the night of the um she and I talked about it the last couple days too of when you tried to properly assess the bucks off season and again just keeping in mind what they actually had to work with the one negatives probably not the right way to put it but the one thing that you would point to and say I wish they would have was those were the only two assets that they had to whether attached to a contract or whatnot to make any type of move was those two draft picks and uh um look it it may prove to be that neither Aj Johnson nor Tyler Smith ends up having any type of NBA career or does much of anything for the bucks but you do see GMS get into trouble a lot more when you’re drafting to feel an immediate need versus just who do we think is the best on the board number one secondly the whole well by keeping the pick you you couldn’t attach that to you know fill in the blank contract and and get out from under it but I think the danger with that is you we’ve certainly had the conversation about Brook Lopez I just didn’t see the move out there that would have made you a better team that involves shipping up Brook Lopez it would make you cheaper and potentially younger that doesn’t mean better and same thing of attaching draft picks to let’s say a pat Conan or Bobby poris you get under that second apron and you would open up something like a a taxpayer mid-level to use but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting a player that’s better you were able to get Gary Trent Jr without any of that and and when you look at some of the players that were out there wasn’t a great free agent class and even what guys were willing to go for you’re probably best served just saying is there some type of player or assets we can get at at 23 and 33 that we feel like somebody’s missing the boat on and we can develop and you know we’re probably best served to go into the season with those contracts that we think are a hindrance they’ll be expiring easier to move at the deadline or potentially in the offseason if if one or or both of those players opt into that final year um and look at the other option is maybe we can rehab them and get them back to the level they were before yeah I mean I I was very curious leading up to draft KN for the reasons you mentioned if they would make some kind of move um but I think and and I’ve been seeing a lot of people have been asking me you know on Twitter and stuff about different permutations of you know Pat Conan plus something to a team that can absorb his salary and then you know you use the taxpayer mid level or you know you’re you’re under the apron now you can do some aggregating trade things like that um and again maybe I’m just you know part of me is like I feel like I’m just getting you know uncreative my old age Justin um I was definitely kind I’ve definitely kind of been looking at the last few weeks and just thinking like I wasn’t sure that the Bucs were going to use both picks that that for sure I think surprised me a bit I thought at least one of those picks would get moved um and again maybe not in a kind of salary dump type thing because I think I think the value play in like using a pick to dump a salary so that you can use the taxpayer midlevel again the taxer mid level is like what 5.2 and you know you’re talking about especially some like a 10year vet they’re making 3.3 on a minimum even though it only counts two million against the salary cap so it’s like there’s I mean I’m not saying $2 million is nothing but like it’s not like some huge swing the the value of the tax perid level has dropped in the new CBA it has been so so like you know they they’ve further kind of nobody’s really talked about it but like they’ve further devalued the you know levers that like the first apron teams have with the tax perid level because just not worth that much right but the good news for the bucks is you know we talk about the Bucs is sort of a team obviously that’s been challenged by the second apron and the limitations that that puts on transactions hey the upside is the market is as you mentioned on I don’t know how many podcasts you’ve you’ve recorded today Justin I listened to one of them but you know you talked about like kind of the middle class being kind of smashed down and guys that you know you would previously expect getting at least taxpayer mid levels but being more in that 10 to you know T regular mid levels like you know 13 but being more in that range the Gary trents to the world you know and I think sounds like Gary Trent may have had options at the tax permid level and he opted to go with a smaller deal from the Bucks because of the opportunity and the chance to win and obviously Dame and and Doc recruiting and all that stuff um but I think you know my kind of skepticism that the Bucks were going to do one of these like salary dump moves to use a tax level I mean they got Gary Tren on the minimum so they were right like you know like in hindsight now it would have been stupid to you know open up the tax pair mid level even if maybe there was some other player You’ gotten off hand I don’t think there’s really some guy that I can picture them getting um now the downside is it’s going to be really hard to retain Gary Trent next year because his salary slot is a minimum and you can only go to 120% of that unless and it’s very it’s possible that the Bucs can have the tax param mid level next summer um but again like we probably don’t need to kind of go all that all the way down that route um but you know this is the challenge of being a team with a super high salary and not having flexibility is you basically have to reload every off season and find the next Bobby poris the next Pat conon the next Malik Beasley um whatever it might be and you know we’ve seen it a lot of depressing Vegas uh bucks additions with first round draft picks that have not panned out second round draft picks that not panned out the the the the draft has obviously not been a place where John horse and Company have done very well or John Hammond prior to that with the exception of Giannis um but the Saving Grace has been these veteran low value contracts Brook Lopez Bobby poris Pat um you know the kind of you know the guys that really rounded out the rotation of the championship team arrived on Bae by annuals or less and obviously now these past few years we’ve seen them be able to take swings and get guys that look Malik Beasley is not a world beater but like that was really good value right like as the fifth starter that regular season that that fiveman unit was awesome they had the best net rating in the League Malik Beasley the team was really good when he was on the floor and you know we can talk about more Gary Trent in a second but um but yeah I think the important thing is I mean well it depends how you view it but this takes off certainly some of the pressure as you and Camille discussed on those young guys that it’s actually more tolerable now that you have a bunch of young guys yeah um that you know you’re not going to get dinged necessarily this coming season because man we we wish we would have used that asset for a more established player uh um but uh again I don’t know hopefully it’s allowed us to to enjoy summer league a little bit more because I think AJ has flashed um and again I think there’s still I it’s kind of interesting it’s like I’ve been very encouraged very relieved but also like not not any more confident that he’s going to play this year in a lot of ways because it still feels like it’s it’s kind of more the broad outlines and hopefully he’ll get reps with the herd and get game action you know like his he’s got like no in between game he almost had that really nice shake for a mid Ranger but like it’s either gets to the rim or shoots a three which you know there there are worst things in life um but certainly there’s a long way to go for him but um you can you can definitely see the way with that speed that he could be a useful player pretty early in his career and again you know hopefully doc can uh figure out how to get kind of the Tyrese Maxi 2.0 thing from him because that would be a pretty good outcome from from a 23rd pick in the draft be a very good outcome uh for this team you mentioned Gary Trent Jr some more thoughts on that signing and we mentioned some of the flashes we’ve seen from Aj Johnson on the flip side the conversation that I suppose needs to be had about Maran Bo Champ here in summer leaks we’ll get into that coming up next unlock done box well for many of us 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time app create an account and use the code lock on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create accounts and use that code locked on NBA l c k d o n NBA for $20 off your first purchase download game time today last minute tickets lowest prices guaranteed so the uh the other side of the spectrum Frank is um found it rather interesting that we heard from uh well we heard about Doc Rivers from Maran Bo champ telling him I I need to see you playing two games whatever happens after that it’s kind of up to you which I think a lot of people took as hey if Maran Bo champ wants to play all four games five games he’ll do it I kind of read into it the I need to see two games from you anything after that is up to you as in if you don’t show me what I need to see in those first two games then there’s some things we probably have to re-evaluate that’s the sense that’s up to you and three games in now two his thirdd summer league experience which I think Eric had in his story he’s one of eight players in his draft class to be in three summer leagues and one of those is his teammate Tai Tai Washington um this is not the I know it’s summer league so you don’t want to put too much into it but this is not what you were hoping to see from Maran no um I mean it’s it’s an interesting the kind of the discourse about him because I think you know there’s always this this dialogue around the role for a guy in a summer league setting versus how that translates or doesn’t translate to what he’s going to be asked to do um when he’s playing NBA minutes and um I think with marjon I think in this first summer league he actually was pretty He was largely off ball he was not in a ball dominant role he was not running pick and rolls anything like that um and he had to you know like put up kind of numbers that would reflect that last last year uh was in a much more prominent role had 20 plus in the first two games did was he scoreless in the third game I know he was like I remember him having like a terrible third game after really playing well in the first two games and so I was having kind of you know kind of flashbacks to to that in the sense that you know he’s scored 22-19 you know put up stats in the first two games I think the you know what what Eric name wrote in his article kind of preing all this was you know decisiveness that was the turn the word that jumped out to me that was the word that I wanted from him it just feels like his biggest challenge has been that he just does not process the game fast enough really on either end um and that you know again like it’s just he’s just not just not moving at the speed um into from you know kind of Hoops IQ perspective that you need him to um and again just making quick decisions moving the ball not taking the extra dribble not taking that extra beat Etc on defense he can’t get over screens you know kind of has these little like brain farts and loses man Etc doesn’t know if it’s a switch or you know not things like that and so again like that first game what was it three kind of forc Threes that he air balled maybe got his shot partially blocked so even though he put up the big 22 points that big third quarter there was that nagging feeling of like well he’s kind of just like being the best player in a pickup run right now right doesn’t feel like it’s NE neily stuff that that translates and to be honest like I don’t look Maran has enough Talent he’s now in his third year I’m totally fine like somebody’s got to take shots on this team right it’s not like you know Kevin Durant’s out there with you guys like like somebody’s got to take shots right so I’m fine with him taking shots and being more ball dominant than he’s going to be for the bucks on you know in his in in a more typical role um but by the same token you also want him making good decisions not over dribbling Etc and it feels like you know there just hasn’t been progress there and obviously tonight you know the numbers were bad in the box score and you know just like some of the careless passing you had three fouls early um you know again like I I don’t think any individual game he’s gonna have in summer league is you know gonna change my mind about where he is at as a player I was you know kind of definitely skewing negative SL skeptic on him coming into this summer even though again I mean he’s only it’s only two years in and you on a veteran team like the Bucks it’s not like you’re going G to get tons of chances um shot 40% from three last year I mean imagine if you told us coming into last year he’s goingon to shoot 47 40% from three and you know nearly 49% from the field be like oh okay like that sounds like real progress but you know as we watched it we just didn’t feel like kind of it hung together in the right way so so yeah I don’t know I mean unfortunately you know I I think with these young assets right I think we’ll look back on it at this point you say like man what could the Bucs have gotten a year ago you know if they’re willing to move him right could they have used him you know in a in a trade a year ago um you know and same reason like I mean I’m I think Andre Jackson is obviously in a different spot has different strengths um is a year behind him in terms of NBA experience but like even last year I mean like I I don’t know there were talks about like you know oh would you give up you know Andre Jackson in like a an Alex cuso trade and deia was like of course I would do that like you know my best case scenario for Andre is that he becomes like maybe an Alex Caruso is player so so absolutely I’d give him up and you know again I get it some people are kind of you know want to clutch to the young guys and hey let’s actually develop someone for for once but um but yeah with marjon I mean it’s tough and I mean they have his fourth year option coming up this fall that they have to pick up or not and I think it’s 4.7 million yeah are they going to they going to pick that up um I don’t know if not then he becomes an expiring salary and um you know again there’s there’s there have been guys who don’t have their option picked up and then kind of stick around I think cabon Looney maybe the the example that comes to mind but certainly not not a leading indicator uh that you’re gonna you know end up living up to your first round potential if uh if your team doesn’t see enough in you to to pick up a fourth year option so so yeah it’s been it’s it’s been a tough look I don’t know Justin I think back I think it was um I believe Larry Sanders I think it was going into Larry’s third year people can fact check me on this I thought Larry went to Vegas in his third going into his third year and like sucked and like was not good it was really it was like he was actually better in Prior years I think he may have cut short his like he didn’t play in that many games um and it almost seemed like a mercy thing like all right just let’s just stop stop this um and then he ended up having kind of his breakout year thereafter again it was his third year where players but still yeah it was his third year where he was in the running for most improved and and defensive player of the year um I think Bucks fans would be ecstatic if that was what you from Mar who uh six points two of nine shooting I don’t think his first field goal came until the third quarter you mentioned the fouls that he had early only three turnovers which did not matched the eye test he had seven last game and that was kind of you again they’re asking him to do a little bit more with the ball but it goes back to what Doc Rivers said in that interview with Eric name or to Maran in the interview with Eric name and then what we heard a little bit from Doc during the broadcast as well of what they’re looking for not just from Maran um but look we can get into this in the next segment listening to Doc Rivers talk the most interesting thing that came from it will obviously get to um but just hearing him talk about Andre Jackson Jr I’m ready to be disappointed but it’s hard not to think man he’s gonna have a pretty decent role with this team just listening to the way that Doc Rivers uh described him so we’ll get into some of what Doc Rivers had to say coming up after the break here unlocked on bucks um Frank I know I mentioned we had a couple more things to get to on the Gary Trent Jr piece you kind of touched on that though of Camille and I mentioned you don’t have the bird rights it would be tough in theory to retain him on the surface but as as you pointed to hey there’s there’s ways that they could um get to like a taxpayer mid level to potentially keep him but you and I were talking about it too uh Nate Duncan pointed out too in his email update earlier today after that signing of you know once you kind of go down to that vet minimum path it’s not that you only stick on veteran minimums but you kind of carve out a lane of well you’re no longer in contention for the full mid level and getting up to that value so while he is Young and you would think well this may just be a pro it deal and eventually he’ll land Elsewhere for much more money historically at least with this CBA that that hasn’t been the case so that is the one sense of hope there for the bucks um but I I think you know the other thing I wanted to touch on before we get to the Doc Rivers comments is you mentioned this on Twitter too Camille and I went through look in theory here’s the three guys that you added they’re all better than what you had last year it’s not to say that there’s no questions and that’s kind of what you brought up too I think any Lakers fan that you talk to would tell you well good luck with torian Prince in the playoffs um so I think that is because I saw a few people push back too well what are the questions if these guys are better the question is still who’s the closing group for this team in the playoffs yeah I mean ironically and I was listening to your pod with Camille like right before the Trent news broke and you know you guys raised it which we were talking about the I think I raised your comment from a year ago about you know not thinking that the Bucks starting playoff shooting guard was on the roster yet when we had our live pot a year ago um talking about last year’s team and this is you know pre- Dame trade so Grayson Allen was still on the team Drew was still on the team um and I mean I think we can say the opening night shooting guard is now on the roster I think that will clearly be Gary Trent um I I will I will say this great signing you know full kudos to the bucks for once again mining as I was saying earlier mining the kind of minimums and coming away with three guys I think you can feel good about um you know I think relative to what you know you saw from Jake Crowder last year especially in the playoffs obviously the bar is very low for Toran Prince um I think he can certainly Eclipse that I also think he’s more suited to playing small forward than Jay was I think Jay was really a small ball four at this stage of his career and but he had to play a lot of small forward started in Chris’s absence for for long stretches um so again but you know the advanced metrics on tan Prince have never been very favorable like you know especially the offensive side um which you look at him you like well he’s a solid three-point shooter he doesn’t try to do too much how can he be bad but you know not a great pass not really like what You’ say is like a connector so you know offenses he generally just has not been kind of additive in that regard and you know there’s been the criticism from Laker fans who you know I think my read it seems like Laker fans mainly were just mad that he played a ton last year not that that he didn’t have a shouldn’t have had a role um so that’s good my my friend Dam rangula who’s my resident Laker fan friend who also he has a s SWAT for the bucks um he you know talked tons of crap about Malik Beasley when the Buck signed him last year hated Malik Beasley uh but he had much better things to say about Prince and basically said like hey just put him in the right role um and yeah I mean I think D Wright though again kind of you know much lower drama than Pat Bev um as you guys pointed out curious to see like the pat Bev kind of you know energy juice whatever like to what extent that may be helpful um he’s not Delon Wright is a very you know Qui much quieter guy than that but I think a better yeah but I think definitely a better player the defensive metrics on him Ur and year have been really strong um and you know I think a bit steady or too offensively like not quite as extreme in terms of Pat like just very limited um not that Ban’s some some great offensive player so I think you know expected value from D Wright higher than than Pat beev at this point and then I think the the Trent kind of piece of this Trent vers Beasley um I think G Trent is a better player um but I think it is close than maybe kind of like in the Euphoria of the post signing like and The grass’s Greener piece of this I think it’s closer than maybe people would want to acknowledge I was looking at their like you know per minute type numbers really similar like career I think uh Trent is 18 points per 36 55% true shooting 39% threes on like eight three-pointers per 36 attempted um Beasley is 17 points per 36 on 56% true shooting so barely higher and low you know higher efficiency slight lower scoring um nine three-pointers per 36 39% so pretty much identical in terms of three-point volume and accuracy and so I think though the probably the big differentiator and Gary Trent worse in terms of two-point accuracy I think Gary Trent’s a guy probably some of the shot selection um yeah may you know give Bucks fans some headaches at some point next year we’ll see um especially you know assuming he’s starting um I think defensively I think there is more upside to having Gary Trent I think it has been it has been a little while since we’ve seen Gary Trent defending at a high level basically yeah um but it it’s not let me say this if if Gary Trent you know as expected asked to defend the other team’s best guard um it will at least he will at least have some muscle memory of having to do that back in the day when he played with Damien Lillard you know so he’s he’s he knows that role versus Malik was kind of like wait what like you know was kind of a a king Ralph situation where it’s like wait everybody’s gone and I’m I have to be the defensive stopper what like I I’m not the king of England over here um I’ve never seen King Ralph by the way I just like remember that was I think the plot of it um so um so I think I think you and you just look at the numbers right like Malik listed at 64 187 Trent 65 209 so just I mean he’s 20 pounds heavier he’s bigger um so again we just have to hope that he buys in on the defensive end as part of this you know prove it type of year um so again we’ll see um I I would caution people from kind of expecting you know him to be the answer to everyone’s prayers um but you know again if he puts up like Malik Beasley offensive numbers you know 11 points on 40 whatever percent three-point shooting um with maybe better more versatile defense and and he’s playable in the playoffs like I’ll have happily take that you know um but interestingly me I was looking at Gary Trent he’s barely played in the playoffs I think he hasn’t played in the playoffs in two years he played one six I think he had six games with Toronto a couple years ago and then he had one run with the Blazers and D so I mean he’s barely played in the playoffs it’s not like he’s you know some grizzled playoff veteran but you know again he’s also only 26 years old so um you know I think and and just touching on kind of the what is the potential path to keeping him you know Ideal World it works out well um and maybe not so well that he can go and sign a huge contract somewhere else um you know you could probably get to the the taxpayer mid level next summer you offer him a one plus one so he’s got a little bit of insurance and then after that first year you’d have two years with the Bucks he’d be an early bird free agent in 2026 and you could offer him um up to a starting salary at the mid level which again I think it was technically Dan Feldman who sent the email from the dunked on account uh because I read the same one um but I think it’s absolutely right and I think Nate has also pointed out like once guys take a lot of times it comes in in the context of buyouts right like once guys take buyouts you know all of a sudden you don’t have bird rights with the team like your ability to then get to a much higher contract number is is generally very challenging and um yeah I mean it was I don’t know it was interesting right there’s a reason why Gary Trent is not going back to Toronto a year ago they nearly sign him to a very Hefty extension and kind of something happened that it didn’t that it didn’t work out um but I was I was least encouraged that some of the Raptors people I follow um were wishing good thoughts to him and seemingly were optimistic about his fit in Milwaukee so it wasn’t like people were you know kicking him on the way out at least yeah I think um We’ve joked about it too that it was always an adventure to put it mildly whenever Malik would put the ball on the floor which it’s not going to be the case at least to those levels with Gary Trent Jr so that’s the one piece where you’re like okay I feel like there’s something more here but to your point um that’s not necessarily a good thing that there can be a such thing as too much of that defensively I think your hope is just as I look at the conversation we had last year where was you know I’d kill for Grayson Allen just be Grayson out defensively honestly like if that’s the Baseline that’s that’s that’s fine if that’s what you give us and you’re knocking down shots because Grayson Allen the limitations had more to do with his size but he was bought in defensively and he was solid enough it just depending on the matchup you you were going to run into some issues there didn’t didn’t uh did I hear correctly I’m I’m trying to verify this quick here Justin but did I hear correctly that he uh Gary Trent has siblings named like Gren Grayson and garison or something like that like they all have extremely similar name and of course he is G Trent Jr or is his name is name g is his is his I guess his full name is Gary but his siblings are named siblings are garon Grayson and grden uh so just play like Grayson Trent uh is what we’re looking for essentially um before we wrap we mentioned Doc Rivers joining the broadcast on uh on ESPN and had some interesting things to uh say I mentioned the way he spoke about Mar marim about Andre Jackson Jr and you know it’s not too much of a deviation from what we heard doc essentially say about him any time he was asked a year ago but it’s hard not to start to buy into the yeah and and even during the broadcast PJ carissimo talking to Doc to like this seems like he’d be your guy you know kind of hinting at can’t really shoot that well but he’s bought in he’s he’s a tenacious Defender like it seems like he’d be a perfect fit for you and Doc had glowing things to say about him and just as we talked about with all these additions with Gary Trent with dlan Wright those two especially antoran Prince it takes a lot of that pressure off of Andre Jackson now we already know that’s gonna mean he’s he ain’t gonna play that much it’s it’s not gonna be as much as we were maybe hoping for and having the conversations of hey is he gonna be the starting two guard um that’s out the window now so I’m I’m going to be curious to see where they pick their spots because like I’ve mentioned this and I am very curious not necessarily only for the bucks but League wide how we see teams approach this season in terms of number of games played and minutes played for their guys because I know the money is still tied to it it’s it’s not necessarily starting to Trend it’s only one player we’ve seen do this but we did see one player say I’ll take less money if it means we can build a winner here um you’re talking about LeBron right I I just wonder if we’re if we’re going to see more of an understanding and a mutual Partnership of okay I’ll I’ll cut back on my workload if you think that’s that’s going to help us in the spring because of the amount of injuries that we saw in the playoffs and I know it’s not a direct correlation that you can’t just point to and say hey just because your rest players it doesn’t mean they’re going to be healthy in the playoffs but it is a knee-jerk league and I do wonder if we’re going to see that and if that’s the case you would assume a guy like Andre Jackson Jr and Gary Trent Junior are are gonna be the benefactors there yeah I see my thing with with Andre I have I’m probably more I mean not that like anybody thinks his offense is like great shakes or anything like that I’m probably more critical of Andre’s offense like I I this the thing I always come back to every once I while see people talk about like oh like can you try to develop him more as a point guard put the ball in his hands that’s what he was used to at Yukon and I’m just like okay first off his shooting last year was totally acceptable you take 37% on low volume any day of the week I I just cannot get over it guys his ball handling his nuclear athleticism I I watch I literally spent like 30 minutes watching old Yukon video to see like are there examples of him like taking a screen or just like going to the top of key taking a dribble or two getting the rim and and not even dunking just finishing with layup it never happens he has no concept of how to use that handle and his athleticism to get to the rim and finish somehow right it just and again part of it unselfishness because he loves to pass but if you can’t shoot and you’re not going to put pressure on the rim like you can never be like a guy that has the ball in his hands really being threatening offensively so I think to me he is a you know dribble handoff dunker spot whatever guy defensive utility guy and that is totally fine like I let but I just want to make sure think we need to calibrate expectations on what he is and how you best leverage that and so I think to me like I don’t really see a path to him being like a 30 minute per game guy yeah because I think he he’s going to be situational now defensively I think he can work tons of different ways but offensively I think on a team that’s based built around on Yannis there’s always going to be trade-offs playing him with Giannis and so I I think if he’s a 15 minute per game guy 18 minute per game guy if it’s just like a consistent role and they plug him in and he gives you a spark I’m totally fine with that like I don’t I think if he’s playing you know 25 minutes per game um again I think probably offensively like I guess just the theory of that I know you you read off some of the stats on like some of the lineup stuff which you know was weirdly encouraging but you know obviously it’s like such small sample it’s almost hard to really kind of take any from it so um so I’m okay with it and again like Vegas is such a useless exercise for Andre because like he’s playing with like not guys who are like of similar Talent level to him like I mean his numbers are just terrible offensively like you know I know he got hurt tonight hopefully it’s not a serious hand injury but like honestly like if he doesn’t play anymore in Vegas like it’s fine whatever um and again hopefully they just find out a way to kind of use that kind of spark plug nature of his again sub him in for Giannis you know in first quarters or something right like I know he’s not a four per se but um figure out ways to kind of get his energy in the game I think it’s going to be useful but um but yeah I’m I’m again I’d love to see him get consistent minutes but yeah I mean with for him and AJ Green they are kind of The Losers of you know the the summer in some ways just given the the signings that the Bucs made and the fact that certainly Gary Trent and Wright you know are going to be you know I think if you’re going to pay who are get the the you know the three guys that get the most minutes in the back court I think it’s Dame plus those two guys especially with right and his defensive versatility um you know I think he’s a better Defender than than Trent is so he could certainly close games at times you know depending on matchups and things like that yeah I’m not as much uh concerned to that point to about the minutes that he plays especially on a per game basis it’s it’s more of hey he’s got to play in 65 games to qualify for a defensive player of the year so can we up to up to that Mark um the last thing is uh Doc Rivers has had a tendency to do and letting things slip out there I I saw the same reaction from everyone basically on social media wait what um Doc Rivers l slip hey Chris Middleton had surgery but he’s doing great he was hurt during the playoffs had surgery but he’s going to be fine and ready for uh the upcoming season here so I I heard something I I uh I heard something a few weeks ago about this and um so doc did not say it was ankle surgery I heard it was ankle surgery not surprising that’s what you would assume given he missed you know five six weeks with that left ankle injury he also hurt his right ankle in the playoffs but obviously didn’t miss any games because of it so yeah I am operating on the assumption that it is going to be a it was a left ankle surgery um it’s obviously not good news you know like um he was in Vegas this week um and uh I asked Eric N I was like how how’s he how’s he walking around he’s like oh he looks fine no no no indications of of surgery um again where he is in his rehab like I don’t know I heard it was like a two-month type thing so it supposedly happened I think right after the season um but I have no other details we’ll I think we’re going to probably hear some reporting here very soon on on it but um so yeah you just hope like okay you know he can start to do workouts hopefully soon if he hasn’t already started and then you know we still have a couple months till uh till training camp so knock on wood fingers crossed every other possible thing you can do to uh curry good good luck and favor um hopefully Chris Middleton is actually available at the start of camp and we don’t have to see him you know slowly ramped up yet again for a third straight year uh but yeah obviously it was um you know I think this appointing for him and now disappointing for Bucks fans but um hey look and by the way it’s like hilarious to me that teams and agents like don’t want this stuff getting out like we saw it with Giannis last Giannis and Chris last year when they both had their you know they got they both had their knee procedures and it’s like it’s gonna get out right like Chris was in going to free agency like okay but you can’t like hide that from teams you know know um so I don’t know it’s all just kind of silly to me that they try to kind of cover this up I guess the upside is you know we got the last couple months of you know Blissful ignorance and we didn’t have to have people worrying about Chris Middleton’s you know surgic surgically repaired ankle until he was already upright and not in a boot or anything like that so uh I don’t know it is what it is but this is a pro Chris Middleton podcast so hopefully he is indeed fine and until he’s not I will assume that he will be fine because why why bring that type of uh B energy into this home into this podcast um I don’t know if you had any else on that Justin I was gonna ask I did want to discuss your favorite buck summer league or Chris Livingston and and at least give a shout out to him and Ryan Rollins um because um I think Rollins was really good again tonight I thought he was really good in the first game um I mean he’s on a two-way contract so there’s nothing the Bucs need to do right like he’s already under contract um I I don’t know again is there any path to him getting minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks in this coming season like I highly highly highly doubt it um but he’s only 22 years old he’s only two years removed from being you know I think what 44th overall pick something like that yep came out of Toledo fairly young um and just kind of like does everything pretty well um and you know again like I I don’t know what that means in terms of potential future NBA role but um for a Bucks team that obviously like isn’t you know blessed with tons and tons of guard wi depth um you know he’s not that tall but I think he’s got like a 69ine 610 wing span and you know like we saw the other night in that that block he had like he can play Big at times so um so yeah nothing else like let’s see what he continues to do with the herd he had I think a pretty promising start and um so I will not say the same about Jaylen Galloway but Ryan Rollins seems like at least a two-way keeper um and uh Chris Livingston as well just kind of keeps doing kind of Chris Livingston things which again how that translates to you know an NBA role I don’t know but um but you know again kudos to those guys for doing good things on a basketball court and not you know causing us stress and consternation yeah I mean those three guys uh Aj Johnson and then Ryan Rollins and Chris Livingston the three that caught your eye the most uh in this game and for I I think an aggregate for the full summer league so far Tyler Smith I think Smith has been really solid too like just kind of as as advertised you know kind of doing what we thought he would do um and in the game last night too Al be very limited but there was some flashes of Hugo bassan as well where you could see okay here here’s a guy that’s playing professionally oh wait no no now it’s a couple of those possessions but there was at least a handful of those possessions that were the okay I’m interested by this big dunk yeah yeah like it was a dunk that like if a guy who’s not like a white French guy does it everybody’s like yeah whatever but like the because it was Hugo basson doing it the announcers like got really excited about it I actually re wound I didn’t see it live I was like wait what did Hugo just do and I was like he like barely got the ball over the rim on a twoed dunk barely dunked the two-handed dunk but still caught us all off guard um we’ll be back again a couple of times this week so Camille and I have a show taking a look at some of the moves that did not work out too well for the bucks whether it be trades free agencies Etc so uh that will come your way at some point this week and uh we’re going to knock out some mailbag questions as well as we have a handful that have come in through email and a few tweets to all three of us as well so uh Frank you and I are going to tackle those mailbag questions a little bit later in the uh week we were wondering if we’d have to do a specialty show later this week hopefully hey the Bucks have signed Gary Trent Jr and it came about two to three days earlier than I anticipated we would have to do so that was the good piece of uh of news to come from this week that’ll uh do it for today’s show for Frank I’m Justin we’ll talk to you once again tomorrow on locked on bucks

Justin and Frank break down the Bucks third consecutive loss to open summer league. The bright spots were AJ Johnson, Ryan Rollins and Chris Livingston, while MarJon Beauchamp is struggling to show the growth you hoped to see. Plus we get Frank’s thoughts on the Gary Trent Jr signing and Doc Rivers breaking news that Khris Middleton had surgery

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