Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks posted their best regular-season record in almost 40 years, blitzing the Eastern Conference to get to 60 wins and the No. 1 seed. Unfortunately, after dominating the first two rounds of the postseason, the Bucks fell short in the Eastern Conference Finals against the eventual champion Toronto Raptors.
Instead of looking to acquire a superstar this offseason to further increase their chances of hoisting a trophy, the Bucks opted to retain nearly all of their talent in order to run it back, with one significant exception that could come back to bite them. Here is a rundown of what Milwaukee has done this offseason.
Losses
The one big hit Milwaukee took this offseason was losing Malcolm Brogdon. The Bucks elected to sign-and-trade the talented guard to the Indiana Pacers on a four-year, $85 million contract. Brogdon was a key piece of the Bucks last season. He started all 64 regular-season games he played in and achieved the coveted 50-40-90 stat line. Additionally, he was one of the Bucks' better perimeter defenders.
Other subtractions include the loss of Nikola Mirotic and Tim Frazier in free agency. Mirotic elected to play overseas, while Frazier signed with the Detroit Pistons. Of the two, the loss of Mirotic will be felt more. Although he underperformed for the Bucks in the playoffs, stretch 4s of his caliber are coveted around the league. He will be missed for his solid, albeit streaky, shooting.
The last notable player the Bucks lost this offseason was Tony Snell. The six-year veteran was traded to the Pistons with a first-round pick after playing three seasons for the Bucks. A 3-and-D bench player, Snell was a solid shooter for the club who shot a tick under 40 percent from the 3-point line last year. While Snell's shooting and defense can be useful, Milwaukee opted to trade him to help clear some cap space for other moves.
Additions/Re-Signings
As mentioned before, the Bucks didn't make too many additions this offseason. However, they did re-sign several important players who could have left in free agency. Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez were two players who contributed massively to the Bucks' success last season.
Middleton was a first-time All-Star who averaged 18.3 points and 6.0 rebounds a game while shooting 37.8 percent from range. He received a five-year, $178 million contract.
Lopez developed into one of the best stretch 5s in the league, shooting 36.5% percent from 3 and anchoring the defense in the middle. The big man earned a four-year, $52 million contract.
Veteran point guard George Hill also returned after the Bucks initially waived him because of how his contract was set up. With Brogdon gone, Milwaukee wanted a steady hand at the point guard position to back up Eric Bledsoe.
The Bucks acquired two players of note in free agency: Wesley Matthews and Lopez's twin brother, Robin. Matthews will look to fill the big shoes Brogdon left in the Bucks' primary shooting guard spot. Robin will sop up minutes when his twin rests on the bench. Both figure to play large roles in the Bucks' effort to repeat as the 1-seed in the conference.
Milwaukee is also bringing in Thanasis Antetokounmpo, which should make Giannis happy.
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Overall, the Bucks are banking on the fact that an extra year of cohesion and chemistry will take the team to new heights. They locked up several of their primary players and tweaked the roster around them with role players, though losing Brogdon definitely hurts, even if they got some future draft compensation back in the process.
Not retaining Brogdon could wind up backfiring, especially with Giannis Antetokounmpo's free agency coming up in 2021, but only time will tell if this offseason strategy will work out and the team can become NBA champions.
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