Milwaukee Bucks Off Season Preview
what is going on everybody Welcome as always even you can follow me on Twitter that would be the best place for and all show updates and if you clicked on that link you know what time it is you know what we’re here for we’re doing an offseason preview of the Milwaukee Bucks and one of the best players in the world yanis TMO if you one of my subscribers you know how we do this already but if you are new here this is how we’re going to break this thing down I’m going to go over the weaknesses that the Bucks need to improve on we’re going to go over the tools that you have at your disposal to get better we’re going to come up with a checklist of must do that John horse and that front office must take care of before going any further then we’re going to get into some trade options the draft free agency all that fun stuff and all that will lead up to a nice 10man rotation that we can be really excited about heading into to the next season so if you like this kind of content I’m going to be doing one of these previews for every team before the draft in a few weeks I’m Happy Father’s Day I appreciate you for checking this out now let’s get into it the Milwaukee Bucks so first things first in order to understand what the Bucks actually need to be better at let’s look at some statistical weaknesses that they had last season they were fourth in the league in points per game 21st in points allowed per game 28th in Fast Break points 25th in points in the paint per game 21st in field goals allowed per game 27th in field goal attempts per game and 25th in offensive rebounding per game so anybody who’s been keeping up with the Bucks and in the NBA in general has probably heard the narrative by now that the Bucks traded all their defense for offense this year and it kind of seems so 21st in defense and fourth in offense basically but a big factor towards the defense being that bad was all the points in the paint that were allowed by the Bucks last year uh with a front Court of Yannis Tumo and Brook Lopez that’s kind of inexcusable but I will say that a lot of that had to do with paint penetration by guards just didn’t have a very good perimeter defense last year in Milwaukee and then people who really watch this team understand that this team needs to get some youth needs to get some athletic juice on this roster um so we’re going to go ahead and look for some of that in this preview as well luckily there are ways to improve this team including the 23rd overall pick in the NBA draft 33rd overall pick in the second round Brook Lopez Pat conon and Maron boam contracts for celer matching over $8 million in committed salaries for 24 25 well above the tax line you owe your 25 27 and 29 picks to other teams while 26 28 and 2030 are swaps or protected so now that we have a basic understanding of where Milwaukee was deficient at and some tools that they have to address those deficiencies let’s come up with a checklist that John horse in that front office must address before we go any further so a big question that’s going to need to be asked in that front office is is this time to retool this roster if I was in the front office and I was a part of of those meetings I would tell them no let’s play Patience right Bame just came to the Bucks an example I like to use frequently throughout these offseason previews is look at the Minnesota Timberwolves last year they made a big move for Rudy Rudy goar and it really didn’t pay off until year two and this year they were one of the best teams in the west ended up making it to the Western Conference Finals based on how good their defense was and the Improvement because they had a guy like Rudy goar just give the Bucks another year to mesh and learn that chemistry um another big thing was Dame came in out of shape Doc Rivers had talked about it on Bill Simmons podcast about Dame came in and he just wasn’t 100% throughout the season because he came into camp out of shape because of the trade and everything he wasn’t working out super hard and he just like really never caught up throughout the season I think it’s just fair to give these guys another chance you know to to learn to how to play with each other and you know come together and and see if they can really win before we really start tweaking major things on this roster so with that said I think what we’re going to try to aim for here is just adding some athleticism adding some youth you know and seeing if the guys that are already on the team the young guys can continue developing and you know bring some of that depth that Milwaukee really needed last year so in the spirit of that I came up with the trade okay um and it’s what it is is it’s going to get rid one of the older players on the team and he’s a beloved member of the bucks but I think a little bit of change is in order here so in this trade we’re sending Bobby poris to the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee will be getting Benedict Maan from Indiana so the reason Indiana does this is they had to sign James Jones middle of the season last year just because it felt like they really didn’t have any toughness to them uh they didn’t have anybody in the locker room who was really going to make these guys you know play hard on defense and just like stick to the culture and everything and I think it really paid off right Indiana ended up making it into the Eastern Conference Finals for lack of a better word they need an on the team right and Bobby poris is that tough guy he’s that attitude he’s going to light a fire under these young guys and keep them to a higher standard right he’s a champion you know he brings some Championship medal to that team I think that would just really benefit Indiana a ton to have a guy like that he also fits in schematically especially in the half court where Indiana’s Indiana Indiana’s offense is really good it’s it was legit number one last year in the NBA I think if you add Bobby poris to it as well because chances are You’re Gonna Lose Jaylen Smith um Bobby poris can be you know a replacement and an upgrade at that spot for Milwaukee like I said you get a young piece who former top 10 pick he can come in Off the Bench and just light it up for you guys um I think he just fits in Milwaukee system a lot better because really what they need is somebody who can come off the bench and just add a ton of points and and scoring and you know ball control and stuff like that and I think that’s Ben a big matan’s game I think he just doesn’t fit too well in Indiana with the way that they run their team so I think this should just really benefit his career a lot but also come to a team where he can be himself and he can play his style of play for a team who would be really grateful for that type of play and eventually maybe he could even take over the Chris Middleton spot you know once Middleton gets a little bit older he can kind of bring a lot of the same things that middl Tenon brings I think you can also play him at the two so if you end up striking out in free agency you can bring him off the bench put him at the starting two guard and he can play in between Chris and Dan so now that we got the trade out of the way let’s start looking at some draft options all right so the Bucks have the 23rd pick in the NBA draft on your left is going to be a big board provided by CBS on your right is a big board provided by tanon and in the middle is going to be a big board provided by the ringer and I was listening to a podcast earlier this week uh by Sam facini uh so shout out Sam facini but he was talking about The Sweet Spot in this draft is us is like between eight and 18 and in my opinion it really is eight through like 23 I think that is The Sweet Spot there’s always going to be a reach as well so I think you guys are going to have a pretty good choice of that you know of that tier of players so as you can see on the comps for the ringer there’s not a lot of guys on there who have become like Superstars Allstars or anything like that they’re all projected to be really good role players right my favorite way it was described was by John waserman on the hardwood Knox podcast problem with this draft is it’s tougher to identify who the stars are going to be so I think that’s the best way to go about you know thinking about this draft a couple guys I think would be really good for Milwaukee at that 23rd spot uh maybe tan Shannon Jr you guys were one of the League’s worst pass break teams tan Shannon junor is probably the best transition player in the entire NCAA last year for a good understanding of how big of an impact he was in transition I heard somebody say um there were three guarantees in the NCAA last year Zack e postup Dan Hurley outsmarting you and tan Shannon in transition I think this might be a little too high for Tan Shannon Jr but I could also see him being a good fit here another guy I think would be a good fit is donon Holmes right he’s a big who could stretch the floor place him four maybe Place him five he’s a little bit undersized but I think he would be a really good fit you know Milwaukee could always use some more stretch bigs especially now that we traded Bobby poris away right we’re GNA need that depth behind Brook Lopez and Giannis and may you know maybe even find somebody who could take over that Brook Lopez Five Spot in the future but with that in mind I think donon homes isn’t the answer there so in my opinion I think with that 23rd overall pick and somebody who I’m pretty sure is going to be there for you guys is Kyle filipowski out of Duke University so filipowski is a 7 foot 230 pound big man out of Duke he averaged 16 points almost three assists and eight and a half rebounds a game 40 50% from the field 35% from three 67% from the line this guy was one of the best offensive players in all of college basketball last year he is a big who can handle the ball handle the AOS he’s a really good glue guy he’s a really good passer for the position he has really good touch and on top of that he’s intense he’s a dog he gets after it right he’s a very competitive guy he’s big as hell I think he just brings a lot of the things that Milwaukee is looking for now some some of the negatives right he’s a bit of a defensive liability he’s a little slow on his feet laterally you know but a lot of big guys are going to be um he doesn’t have a lot of explosiveness he’s not a real powerful guy um you know he’s not the most athletic guy in terms of strength or quickness or anything like that he just doesn’t have a lot of like the physical attributes that you would really want but I think just the way he is um so good offensively that he just brings a lot of what Bobby poris did and I’m gonna be on a much cheaper contract so we got our trade out of the way we’ve taken care of the draft so one more big piece we got to address before we go further and that is free agency so Milwaukee has thanasis Beasley Pat Bev Jay Crowder and Gallow all hitting free agency this year now with the exchange of Benedict Maan for Bobby poris the Bucks are going to be saving $5.3 million and that is going to help us duck under that second apron allowing Milwaukee to earn that uh taxpayer mid-level exception now we do have some holes that we need to address with Pat Bev Crowder and Beasley specifically hitting fore agency we got some holes in the backup areas and we need a starting two guard now what we need to do is find a guard who can compliment Damen Lillard well and that means we need to find somebody who is a legit Defender so a couple names I have in mind Gary Harris DeAnthony mlon Josh aogi Chris Dunn Josh Richardson Kyle Lowry Spencer Den witty Delon Wright Killian haaste okay so let’s talk them bottom four first right those are going to be more your backup uh ones right got Damen Lillard I think it’d be smart to bring in another you know point of attack Defender as that backup one you got guys like kilan Hayes and Delon Wright I personally I think Delon Wright would be perfect he’s not old to where he’s going to be a little bit of a liability um Kyle Lowry is a little older um better at setting up the offense and stuff like that but I think just Al right is you know you want to add some more athleticism you don’t want to add more age Killian Hayes um he’s a younger guy but he’s also a liability on offense and then there’s Spencer dewitty who’s kind of the opposite he’s a really big long um in the defender uh but he’s just not as good as a Defender and he’s more of an offensive player as it is anyway I think he’d be a really good fit too um just if you want some more juice Off the Bench but I think with for this one I’m gonna go with thean Wright as a backup point guard now for the two guards we got Gary Harris Melton aogi and dun I think a good Target here would be aogi I think aogi is one of the out of all these guys he is I think on another level defensively I think he is one of the better guard defenders in the entire league and he could hit his open threes when they’re open um he’s a good enough shooter I think it’s going to be okay then let’s look at some wings just in case you know you strike out on some of those guards and you have to end up moving mat into your two Haywood heith and cam reddish I think either one of these guys could be really good in that backup role Haywood heith is a dog he’s learning how to shoot better but he’s a really smart player he knows how to cut well I think there’s always a place for a guy like hey with heith on a team cam reddish he’s more of like your real talented guy who’s kind of never worked out um might be worth a shot bringing him in he did a pretty good job defensively last year for the Lakers but you know I think he just needs some more seasoning so you draft Kyle filipowski but between him and Brooke and Giannis I think it’d be smart to bring in another forward just to have you know some versatility and some more depth for the big man you got Obie toppen Kevin Love trennan Watford Jay Crowder and Jeff Green Obie don’t think you’ll be able to afford I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to at least get a taxpayer mid-level exception we’ll see though um he might be one of those guys that’s like left after free agency and just didn’t end up getting a deal so if you can get him I think that would be a steal like Josh Richardson is the only guy left there and Obi toppen is still available and you can go and get him and he’d be willing to accept your deal I think it’d be smarter to prioritize Obby toppen that’s how good I think he would be for this team Kevin Love I don’t think he’s going to leave Miami but it’s worth a shot trennon Watford he’s a the younger kid hitting free agency I think he’s got a ton of potential and I think you can sneak away with a guy like TR Tron wford and be really happy about it um later on in the season when he ends up becoming like your seventh or eighth guy Drake Crowder and Jeff Green um Jeff Green’s an older guy but he’ll bring some athleticism me personally I think Jay Crowder was a pretty good fit here um I think he fills his role correctly I think he knows what he’s doing he’s not too old yet so I think another year or two on a on a bet minimum I think would be perfect for this team so if that’s the case and we go and get Del W on a vet minimum we sign um Jay Crowder on another vet minimum and then we use our mle on Josh aogi I think those are three crucial signings that would definitely help Milwaukee and have our rotation looking really good here Damen Lillard backed up by dlan Wright Josh AOH backed up by AJ Green Chris Middleton backed up by Benedict Maan yanis TMO backed up by Jay Crowder Brook Lopez backed up by Kyle Philip housi now I want to discuss real quick that backup two guard position I personally was very impressed by AJ Green last year and the few times that I’ve seen him play I think he brings a lot of what you’re losing with Malik Beasley I think he just brings a change of pace a big theme for this roster in total is you know versatility and being able to blend and mold with new game plans and schemes right if there’s a team out there where you need a real good shooter you got a guy like AJ Green you got a guy like Chris Middleton and you got of course Damen Lillard you need somebody who’s more of a veteran or you know better at defense then you still have conon on the team so I think you know you could play either one of those as your backup but I think AJ Green so far has been better then I also want to talk about the insane versatility of your front Court you got a giant in Brook Lopez right who’s one of the best post defenders in the league you got filipowski who is uh you know as far as collegewise was an offensive Savant and would be a really good fit you know very similar to c o linck you have Giannis anmo who’s obviously one of the best players in the entire world Defensive Player of the Year caliber Defender uh you know can switch one through five out a you know one of the best in the NBA and then Jay Crowder who’s a you know your standard three and D guy who’s gonna go out there who’s gonna get his open looks and hit him and defend the other guy on the bench really well so a bunch of Versatility there and the most important thing I feel like you guys just have a bunch of perimeter defense now you have of course josic hogi who’s going to compliment Dame really well you’ve got Delan Wright who’s a very very good defender in his own right and you also have Benedict ma but he has all the athletic tools and everything he’s going to be a real good mismatch on certain players you add a ton of really good perimeter defense on this team I think it’s going to go a long way towards improving that defense now if you disagree with anything that I said I’m totally open to hearing all criticisms let me know down in the comments it’ll go a long way to helping me get better for the future offseason previews if you do like this though like And subscribe to the channel like I said said I’m going to be doing one of these for every team in the future until the NBA Draft so let me know I’m also planning on coming out and putting out my bigboard on Twitter so if you don’t follow me on Twitter so you could check out my big board I’ve been looking into the draft quite a bit I’m not nearly as good is a lot of these um Scouts and you know guys who do this you know a lot more frequently than me but you know I I do have a pretty good hold on at least the first 30 players of the NBA draft you know it’s worth a look check it out I’ll have it on my Twitter here very soon also I’m going to be on the what’s in a game podcast uh with the homies Will and Grace in the very near future so make sure you check out those guys as well and I hope everybody has a wonderful day all right happy Father’s Day I love you guys talking BS we out [Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music]
Zamora breaks down the off season needs and potential upgrades for the Milwaukee Bucks as a part of a new series brought to you by Talkin’ BS and S&T Media group
