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Speaker 1: What is a Fellawsiko's I Am Dampa Valley commun at

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you with another twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five

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MBA look ahead. We're on to the Milwaukee Bucks, which

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means it's time to talk to the homie, Ty Wendish,

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who covers the Bucks fantastically. I might add over at

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the Eurostep Podcast follow him on Twitter at Tywindish. That's

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at T I W I N d I s c

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H to link to. That will be in the podcast

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and YouTube description as well as on screen if you

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are watching on YouTube. We're gonna get into all things Bucks.

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It's a lot of fun. Make sure you go follow

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the Eurostep podcast. That's at Eurostep Podcast at g y

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R O s T E P P O D C

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s T. They do a great job over there for

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covering not just the Bucks but other sports within the region.

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Excited to talk with Ty, as we are every year.

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So let's get into what is one of the more

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and I mean this annoy use this word a lot,

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but it's one of the more fascinating teams in the

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league heading into next season when you look at the

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timeline that they are facing. So here we go, Milwaukee Bucks.

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Talk with Tie, and if you haven't already or even

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if you have, subscribe across all platforms. I don't know

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what other podcasts really covering every single team this in

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depth every single year with their own dedicated look ahead podcasts.

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So YouTube, Spotify, Apple, the whole nine. If you're new

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around these parts, and if you're not new, share these episodes,

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Shout us out on Twitter in the comments, like the video,

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share the videos. Anything you can do to continue to

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help us grow the community. That includes joining the discord,

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link to that' to the podcast and YouTube description. Okay,

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that's enough out of me for real this time, let's

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get to talking Milwaukee Bucks with Tie Windish of the

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Eurostep podcast. Tye, welcome back. It's a look ahead season.

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It's the Bucks we had to bring on you. Did

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you know because I keep this logged. This is your

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fourth year coming back on hard For the look ahead

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we have, there's very few because we I think this

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is only the sixth year, maybe the fifth that we've

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done it. So we have a couple of people that

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have made it the half decade route. But you are

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you're like right there. You might even I feel you've

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definitely been on the pod more than five. Yeahs, this

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is your fourth look ahead. How does that feel to

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know that?

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Speaker 2: It feels great? I feel very old. I'm turning thirty

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next year, so that's not the whole thing crap. I know, well,

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you know what, you know. What's doing it for me

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is I'm around the same age as Yannis, so I

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think as Yiannis starts to get to like that thirty two,

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and he already gets it some because you know the athleticism.

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But people are like, oh, I think he's aging out

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of it, right. I can tell that's going to be

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brutal for me. That's going to be really tough for me.

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And I remember I remember being between him and Jabbari

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and I thought, oh, it'll be cool to track Jabari's

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career and you know, see it and that obviously unfortunately

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it didn't take very long. But but otherwise I feel

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good about it outside of the uh, the age question

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of it all and how long I've been doing this

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damn thing.

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Speaker 1: You're still baby. I'm thirty five, and that's been like

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a mystery around these parts for some reason, and people

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either think I'm much younger or way older. It's never like, oh,

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he must be thirty three or thirty five or something.

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I will say, covering the league at thirty five and

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like having to say like, oh, so and so is

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like turning thirty one, Like I feel like such a

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fucking hypocrite. Like it's just like, yeah, yeah, they're past

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their pride now because they're in their thirties.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like that great meme of like he's defying

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all logic heroically playing at thirty four years old. I'm

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just like, oh no.

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Speaker 1: But the Bucks though, Yeah, brought you on to discuss

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these Milwaukee Bucks. I want to start here, What are

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your biggest takeaways from I mean, just like everything that

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happened with the way that last season unfolded and the

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discourse and the perception of the Bucks that's kind of

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trickled out after that, Like what do you just make

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of it all as we're heading into this new season.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was clearly a pretty unmitigated disaster. But the

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funny part about that is the Bucks unmitigated disaster scenario

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had them like I think a game out of the

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two seed and they were still ultimately the three seed.

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So one of my takeaways and we just had a

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pod with Blocke Journal Sentinel writer Jim Ozowski, who's great,

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and his thing was like, I feel like people just

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don't really realize they're really good still throughout everything that's happened.

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So I think that's my takeaway. I think they messed

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up a lot clearly. The coaching higher went about as

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poorly as possible. The Dame trade I don't think was

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a bad trade by any means. That's, of course, like

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a bit of a contentious thing somewhere, mostly because Portland

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happened to send Drew to Boston versus anywhere else. But

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I think the way it happened was the worst way

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for it to happen, Meaning they built a whole team

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for Drew Holliday at the point guard, and then three

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days before camp with a new head coach, go ahead

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and get Dame. He's going through all his personal things

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and in injuries as well, which is kind of inescapable

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for an older team. But Giannis goes down in March

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in March I think, or May or whatever, April I

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think it was April, and then doesn't play again. That's

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obviously go in the junior season almost no matter what.

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But it's like through all of that they've kind of

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stuck together. They didn't have like an offseason implosion, nobody

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asked out. They mostly kept their core together from last year,

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created a few veterans. So I think, actually as disappointing

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as it is whenever you lose a prime, honest season

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and the first Giannis and Dame season, I do think

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given some precedent for some other teams that took a

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year to come together, overall, it's hard to not feel

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kind of good right like it was all disaster. I

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don't feel good. I didn't feel good at any point

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during that season, but like now in the offseason, looking

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at how they did since then, it's kind of like

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they went through a lot. A lot of it was horrible,

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but I think I think a lot of it will

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help them going forward, outside of just being a year

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older at these guys and like medical stuff that maybe

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gets better, maybe does, and I think mostly it will,

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but you can never really know. But it was certainly

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they took their lumpch. That's that's for sure.

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Speaker 1: The thing I always come back to with them too,

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is I mean, you look at you mentioned the place

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in the standings, but their top four guys are on

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the court. They blasted opponents it was like, yeah, over

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sixteen points per one hundred posessions, and they also played

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more than you thought together relative to just like it

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felt their season felt very stopped. I think a lot

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of that had to do with the transition from Adrian

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Griffin to Doc Rivers. We do have another offseason though,

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where it seems like they've done good work on the margins,

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and we said that last year. And as you mentioned, though,

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we did record before the Damian Lillar trade went down.

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At the time they built their team, like in the

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vein of Drew Holliday is going to be our starting

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point guard. Now they know that Damian Miller is going

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to be they were able to go through the off

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season with it. Do you think that, because we're definitely

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guilty of it on this podcast as we I mean,

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go back and listen to what we said about Phoenix's

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offseason last year with the we do tend to over

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romanticize like the impact these minimum guys have. But do

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you think that between Delon Wright, Gary Trent Junior, who

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is not your typical minimum sid let's make that clear,

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and even Torrian Prince, who Lakers fans will claim is

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like worse than Dalton connect who hasn't played an NBA

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game yet. Do you think that's given the box like

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enough perimeter optionality to feel good about their overall death

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excuse me depth not death depth relative last.

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Speaker 2: Season hopefully no more, no more death. They kind of

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did die on the vine last year. Yeah I do.

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I really don't think any of the three, certainly not Trent,

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but even the other two. To me, I think Right

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is the closest none of those guys to me as

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a general NBA guy. And maybe this is Bucks bias speaking,

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but I would I thought I would have thought maybe

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Right could be attainable on a vetman. Going into this offseason,

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I put Torrian prints on my like, yeah, fine, player

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makes sense as a fit I don't think they could

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get him for a VET men. And same for Prince.

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And you know, some guys always get squeezed. But I

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really did not expect at least those two of the

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three to be VET minimum players. Like I think they

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did abnormally well. I think some of it was above

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their control, right like that. The way the CBA has

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evolved and changed and teams have reacted to it, there

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just aren't as many salary slots in free agencies. So

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if you're not getting extended or signed and trade, signed

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and traded, I suppose you're just kind of out of luck.

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So a little surprised that Prince shook loose for the Lakers,

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like I know, the whole thing, and we don't know

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have to do a Lakers thing, but like you know,

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some guys opted in a vet minimum player options and

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it just messed up their whole summer. That seems like

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kind of wild to happen for such a low stakes

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things who have occurred. But I think it worked out

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for the Bucks just fine. And obviously the Trent thing,

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you know, Toronto just going a different direction, still insane

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to me that he couldn't have found anything more. But

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I think the other part of this, too is an

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unforeseen consequence of they lowered the taxpayer mid level. So

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I think a lot of these guys, like Trent, it's like, okay,

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do I want about three million to play in Milwaukee

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for a contender start next to my old friend Damian

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Lillard with the Honest team, or like, was it like

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five ish million to go? I don't know what other

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tax team, right, There's some good options out there, I'm sure,

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but some teams don't even spend those things anyway, So

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I think I do feel really good about their optionality.

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You know, it was funny the order in which the

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signings happened, except for the first one is stillun right.

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And I was like, okay, good backup point guard if

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he's like got to be the starter, though next to Dame,

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you don't love that. And then they get prints it's like, Okay,

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Prince could probably start. He started for the Lakers. I

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know that their fans are very underwhelmed with him, but

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we know what he does. He shoots threes at a

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solid level, a good clip and a solid rate of

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making them, and it is like a movable defensive player

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guarded a lot of good players defensively above his station.

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But we're talking about Malik Beasley last year, so the

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Bucks can can live with that. And then it was

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Trent and it was like, Okay, that answers the other questions.

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It makes it all look a lot better. So yeah,

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I think they did really well all things considered. I

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think they've retained a lot of core players, and I

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mean still, I still think the reaction has been almost

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a little too muted on Gary Trent. I think some

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people have acknowledged it, well that to me, it's just

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that it's like a seventeen point per game score on

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incredible efficiency has racked up steals. He's not a defensive

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ace like we wanted, like a Dylan Brooks kind of

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player to complement Dame. But I don't think Beggars can

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be choosers. And I think just pure talent alone, I

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think they're starting five is going to be pretty ridiculous

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next season when those five guys are all out there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think also the thing with Trent is

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that he'll make a lot of gambles on defense. But

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like for the Bucks, who I think they ended up

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finishing thirtieth in forcing turnovers last year to have him,

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And then if you can put Giannis in like his

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best role, like this team might be able to fox

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some shit up defensively that you go on the court.

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I'm not saying Trent is like a very good defender,

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but I think he's serviceable enough. And if you just

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want like he could be a Steels merchant, that's fine.

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I was gonna ask you, and it seems like you

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already answered it. Though Torrian Prince feels like he feels

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more of an archetypal need. But I do feel like

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Delon Wright is better for what their biggest defensive weakness

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was last year. If you had to guess on who

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winds up being more important to this team, does the

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Trent signing kind of shifted all the way well to

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obviously Torrian Prince now? Or is there a chance that

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it might be Delon Right?

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Speaker 2: There's still a chance, I think if his defense holds

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up and if for him his shooting has varied a lot.

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I don't even know how much it matters, because you know,

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teams are gonna want him to shoot. We'll see. Rohan,

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my co host, Rohan Kattie, thinks he could really close.

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Like he's big on this idea of just having that

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defensive minded guard to play alongside Dame, and I think

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there's a lot of reason to think that is true.

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I think the reason it could be him, and a

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lot of this depends too on like what does this

248
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version of Gary Trent Junior look like? How much can

249
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he buy in a defense? How much can he do

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on that end, because if obviously, if it's anywhere close

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defensively between him and Right, then Right's probably not closing

252
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very often. I think they would prefer to go bigger,

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but maybe not. You know, it all depends if Brook

254
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Lopez can stay in or not. But I think Prince,

255
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I think right could there's more variables. I think in

256
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more scenarios it's probably Prince because the Bucks have always

257
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sent PJ. Tucker left needed that new guy to enable

258
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Yiannis at the five, and so the question becomes like,

259
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can Prince and Middleton? Can they both be three and

260
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a half to add up to seven? Is what I've

261
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put out there, because maybe neither of them is your

262
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traditional stretch four, but can they both be stretched three

263
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and a halfs? Maybe we'll see, but I think that

264
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player is really important. If Prince can contribute to that lineup,

265
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it'll be him. If not that, I could see it

266
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being right as well, but it's probably less likely now

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with Trent, but not impossible.

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Speaker 1: I get to dictate so much of how these episodes

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go that I wanted to include this question to start

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things off this year. What is the biggest storyline you'll

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be monitoring for this team throughout this coming season?

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Speaker 2: Health first? But I'm not even gonna talk about it

273
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because it's not fun. But obviously that's going to be

274
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the number one, the most fun one, and the one

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that was worth talking about. It's probably just like Dame,

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Chris and the honis together and you mentioned the Bucks

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were really good when those three played together, and like

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are really good to the point of you'd think, like, okay,

279
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they're probably a contender anyway. But some of the buzz

280
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is like it should be better, and I think it

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can be better. I mean, I think if you watch it,

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I think you would agree, and a lot of people

283
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have like they weren't all that cohesive at all, especially

284
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the fabled Damiani's pick and roll. They didn't really get

285
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good at it. That the Dame brook pick and roll

286
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was better and Chris Yanni's actions were better because they've

287
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been doing it for a decade. No, no real surprise there,

288
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but all of the focus since Doc really came in

289
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was we need to get this played down, like that's

290
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that's their thing. I think that can separate them from

291
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every other team in the league is you could look

292
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at other teams are deeper, certainly Boston, maybe you can

293
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say other teams have more top end talent. I don't

294
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think there is another action maybe outside of Denver, that

295
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you could be as devastating singularly as a damianis picking role. Like,

296
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,360
I think it should be as unguardable as anything that exists,

297
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especially given they have the personnel around it, right, Cary

298
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Trent on one wing, Chris Middleton on the other, whether

299
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you have another guard, a big whoever, someone in the

300
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dunker spot, it's pretty unguardable. It should be totally impossible

301
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,799
to stop. I mean, their gravity totally shifted to teams

302
00:13:41,799 --> 00:13:45,000
doubling Dame around half court, which Giannis has never seen

303
00:13:45,039 --> 00:13:49,080
anything like this before. The four totally shifted. So really

304
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those two, but I'll throw on Chris as well. I

305
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think they're gonna do something because he's not always just

306
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going to be spacing right. He's a really good player.

307
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But like those three being even better together, I think,

308
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because I think that's what whether the regular season numbers

309
00:13:59,799 --> 00:14:01,600
at the saying better a little worse in terms of

310
00:14:01,639 --> 00:14:04,200
their un court efficiency, if they're gonna win a title,

311
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it's because a close game in the last five minutes

312
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they can just say we're gonna get a really good

313
00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,879
look every single time, like we're gonna score every time.

314
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We'll make the stops. Brook and Giannis and Trent and whoever.

315
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We'll figure that out. But we can just be totally

316
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unguardable and get a great shot every time and just win.

317
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,279
So that's what I think their biggest storyline is, is can

318
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those two go from we made it work because we're

319
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:30,159
so good to Okay, we're actually on all cylinders and

320
00:14:30,759 --> 00:14:32,879
no one can guard this action at all anymore. I

321
00:14:32,919 --> 00:14:34,360
think that's gonna be number one for me.

322
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Speaker 1: Is there like anything that you do that accounts for

323
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,000
why when you look at Damian Lillard's overall fit that

324
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,200
it felt like there were really long pockets of time

325
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,840
where there wasn't enough Dame and Yanni's actions. Was it

326
00:14:47,039 --> 00:14:49,960
just they were using Dame to open up the Middleton

327
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,159
and Yanni's two men game too much, And it's more

328
00:14:52,159 --> 00:14:55,159
about maybe Middleton finding his comfort level within that dynamic

329
00:14:55,399 --> 00:14:58,360
because we did see the points last year, like the

330
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,320
Damon Yanna stuff can be devastated and it should be devastating.

331
00:15:02,039 --> 00:15:04,480
And I know, like it feels like the volume of

332
00:15:04,519 --> 00:15:06,200
it just watchings. I don't have the data on like

333
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:07,840
how many ball screens each of them are setting for

334
00:15:07,879 --> 00:15:10,120
each other, but it feels like it waxed and waned.

335
00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,080
Would that be like the usage of.

336
00:15:12,039 --> 00:15:14,159
Speaker 2: It, Yeah, it did. I think a lot of it

337
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,320
was the coaching change. I think Doc wanted to do

338
00:15:16,399 --> 00:15:19,600
it a lot more, but pretty soon after he was

339
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taken over. Like I think part of it was they

340
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,399
do want to have one of Dame Marianna's out there

341
00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,919
all the time, which obviously doesn't preclude you from running

342
00:15:27,919 --> 00:15:30,480
a lot of actions with them together, But they weren't

343
00:15:30,559 --> 00:15:32,799
like staggering them together, which I think makes sense. I

344
00:15:32,799 --> 00:15:34,360
think that's how they should. I don't think you want

345
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to have two top seventy five all time guys and

346
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then have a lot of minutes per game where neither

347
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,039
of them are out there, But so that takes down

348
00:15:43,159 --> 00:15:46,320
the opportunity a little bit. I think the Adrian Griffin

349
00:15:46,399 --> 00:15:49,679
Bucks did it less and they probably waxed and waned more,

350
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,519
and then the Doc Rivers Bucks frankly just had very

351
00:15:52,519 --> 00:15:56,240
little time with the core players together, especially Day Marianna's.

352
00:15:56,799 --> 00:15:58,360
I think they're going to do it a lot more

353
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going forward, at least I hope. I also think part

354
00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,279
of it was accommodating Chris. Part of it was like

355
00:16:04,519 --> 00:16:07,240
in the short term, like it looked a lot better

356
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:09,960
when Chris was running with Giannis and with Dame was

357
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,200
running with Brooke, partially because Dame is used to having

358
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,480
the ball a lot, but more so Giannas is just

359
00:16:15,519 --> 00:16:19,360
not a great screener. It's com and it's gone. And

360
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,039
I think like he did it enough in twenty one

361
00:16:22,279 --> 00:16:24,039
when he screened for Chris a lot and they won

362
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,000
a title with it. It's not what he wants to do, right,

363
00:16:27,159 --> 00:16:31,120
Like necessarily he wants to have the ball create. He

364
00:16:31,159 --> 00:16:33,960
actually has really good pick and roll ball handler numbers,

365
00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,679
and I hope because of that we see a little

366
00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,200
bit of like the Dame, you know, pick and pop

367
00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,720
for you honest, which I think also can be pretty devastating.

368
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,039
So I think it's been kind of a process that way.

369
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,080
I don't know exactly why. I mean, I think even

370
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,120
with all those things, they should have still done it more,

371
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,919
both under Griffin and Doc and I guess, you know,

372
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:54,879
the two Games of Prunty or however many it was

373
00:16:54,919 --> 00:16:58,000
two weeks of Prunty. But yeah, I don't know if

374
00:16:58,039 --> 00:17:01,159
there's a great answer, but I certainly think the emphasis

375
00:17:01,279 --> 00:17:05,400
is there now and everything Doc Rivers says is like, yeah,

376
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,160
that's the play. We need to have that, right, Like

377
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,160
we need to be better at that, So I'd be

378
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,440
pretty surprised next season if we didn't see a whole

379
00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:13,880
lot more at least actions with both of them. It

380
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:15,319
doesn't have to be like, of course, the same pick

381
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,559
and roll every time, but I certainly hope we see

382
00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:18,079
more of that.

383
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,839
Speaker 1: I thought. What was also interesting about the Dame fit

384
00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,759
is even when it seems to make so much sense immediately,

385
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:26,400
when you look at the time of year the trade

386
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,799
was made, it's like limited time for him to get

387
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:30,960
used to his new surroundings, and then like you're thrown

388
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,519
into just the beginning of the like the beginning of

389
00:17:33,519 --> 00:17:36,319
the season process. Basically, it probably takes longer time in

390
00:17:36,319 --> 00:17:39,440
hash out chemistry and in general, with the exception of

391
00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,359
like the Golden State the Kevin Durant era Golden State Warriors,

392
00:17:43,599 --> 00:17:45,319
even though that didn't perfectly click all the time, like

393
00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:47,400
it seldom just works to the point that, oh, you

394
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,920
should pick these people to win a title, and I

395
00:17:51,319 --> 00:17:53,440
kind of I don't want necessarily give the Bucks an

396
00:17:53,519 --> 00:17:55,240
entire pass, but I looked at it as that's like

397
00:17:55,279 --> 00:17:57,920
they should be more dangerous this year. Now, with that said,

398
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,039
what should we be lazy bring in on to see

399
00:18:01,079 --> 00:18:03,000
from Damian Loward this year. Is it really just I

400
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,440
very much harped to in a good way, like this

401
00:18:05,559 --> 00:18:07,960
dude shot like thirty three percent on spot of threes

402
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,640
last year as not gonna have even if you think

403
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,319
he's getting older. There's no way in hell that happens again.

404
00:18:13,599 --> 00:18:15,400
Like is that one of the features that were like okay,

405
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:16,880
like that's what we need to look at, or is

406
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:18,759
there something else that we should really be laser focused

407
00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:19,559
on with the Dame fit.

408
00:18:20,599 --> 00:18:22,960
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think it's probably just the effectiveness. I think

409
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:24,680
he got to a point where I liked the way

410
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,119
he played. I think sometimes he could have been a

411
00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,240
little more aggressive. I think the combination was he really,

412
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,720
to his credit, really wanted to not be like, hey,

413
00:18:35,759 --> 00:18:39,440
I'm Dame. Motherfuckers, like give me the ball every possession.

414
00:18:39,559 --> 00:18:42,599
Like he was very I would say gracious to Giannis

415
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,160
of course, but also like like he go every time

416
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,160
this topic came up and he would talk about it'd

417
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,400
be like, you guys, forget about Chris Middleton, Like Chris

418
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,680
Middleton is awesome, Like I'm figuring out how to work

419
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,160
with Giannis and with Chris Middleston and with Brook Lopez,

420
00:18:54,279 --> 00:18:56,079
like he really wanted to be like, you know, I'm

421
00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:58,160
the new guy here. You guys have won a title.

422
00:18:58,160 --> 00:18:59,960
I've never done that, Like I want to fit in.

423
00:19:00,039 --> 00:19:02,440
And I think over the course of the year, the

424
00:19:02,519 --> 00:19:04,279
team and the honest and extent were like, hey, you

425
00:19:04,319 --> 00:19:07,079
got to be dame though, like all that's all very nice.

426
00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,799
We appreciate where you're coming from, like shoot the ball

427
00:19:09,839 --> 00:19:12,680
from the logo a bunch of times. And I think again,

428
00:19:12,799 --> 00:19:15,079
like Giannis had his most efficienc season ever, it kind

429
00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:17,000
of worked out that way anyway, but it can be

430
00:19:17,039 --> 00:19:20,160
a lot better. I think his being a little more aggressive,

431
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,200
although I do think I underrated not watching him every day.

432
00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,160
He is more of a true point guard than I

433
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,680
think I realized. He really likes to and is very

434
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,720
good at creating for others as well, which probably sounds stupid,

435
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,079
but I think the level to which he does it,

436
00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:34,599
Like I thought of him as more of a shooter

437
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,279
than a creator, he is. He likes to be both.

438
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,039
He wants to be a true point guard. He is

439
00:19:39,079 --> 00:19:41,000
a true point guard, so I won't I don't think

440
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,440
he's going to score like thirty five again by any means,

441
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,440
but being more aggressive, but just more efficient. I will

442
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,720
say the other things he's talked about are you know,

443
00:19:49,839 --> 00:19:52,559
he didn't get his usual off season routine in last

444
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,000
year because he had to pass the physical. He knew

445
00:19:55,039 --> 00:19:56,640
he was getting traded, but he didn't get traded for

446
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,960
a long time, and he cited that a lot of times.

447
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,440
And in this piece that was just last week from

448
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,880
one of the Beat reporters who was out there, said like,

449
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,480
I feel great, and he's very much like anyone who's

450
00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:09,720
running me off is gonna, you know, look silly, like well,

451
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,880
we're gonna go out there and prove it, like him

452
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,559
as a player, the Bucks as a team, and I think,

453
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:16,920
you know, it was going through like moving for the

454
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,079
first time, was going through what became kind of a

455
00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,279
publicized divorce at the time, being away from his family

456
00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:24,319
and from Portland for the first time. So I think

457
00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:26,559
there's just an added level of comfort on and off

458
00:20:26,599 --> 00:20:31,240
court that he thinks for sure, of course as a

459
00:20:31,279 --> 00:20:35,799
professional player, and I think as an analyst biased of like, yeah,

460
00:20:35,799 --> 00:20:38,240
he's gonna look I think quite a bit better last year. Also,

461
00:20:38,279 --> 00:20:39,880
like by the playoffs, he was able to just turn

462
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,119
it on and be that thirty five point per game guy.

463
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,400
So I think that was helpful, even only in like

464
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,119
three games, but of seeing like you can still do it,

465
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,920
Like it's not just gone. He's not just switch flipped

466
00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,039
old Like I don't think it's that simple.

467
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,880
Speaker 1: And also it's to your point, some of his best

468
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,880
moments last year were without Yiannis, and so it's like

469
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,119
a matter of him finding not necessarily a perfect analog

470
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,680
for that player with Gannest, but like when to be

471
00:21:05,799 --> 00:21:07,720
that guy more often with you, honest, or like how

472
00:21:07,799 --> 00:21:09,480
to figure out how to fit that into the larger

473
00:21:09,519 --> 00:21:14,599
context of the Yannis Chris Brook Lopez dynamic. And I'm

474
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,640
so fascinated to see how that clicks, because again we

475
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,519
are sitting here nitpicking and like they were still just

476
00:21:20,799 --> 00:21:24,000
rampaging over opponent opponents when they were on the court together,

477
00:21:24,039 --> 00:21:25,359
and so like that's just like, oh, well, what does

478
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:26,759
this look like if it's fully clicking.

479
00:21:27,559 --> 00:21:30,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the big question. I think that's like number one,

480
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,759
and it's it's really tantalizing, and I think they've got

481
00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:34,880
good personnel around them to make the most of it.

482
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,480
I almost wonder like there's going to be some interesting

483
00:21:37,559 --> 00:21:41,200
questions of like who takes less shots? Bobby Portis won't,

484
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,440
I'll tell you that much, which is an interesting thing.

485
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,440
But they have a lot of a lot of skilled

486
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,240
offensive players, which is a good thing. And we know

487
00:21:47,279 --> 00:21:49,119
a lot of them will miss time throughout the season,

488
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,440
so that'll help. But it's gonna be interesting kind of

489
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:54,119
figuring out, like where do these shots break down, Like

490
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,880
who is losing more, who's maintaining, et cetera.

491
00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,640
Speaker 1: I thought Jannis did a good job reorient his game

492
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:02,559
last year to try and adapt to Dame. When you

493
00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:05,119
look at you know, fewer of his shots were going unassisted.

494
00:22:05,759 --> 00:22:07,920
It felt like he was more complimentary. He cut out

495
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,359
a lot of just like the perimeter stuff, like you

496
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,799
said he had his most efficient season. Was that like

497
00:22:12,839 --> 00:22:16,079
a conscious decision by him? And like how you also

498
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,119
did mention him like maybe he doesn't necessarily love a

499
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,960
lot of the stuff that you would typically do alongside

500
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,920
the peak version of Dame. Like what just goes into

501
00:22:24,279 --> 00:22:28,279
all that? Do we expect sort of this progression, evolution,

502
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,319
whatever you want to call it, transition to continue?

503
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,119
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think so. I mean we'll see if I

504
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:34,400
don't know if it's going to be like a straight

505
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,599
linear line of like now he's going to shoot seventy

506
00:22:36,599 --> 00:22:41,599
percent from the field, maybe, but probably not. I think

507
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:43,720
it was almost by default, I really do, because I

508
00:22:43,759 --> 00:22:47,599
think you look at the way defenses, you know, approached

509
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,559
the floor against the Bucks when they were healthy, and

510
00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,160
the Honest has just never seen single coverage like that

511
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,920
since he's become this level of player since twenty seventeen,

512
00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,200
eighteen whatever. It is like he's if you're one on

513
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,799
one with the Honest, unless you have one of we'll say,

514
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,119
like maybe ten guys in the league, like you're probably

515
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,279
just losing at that point, Like you just can't. You

516
00:23:07,319 --> 00:23:09,400
have to just follow and hope he misses one or two,

517
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,759
which you know happens frequently enough unfortunately for you, Honest

518
00:23:12,799 --> 00:23:15,640
at this point. But and that was like all the time.

519
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,839
I mean, if you're stending two to the ball, uh,

520
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:19,640
you know, it's a four on three or four on

521
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,359
four at best. And that's just like Giannis has never

522
00:23:22,559 --> 00:23:24,680
worked in that kind of space before. So I think

523
00:23:24,759 --> 00:23:27,240
it could be even better because it was almost like

524
00:23:28,319 --> 00:23:31,720
he was benefiting more indirectly from the Dame partnership. There

525
00:23:31,759 --> 00:23:34,680
wasn't as much of like, oh, I'm like I'm right

526
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,279
at the rim and I can just dunk. It would

527
00:23:36,279 --> 00:23:38,160
be like, Okay, now I'm four on three and I

528
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,559
can just beat one guy, but kind of in like

529
00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:42,960
the half open floor right in the short role, I'll

530
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,079
just get around or get through this one guy and score.

531
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:47,119
I think it can be even easier a lot of

532
00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,000
these possessions. But I think Giannis has like always been

533
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,680
a willing playmaker. He's never he's never like the Yokic

534
00:23:52,759 --> 00:23:55,200
kind of passer. I think he's probably a better passer

535
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,000
than people think, especially.

536
00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 1: A much better passer than people think is I would

537
00:23:59,119 --> 00:23:59,680
go far.

538
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,160
Speaker 2: But it's not in the same way. He's not necessarily

539
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,200
like throwing guys open as much. But it's like he

540
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,359
can do things physically that I don't know if any

541
00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,119
other player can do. Especially you see him on the baseline.

542
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,440
He will like wrap and be like it feels like

543
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,799
ten feet out of bounds and just throw a dime

544
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:17,839
from that angle to a wide open shooter. And I

545
00:24:17,839 --> 00:24:19,799
think they've built an offense in a way that he's

546
00:24:19,839 --> 00:24:21,880
gotten very comfortable with where to put that ball and

547
00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,799
you know where to know where shooters will be. So

548
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,079
I think it was almost like by default. He had

549
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,480
a really good season from that perspective. I think he

550
00:24:29,519 --> 00:24:30,880
was able to cut out a lot of shots he

551
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:32,640
probably doesn't even want to take that much, you know,

552
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,279
the pull ups and everything he always does some like

553
00:24:35,319 --> 00:24:37,480
he's always there's always this like maybe this is the

554
00:24:37,519 --> 00:24:39,079
year he figures it out and then he's just like

555
00:24:39,279 --> 00:24:42,079
the consensus best player in the world again and truly

556
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:46,079
truly unguardable. But I think it was just like things

557
00:24:46,079 --> 00:24:48,519
were just easier for him than they've ever been, and

558
00:24:48,559 --> 00:24:50,680
I think they can even get a little bit more easy,

559
00:24:51,079 --> 00:24:54,440
which you know, is a pretty exciting bucks thought to have.

560
00:24:55,079 --> 00:24:56,920
Speaker 1: And it's interesting too because of the way he played

561
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:58,480
last year, and so when I'm doing the outlines for

562
00:24:58,519 --> 00:25:00,839
this year, I'm obviously seeing what we talk about last year.

563
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,759
We talked about like how can Yannis age more gracefully

564
00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:06,839
just because of I don't want to use the word reliant,

565
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,599
but how much a weapon his athleticism is. You look

566
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,440
at last year athletic as hell. He's still there, but

567
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:15,599
like that's a version of Yanni's where it's like, oh,

568
00:25:15,599 --> 00:25:17,319
like that's what he could look like into his mid

569
00:25:17,319 --> 00:25:18,720
thirties and just still be dominant.

570
00:25:19,279 --> 00:25:22,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, And I think that there's still probably more

571
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,680
of just like I don't even care about the threes anymore,

572
00:25:25,759 --> 00:25:28,359
the elbow jumper, and like the elbow post ups or

573
00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:30,119
the big ones for me, And we got to see

574
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,200
a little bit of it in the Olympics, and I

575
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:33,880
think we saw a little bit of it last year,

576
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,079
but like a little bit more of just not even

577
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,960
like fadeaway jumpers, but just like post hooks, stuff like

578
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,880
that where I think again, like if he's in a mismatch,

579
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,440
he can get his two points, but probably not work

580
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,559
as hard, and that's gonna be really key the older

581
00:25:46,559 --> 00:25:48,000
he gets as well. So I like to see even

582
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,160
a little bit more of that. But yeah, just generally

583
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,519
he's still like he controls his movements so well, he

584
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,839
uses the glass so well when he's going at the rim,

585
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,440
that any little advantage made his life a whole lot easier.

586
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,799
Speaker 1: I wonder if he could take something I did not

587
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,720
plan on mentioning this until you said something, but like

588
00:26:04,759 --> 00:26:07,279
could take something out of Christaps Porzingis's book where it's like, Okay,

589
00:26:07,319 --> 00:26:09,200
you might be catching it with your back to the basket,

590
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,079
but like pivot around and just shoot over dudes, like

591
00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:14,000
you don't have to like fade away or you're just

592
00:26:14,039 --> 00:26:14,839
so freaking tall.

593
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're just like just be taller. I mean I

594
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,799
think might have like four inches on him still, but yeah,

595
00:26:20,839 --> 00:26:22,559
Giannis is big enough that he should be able to

596
00:26:22,599 --> 00:26:25,400
do like just literally just like look at the backboard

597
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,119
and just like bounce it off of there. Man, no

598
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,000
one can do anything that. If they put a six

599
00:26:29,039 --> 00:26:30,960
y six guy on you to draw charge, he literally

600
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,480
can do nothing about that. Yannis, What do.

601
00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:38,079
Speaker 1: We make of the brook Lopez murmur rings? Is this

602
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,400
just dude is older headed the final year of his contract.

603
00:26:41,759 --> 00:26:44,599
The Bucks did underachieve relative expectations last year, so this

604
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:49,440
is typical due diligence, or is there something there? Like

605
00:26:49,559 --> 00:26:54,839
I personally just based off Giannis's best defensive role and

606
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,759
like how good brook Lopez still, Like I just find

607
00:26:58,799 --> 00:27:01,880
the idea of it kind of bonkers. But again I'm

608
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,680
a million feet removed from the situation, so this is like,

609
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,000
this is so stupid. This might have been the question

610
00:27:07,079 --> 00:27:09,119
that I'm most excited to ask you about because I

611
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,519
don't understand. Like again, it's not they're not super loud,

612
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,400
but like the murmuring on Brooklyn, I just don't understand

613
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:17,640
it from the Bucks' perspective.

614
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,839
Speaker 2: We want brook Lopez to retire here right, like very clearly,

615
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,279
like we we don't want to trade brook Lopez. This

616
00:27:23,319 --> 00:27:27,039
is after all the murmurings and everything. So I think

617
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,799
I think he's not been traded because he is so

618
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,480
good and he plays such an important role, and it's

619
00:27:34,519 --> 00:27:37,200
a role they have nothing else for, and they really

620
00:27:37,319 --> 00:27:40,359
haven't at all. They've had backup centers. They tried, like

621
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,480
like the Drop and Bender like four years ago, like

622
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,640
they've tried. They're like, can we find the next one?

623
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:46,559
You know what I mean, Like, here's a big guy

624
00:27:46,599 --> 00:27:49,119
you can shoot, like maybe we can develop him. No

625
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,400
one's been close, No one's been in the same stratosphere,

626
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,039
and there's not that many guys in the league out

627
00:27:53,079 --> 00:27:56,079
there who are I think part of it was I

628
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:58,160
think other teams are interested because it is it is

629
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,799
a rare and very valuable archetype. I think he's expiring,

630
00:28:00,839 --> 00:28:02,960
so it's always going to be a conversation. But I

631
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,519
think they ultimately didn't and have never pulled the trigger

632
00:28:05,559 --> 00:28:07,599
because it is like, I mean, this isn't we don't

633
00:28:07,599 --> 00:28:10,279
have to infer Giannis has said, you know, brook Lopez

634
00:28:10,279 --> 00:28:12,119
has a ton I don't want to do that, like

635
00:28:12,759 --> 00:28:14,400
the Who's out that one year when he had the

636
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,519
back surgery. Gianna's was like this sucks, Like brook please

637
00:28:17,599 --> 00:28:20,079
come back, like very plainly, like I don't like doing this,

638
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,000
Like this is really hard. Our team misses him a lot.

639
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,720
We have DeMarcus Cousins out there at the five like

640
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,400
a fun Little Bucks era, but you know, not good

641
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,519
for the old defense by any means. So I think

642
00:28:32,559 --> 00:28:35,839
it's mostly it's it's like, you know, they don't they

643
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:37,440
only have so many assets. So if you want to

644
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:39,720
get in a conversation like if we thought, you know,

645
00:28:39,759 --> 00:28:41,799
could they trade him for someone like and I'm not

646
00:28:41,839 --> 00:28:44,759
saying one for one before people get mad, they will anyway,

647
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,839
like is there a deal where they get Alugenz dort if? Okay?

648
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,720
See is like, you know, I didn't shoot much in

649
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,319
the playoffs, we got rid of Giddy, we have Caruso,

650
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,440
now maybe we don't need him. Then of course they

651
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:56,680
go and sign on Isaiah Hartenstein's He's like, that's not happening.

652
00:28:57,119 --> 00:28:59,319
Houston loves Hi. Would they trade Dylan Brooks for him

653
00:28:59,359 --> 00:29:01,359
in some sort of deal. We're again, let's just get

654
00:29:01,359 --> 00:29:05,359
this defensive, all defense level guy to stick next to

655
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,200
Dame and be like you take every hard assignment and

656
00:29:08,279 --> 00:29:10,480
let your honest rome, and you know, we'll figure out

657
00:29:10,519 --> 00:29:12,799
a center. We'll just get some athletic center. Makes our

658
00:29:12,839 --> 00:29:16,039
spacing different. If we can survive without Brook Lopez is spacing,

659
00:29:16,079 --> 00:29:18,480
we just need a rim protector. But then of course

660
00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:20,920
it's like, you know, maybe that makes sense. Then Gary

661
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:22,920
Trent Junior walks in the door and it's like, okay,

662
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,240
well the two guard hole is pretty much gone. It's

663
00:29:25,279 --> 00:29:27,680
not ideal, but again you're not You're not dying for

664
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,400
one of those. And it's easy in theory, I think,

665
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,680
to say, we'll just sign one of those rim protectors.

666
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:34,640
We'll just go get one of those guys. But it's

667
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,039
like who you looked at the top free agent centers

668
00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:39,759
and it was like Valentunists maybe would a fit is

669
00:29:39,799 --> 00:29:42,119
really not that athletic either, but was way out of

670
00:29:42,119 --> 00:29:44,039
their price range, and I think went too cheap but

671
00:29:44,119 --> 00:29:46,119
was still way out of the Bucks price range. And

672
00:29:46,279 --> 00:29:50,359
it's like Daniel Tice. I like Daniel Tye a good backup.

673
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,480
If you're starting Daniel Tys, you're not feeling great. I

674
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,480
don't think the Pelicans are shot Pels fans. I don't

675
00:29:56,519 --> 00:29:59,079
think they are. I think they would like Brook Lopez too,

676
00:29:59,119 --> 00:30:02,160
to be honest. So it's really like it's kind of

677
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,039
it's always kind of been like this weird situation because

678
00:30:05,039 --> 00:30:06,880
he's been old for a while, right, Like we would

679
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,480
love a younger center we have and have never really

680
00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:13,160
had an opportunity to get one. And I think they

681
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,359
can't really sign a good backup because when they're all healthy,

682
00:30:16,359 --> 00:30:18,640
the guy doesn't play Like they had Robin Lopez, they

683
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,079
just got rid of him. They had Serge Ibaka, he

684
00:30:21,119 --> 00:30:22,960
asked out because there was just no minutes when they

685
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,119
have Brooke, Giannis and Bobby that's all the five minutes

686
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,039
between those three players, and they never have a good

687
00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:32,000
draft pick, like skilled seven footers just go too early. Right,

688
00:30:32,119 --> 00:30:34,559
Like we thought they might be able to get kell

689
00:30:34,599 --> 00:30:36,759
el Ware, So maybe they draft him and either keep

690
00:30:36,799 --> 00:30:38,880
Brook to mentor him, or then they finally move Brooke.

691
00:30:39,039 --> 00:30:42,200
He goes like fourteen. It wasn't even close. So I

692
00:30:42,359 --> 00:30:44,759
just think they've always wanted him to be a little

693
00:30:44,799 --> 00:30:47,039
more redundant and they just they haven't been able to.

694
00:30:47,079 --> 00:30:49,440
He's just too valuable, so they just keep paying him

695
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:51,319
and maybe they dangle in, but there's not really a

696
00:30:51,359 --> 00:30:53,400
move out there that makes sense, and so here we

697
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,200
are Brook Lopez still a Buck and maybe we see

698
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,759
I would love my personal like what I'm trying to

699
00:30:58,759 --> 00:31:01,480
manifest as a Horford extent now, but Brooke might be

700
00:31:01,519 --> 00:31:03,240
too valuable to take that at this point. Like I

701
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,920
still think there's hunger around the league for him, so

702
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:08,279
it's kind of complicated. I think they would like to

703
00:31:08,319 --> 00:31:10,119
have options there and they just don't have any. So

704
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,440
it's like, we'll just stick with this all defensive level

705
00:31:12,519 --> 00:31:13,880
rim protector. I guess.

706
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:15,799
Speaker 1: Yeah. It almost feels like if you were going to

707
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,799
trade Lopez, you need to get you skew towards a

708
00:31:18,839 --> 00:31:21,319
big who either stretches the floor or protects the rim,

709
00:31:21,559 --> 00:31:25,480
and then you're hopefully getting like an athletic or disruptive

710
00:31:25,519 --> 00:31:28,000
perimeter player. So like you're trading one for two.

711
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 2: And like, yeah, there's not one.

712
00:31:29,759 --> 00:31:31,799
Speaker 1: There's definitely not one team out there that like meets that,

713
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:34,000
like I thought about a little bit, but there would

714
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:35,920
still need to be a third team like Portland if

715
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:37,880
you believed r W three was healthy. And then it's

716
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,279
like do you like Matis s Thible, Like no, that

717
00:31:40,319 --> 00:31:41,759
doesn't do it, so then you need to rope into

718
00:31:41,759 --> 00:31:44,039
third team. And also Portland's not gonna want but they

719
00:31:44,039 --> 00:31:45,440
have eighty bigs already.

720
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,400
Speaker 2: They have so many centers. And there was like some

721
00:31:47,519 --> 00:31:49,440
talk because like Bobby's been a trade guy. We talked

722
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,039
about a lot too, but like so it's like, would

723
00:31:52,039 --> 00:31:55,000
you do Bobby Ports for Robert Williams the third I

724
00:31:55,039 --> 00:31:56,640
just don't know if you can, if you're the Bucks

725
00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,480
in this spot with this many injury liabilities already being

726
00:32:00,519 --> 00:32:03,200
like the guy who played like fifteen games last season

727
00:32:03,319 --> 00:32:05,960
or three games last season and has played fifteen, Like,

728
00:32:06,359 --> 00:32:08,039
I just don't think you can. I don't. I mean,

729
00:32:08,119 --> 00:32:10,880
if it was like a vet minimum, if he's like available,

730
00:32:11,119 --> 00:32:13,640
then for sure, right there's no real town side, but

731
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,799
having to give up like a core player, that's really tough. Also,

732
00:32:16,839 --> 00:32:20,480
Matista Table not a big Doc Rivers fan, so I

733
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,480
always have to mention that I don't think that's gonna

734
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:24,559
happen for multiple reasons.

735
00:32:24,599 --> 00:32:28,720
Speaker 1: Also, I just don't think he's good enough. Like, yeah,

736
00:32:28,839 --> 00:32:31,720
I will say I probably would make the Portois for

737
00:32:31,839 --> 00:32:34,000
r W three. I would roll the dice on just

738
00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:37,240
the Bobby Sports's contract coming up. However, I only would

739
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:38,880
do that if like brook Lopez is not on the

740
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,039
Bucks because as you already outlaid like your backup five,

741
00:32:42,119 --> 00:32:44,240
like you could you probably could play r W three

742
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,319
and brook Lopez together, really wanted to because RB three

743
00:32:47,359 --> 00:32:49,119
can be like he can guard in space, have Brooke

744
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,480
protect the rim, and then you flip it on offense,

745
00:32:51,559 --> 00:32:54,160
like have brook spot up. But like you just said,

746
00:32:54,319 --> 00:32:57,160
your backup center is not going to play a ton

747
00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,920
and you know Bobby Portis can play in different configurations

748
00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:01,359
with Milwaukee's front court.

749
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, you could play any configuration offensively and none of

750
00:33:04,799 --> 00:33:06,519
them defensively. But they find a way.

751
00:33:06,839 --> 00:33:11,039
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton coming off by one get one ankle surgery apparently, Yeah,

752
00:33:11,079 --> 00:33:15,279
he's got this weird trend of just like gets injured,

753
00:33:15,599 --> 00:33:17,680
takes a while to ramp up, and then like is

754
00:33:18,079 --> 00:33:20,799
molten just in time for them to see their playoff

755
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:22,039
hopes dashed early?

756
00:33:22,279 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 2: Yeah?

757
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,880
Speaker 1: How what's the level of concern here with that trend?

758
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:29,799
And just like now these ankle surgeries and where this

759
00:33:29,839 --> 00:33:31,960
team is, like if you had to rate it on

760
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:33,480
a scale of one to ten, like, what is the

761
00:33:33,559 --> 00:33:38,240
level of concern for Chris Middleton's I guess it's like sustainability. Yeah,

762
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,799
the durability, whatever you want to frame it as.

763
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 2: I'd probably say like a three or four for his overall.

764
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,000
I still do trust him that when they really need him,

765
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,079
he is going to be there. And just to the

766
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,440
topic of the ramp up, it wasn't that's not what

767
00:33:51,559 --> 00:33:54,480
he needed to like get on the court. Initially. That

768
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,160
was the Bucks medical staff trying to make him as

769
00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,640
sustainable as possible, and I would say, frankly, it worked,

770
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:02,880
and some people will laugh at that. Obviously he did

771
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:07,759
miss time, but it was like two different times during

772
00:34:07,799 --> 00:34:11,199
the season, like someone just landed, like someone ended up

773
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,679
under him, under his leg when he was jumping, and

774
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,559
he you know, turned an ankle. Like I don't think

775
00:34:18,119 --> 00:34:21,239
I think calling him he's been prone to injuries, but

776
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,159
I don't think it's like, you know, it's not like

777
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:25,599
he you know, jogs and just breaks down like Kevin

778
00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:27,400
Durant's under him on a jumper. And then I think

779
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,000
it was he went up for a layup against Indiana

780
00:34:30,079 --> 00:34:32,239
and came down on Siakam or coming up the court

781
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,599
or something and it's like turns an ankle and you

782
00:34:34,599 --> 00:34:36,639
could see it happen. He tries to play through both.

783
00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:39,039
He does play through the Pacers one, and then just

784
00:34:39,039 --> 00:34:42,159
as you know, gets the scopes this offseason, So I

785
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,280
think the overall trend to me is more concerning than

786
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,039
where he's at right now. I actually think maybe they'll

787
00:34:47,079 --> 00:34:48,800
be careful with him coming into the season, but I

788
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:52,400
would expect a lesser ramp up than last year, just

789
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,559
because he was seen in Summer League getting around just

790
00:34:55,599 --> 00:34:58,320
fine after the ankle procedures, So I think it was

791
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,079
kind of more just like scoping out those ankles more

792
00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:04,119
than like a big surgical fix. I'm obviously not a doctor,

793
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,000
so don't take my medical advice by any means. But

794
00:35:07,159 --> 00:35:09,079
I just trust that, like Chris is a gamer, he'll

795
00:35:09,119 --> 00:35:10,679
figure it out when they need him the most, and

796
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:12,599
just hope that he has a little better luck this

797
00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:15,320
year with the procedures. But he was kind of like,

798
00:35:15,519 --> 00:35:20,559
you know, not angry, but kind of got annoyed about

799
00:35:20,639 --> 00:35:22,800
how slowly they ran him up last year. He was like,

800
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,000
I can play more like I don't. I could play

801
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,039
thirty minutes when he's playing eighteen. But it also worked,

802
00:35:28,039 --> 00:35:30,280
so I wouldn't be surprised if they were similarly cautious.

803
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:32,480
I don't know if he will play on the second

804
00:35:32,559 --> 00:35:34,800
night of their sixteen back to backs this year, which

805
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:36,920
frankly I'm fine with. There's none of those in the playoffs.

806
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:39,159
I'd rather be careful with him. So it sucks, but

807
00:35:39,199 --> 00:35:43,039
I trust him overall still, even through everything, because he

808
00:35:43,159 --> 00:35:45,880
somehow was their best player and almost got him to

809
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,960
a Game seven against Indiana, which still to me is

810
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,960
wild given the run they went on after that.

811
00:35:51,519 --> 00:35:53,480
Speaker 1: Offensively, I definitely trust him, and his game is not

812
00:35:53,519 --> 00:35:57,239
necessarily pride it on like okay, like any sort of explosion,

813
00:35:57,679 --> 00:36:00,320
But defensively, it feels like he's lost a few steps

814
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,280
over the years. It's like now coming off ankle surgeries,

815
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,599
I'm just like, oh man, like all this lower body stuff,

816
00:36:04,599 --> 00:36:07,039
I'm just wondering, it's just gonna take its toll. And

817
00:36:07,079 --> 00:36:09,639
then it's well, how valuable does it, like is it

818
00:36:09,679 --> 00:36:11,360
to have a Gary Trent and Junior? Like does that

819
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,639
by default make a Torrian Prince or Adlon write more important?

820
00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:17,679
Because like you kind of need that extra defensive juice

821
00:36:17,679 --> 00:36:19,360
in there. Then if you're leaning on Torrian Prince for

822
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,119
defensive juice, like that like opens up a whole different

823
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,719
can worms with this Looking at this team, there are

824
00:36:26,039 --> 00:36:28,960
some just sort of interesting young guys on there, or

825
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,280
a bunch of young guys on the roster. Whatever, you

826
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:32,920
just go through and get a couple of just like

827
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,719
your quick hitter thoughts on them and sad face emoji.

828
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,679
I feel like we should begin with mar John Bochan.

829
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,920
Speaker 2: Did you hear what Doc said about him on the

830
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:47,280
broadcast with PJ Carlesimo. I did not, basically, just like

831
00:36:48,079 --> 00:36:50,159
they was talking about the importance of and I should

832
00:36:50,159 --> 00:36:52,079
have pulled it up, but it was like just like

833
00:36:52,199 --> 00:36:54,000
knowing where to be and what to do all the

834
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,880
time on the NBA floor, and he's like, that's something

835
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,360
that Marjon's just struggled with, And we're like, did you

836
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,960
just say that on TV? Like it's it's obviously true,

837
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:03,920
but like, did he just say that? I'm I'm I

838
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,280
think National technically TELEVI and some of Yague barely counts

839
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,519
because most people were tuned out of Bucks games because

840
00:37:08,519 --> 00:37:11,039
they were pretty abysmal in Summer League. But I just

841
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,000
I think he's got some really important skills. I think

842
00:37:14,039 --> 00:37:16,239
has not been able to consistently put it all together

843
00:37:16,559 --> 00:37:18,760
in a way that helps the team. I think his

844
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,960
mental game just needs a little bit of improvement. I

845
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,800
think he either gets way too high or way too

846
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,800
low and it gets him into these funks and that's

847
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:27,840
just like the worst. This is the worst kind of

848
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,559
circumstance for a player like that when even if you

849
00:37:30,559 --> 00:37:32,719
play well, your opportunities are going to be limited, but

850
00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:34,840
if you don't, it's just really hard to stay on

851
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:39,440
the floor. And I think he has not improved enough

852
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:43,599
at like the scalable NBA things to have a consistent role.

853
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,000
Like some of his best moments are like he's like

854
00:37:46,079 --> 00:37:48,519
isoing someone or like hitting a pull up, and it's

855
00:37:48,519 --> 00:37:50,400
like they never need you to do that.

856
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:54,719
Speaker 1: They never hysterical where it's like he prefers to have

857
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:55,719
the ball or needs to have the ball.

858
00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, you picked, you got pretty unlucky with

859
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,519
where you got draft. I mean it enjoy, you know,

860
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,440
I enjoy covering him with the Wisconsin heard here in

861
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:06,519
Oshcosh where he gets to do that all that he wants.

862
00:38:07,199 --> 00:38:08,719
But I do you know what the crazy thing was

863
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:11,440
By the end of summer league, AJ Johnson, the nineteen

864
00:38:11,519 --> 00:38:13,639
year old was handling the ball more and having marj

865
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:15,800
on screen for him. Like it was really a disastrous

866
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,920
summer League. For whatever that means, I think it means

867
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,480
a little, not a ton, maybe, But I just I

868
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,320
feel like this time is over because I think some

869
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:24,559
of these other young guys have shown to be either

870
00:38:24,599 --> 00:38:26,800
have higher ceilings or just be better fits with what

871
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,440
the team actually needs. He's still a pretty good primitive defender.

872
00:38:29,559 --> 00:38:31,599
That's why it's a little shocking that he hasn't flashed

873
00:38:31,639 --> 00:38:35,159
on more, but has just not been able to do

874
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:36,719
enough consistently, I'd say.

875
00:38:37,039 --> 00:38:39,280
Speaker 1: I also, I thought he did a good job offensively

876
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:41,679
of being in the right spots as a rookie, and

877
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:43,760
then like it just feels like that or at least

878
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,519
a better job of it. Another younger guy who does

879
00:38:47,639 --> 00:38:50,239
seem to be liked by Doc Rivers is aj Green.

880
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,079
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, he didn't even have to go to Summer League,

881
00:38:54,079 --> 00:38:56,559
which I think says a lot. He was playing regularly

882
00:38:56,599 --> 00:38:58,840
around fourteen fifteen minutes per game under Doc, so like

883
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,800
a real rotational rule. I think really proved that he

884
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:03,920
can defend at the NBA level that was his thing

885
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:05,840
last year. He still hit shots. I mean, obviously he's

886
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:09,320
a shooter first, but I thought did really well defensively overall.

887
00:39:09,559 --> 00:39:12,280
Had some really nice passing as well. It was tough.

888
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,000
He did not shoot well at all in the playoffs.

889
00:39:14,079 --> 00:39:15,639
I'm not going to bury him on the six game

890
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,079
sample size at this point, but I think really had

891
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:21,599
an opportunity to even further entrench himself. But I think

892
00:39:21,639 --> 00:39:24,760
already has come in. Probably I would think above a

893
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,840
player like Pat Contina at this point based on the

894
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,960
recent sample and kind of career trajectories. Sorry Pat C,

895
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:33,440
but I think he's there. Like I think he will

896
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,960
play every game. I'd be like something would have to

897
00:39:36,039 --> 00:39:39,159
change pretty dramatically at this point in their rotation. He's

898
00:39:39,199 --> 00:39:41,639
just proven like he can hang. He's not a defensive liability.

899
00:39:41,639 --> 00:39:43,760
He's not a black hole despite being a good shooter.

900
00:39:44,119 --> 00:39:46,440
And the most important thing, and something young guys struggle

901
00:39:46,519 --> 00:39:48,559
with a lot, is if he is open, he's not

902
00:39:48,599 --> 00:39:50,960
one to hesitate. He just puts it up. If he's

903
00:39:51,039 --> 00:39:53,320
zero for three, he'll put up the fourth the same way.

904
00:39:53,599 --> 00:39:56,239
That sounds like a weird thing that would be important.

905
00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:58,440
But when young guys don't do that on teams like

906
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,239
the Bucks, with how good they are, you're just really unplayable.

907
00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,079
And that's some of the marg on things too. It's

908
00:40:03,119 --> 00:40:05,400
like you get the open corner shot, you dribble into

909
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,719
a floater. You just can never ever do that. You

910
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,679
just need to take the right shot every time. So

911
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,440
Aj Green have been ranting and raving about he came

912
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,599
on our podcast. Was very generous of him. Really nice guy,

913
00:40:15,599 --> 00:40:17,559
and I think he will play a lot this season.

914
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 1: Right there, you have it. Look, the way to get

915
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,280
into the Buck's rotation is to go on the Eurostep podcast.

916
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,400
Speaker 2: It didn't work out if ty Tyk Walkington Junior has

917
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,039
a good year in Phoenix, It's really true. It did

918
00:40:27,079 --> 00:40:28,559
not work out for him. It did work out for

919
00:40:28,599 --> 00:40:31,800
Aj Green. Also, Javon Carter twenty one million dollars after

920
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,639
coming on the podcast. Any players who are listening, that's

921
00:40:34,679 --> 00:40:36,119
both are actually.

922
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:39,119
Speaker 1: Are in my book, Penylan, Yeah, where are we at

923
00:40:39,159 --> 00:40:42,920
with Andre Jackson who always just seems like he's either

924
00:40:43,639 --> 00:40:46,079
just an afterthought or then like he's on the court

925
00:40:46,079 --> 00:40:47,880
and they're asking him to do way too much.

926
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:51,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's intoxicating. Did not have a good summer league either.

927
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:54,039
I think was actually pretty disappointing. He's not a summer

928
00:40:54,119 --> 00:40:58,239
league player. He's very much like you know, off ball, roving,

929
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,199
screen setter, cutter, defend all over the place, kind of

930
00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:04,800
got rebound put backs, and like the lack of organization

931
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:06,440
wasn't good for him. But also even the things he

932
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:09,039
wanted to be good at he wasn't necessarily. The big

933
00:41:09,039 --> 00:41:11,320
thing I'm going to look at this year is did

934
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,239
he take a step back with his shot? It looked

935
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:14,599
like there was a little more of a hitch in

936
00:41:14,599 --> 00:41:17,880
summer league, which is very concerning. He had an atrocious

937
00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,079
jumper in college with the Yukon, but really it seemed

938
00:41:21,079 --> 00:41:23,199
to simplify it. It was still ugly, but it was simple

939
00:41:23,199 --> 00:41:25,440
and quick his rookie year. That's going to be a

940
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:27,840
big thing for me. And also just like one of

941
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:30,679
the underrated things from the that will be brought up

942
00:41:30,679 --> 00:41:33,599
by the Andre Jackson junior proponents. We call him Ajax.

943
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:36,280
The Bucks lost the minutes with him and the Honus

944
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:39,039
on the court together, which makes sense given their skill sets,

945
00:41:39,039 --> 00:41:41,880
how much they overlap and everything. That's really bad though,

946
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,159
you really can't afford to ever lose the honest minutes.

947
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:46,760
So I think he will have a chance to play.

948
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:48,880
I am less sure he will play every game. I

949
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,440
think he will fight to be around the tenth man

950
00:41:51,639 --> 00:41:53,719
given all the talent on the roster, and it will

951
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:56,119
really depend on, you know, can some of the newer

952
00:41:56,159 --> 00:42:00,360
additions being less old and slow than like Jake Prouder

953
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:03,639
and Pat Bev make his role less necessary and can

954
00:42:03,679 --> 00:42:06,800
he take a step forward really offensively and following less

955
00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:08,599
which was a huge issue for him.

956
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,800
Speaker 1: I initially thought that this might be like the player

957
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,360
who's least likely to see any meaningful minutes. But then

958
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,599
the way you talked about Marjohon Bochamp, I do have

959
00:42:17,639 --> 00:42:19,480
to ask, like, where are we at with Chris Livingston?

960
00:42:20,079 --> 00:42:21,679
Speaker 2: I couldn't be a bigger fan. I don't know if

961
00:42:21,679 --> 00:42:25,000
you knew this or not. I have been Chris Livingston

962
00:42:25,079 --> 00:42:28,119
fan since probably early last year, watching him with The

963
00:42:28,159 --> 00:42:32,199
Herd up close, because he is one of those players

964
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:35,599
and this is a pretty rare thing. Like loves to go,

965
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:39,039
get in and bump and rebound right, loves to get

966
00:42:39,039 --> 00:42:43,880
in there, trash talker. The Herd posted one of his highlights.

967
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,880
He posted dunkd somebody and they had to cut it

968
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,239
immediately after, but you could still see him get in

969
00:42:49,239 --> 00:42:51,760
a player's face start to talk shit directly to them.

970
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:53,960
They literally could not cut it quick enough to get

971
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:56,760
that out. He has that kind of fire has really developed.

972
00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:01,679
His jumper has had a bad can Tucky three point percentage,

973
00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:03,840
but insisted to me earlier in the year and has

974
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:06,719
proven over his herd season and with Summer League that like,

975
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,000
I'm a good shooter, Like I didn't shoot wellt wel Kentucky,

976
00:43:09,079 --> 00:43:10,679
but I can shoot kind of a mess of a

977
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,599
Kentucky team. I think he has a chance because they

978
00:43:13,639 --> 00:43:16,320
have been dying for that PJ. Tucker replacement. I don't

979
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,239
know if he's there yet. I think he is the

980
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:20,719
type of player that does those things that the Bucks

981
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:23,519
really need of, just like go box out, because not

982
00:43:23,599 --> 00:43:25,880
enough players that's how a Brook Lopez box out like

983
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,039
cut get to the rim more. Maybe he's met some

984
00:43:28,039 --> 00:43:30,599
really nice Summer league passes. Hit open threes, but that's

985
00:43:30,639 --> 00:43:33,480
like even less important now, like credibly take them. Sure

986
00:43:33,679 --> 00:43:35,400
you don't need to be forty five percent if you're

987
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:37,519
like thirty seven percent, but you do all those other things,

988
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:39,840
that's just fine. He needs to be a little quicker

989
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,119
on his feet defensively, which I think will hold him back.

990
00:43:43,199 --> 00:43:45,599
He put himself in a position in Summer League to

991
00:43:45,639 --> 00:43:48,480
fight Andre Jackson Junior and Marjon and be that tenth guy.

992
00:43:48,519 --> 00:43:50,440
I hope he gets a chance to play with the

993
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:53,079
primary players because I think he would look really good.

994
00:43:53,079 --> 00:43:54,440
I think he's really well to do to be a

995
00:43:54,519 --> 00:43:56,920
role player, which is kind of a rare thing I

996
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:58,880
think for a lot of young guys this early on.

997
00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:01,159
So really about him?

998
00:44:01,599 --> 00:44:03,519
Speaker 1: Where are you at with a lot of people hated

999
00:44:03,519 --> 00:44:06,360
the aj Johnson picked. I can appreciate this wing just

1000
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,760
watching him, even like the low moments, the on ball

1001
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:11,000
speed is there. I think the jumper will actually be fine.

1002
00:44:11,199 --> 00:44:13,519
But like, how does he scale to a team, Like

1003
00:44:13,519 --> 00:44:15,199
we've talked about this with Bocham talk about this other

1004
00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:17,039
guys to a team that's not going to really give

1005
00:44:17,119 --> 00:44:18,599
him the ball, I would assume, like how does he

1006
00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:20,199
scale to that?

1007
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:24,800
Speaker 2: He is like a draft in stash in Oshkosh to me, Like,

1008
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,199
I don't think there's any any world where he plays

1009
00:44:27,199 --> 00:44:29,719
it all this year outside of you know, we're giving

1010
00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:31,679
five guys the night off on the second night of

1011
00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:33,840
an active right like we have we have a game

1012
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:35,920
eighteen hours after a game and you know we have

1013
00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,119
to travel and you know, go get your touches. We

1014
00:44:38,119 --> 00:44:40,920
don't really care what happens when I loss here. I

1015
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:42,880
think it's a long term thing. I think they have

1016
00:44:43,039 --> 00:44:45,760
such few picks going forward, and this is kind of

1017
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:49,119
a philosophical change dating back to like two years ago

1018
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,440
when they started to take like just young players in

1019
00:44:51,519 --> 00:44:54,679
twos and like AJ Green I think was a minute.

1020
00:44:54,679 --> 00:44:56,599
It was a two way first and then converted was

1021
00:44:56,679 --> 00:44:59,679
right after the draft. Chris Livingston and Ajax were both

1022
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,119
second picks. Mar john was the first, and now they

1023
00:45:02,159 --> 00:45:04,719
have two pretty good picks in AJ Johnson and Tyler

1024
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:07,480
Smith in terms of like they're where they were taken

1025
00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:08,760
in the draft. Now, I'm not saying it was a

1026
00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:10,519
good pick. Now we'll have to see how he plays out,

1027
00:45:10,559 --> 00:45:12,840
but like twenty three and thirty three are high picks

1028
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,239
for the Bucks. I think their thought was, like, we

1029
00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,960
want the best possible player over the you know, the

1030
00:45:20,079 --> 00:45:23,280
first two contracts or whatever, not the best guy this year.

1031
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:25,400
I think they had a pretty good idea they were

1032
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:28,159
going to have some success in free agency and thought,

1033
00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:29,920
you know, the guy doesn't matter, Like if we take

1034
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:32,199
a twenty three year old, he's also not going to play.

1035
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:34,679
We want the guy who has the highest ceiling over

1036
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,159
those first eight years or whatever it is. So they

1037
00:45:37,199 --> 00:45:39,760
took him I've seen some people say, like, does this

1038
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:41,480
mean like they're gonna be ready to give up on

1039
00:45:41,599 --> 00:45:44,519
Dame earlier. I don't think this means anything about any

1040
00:45:44,559 --> 00:45:47,440
decisions for any players currently on the roster. I think

1041
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,800
they're literally just like, we need young players who are

1042
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:52,039
going to be cost controlled. We're going to take swings

1043
00:45:52,079 --> 00:45:55,159
on exciting ones and see if they pan out. We're

1044
00:45:55,199 --> 00:45:58,039
far from that happening. I was way lower on it

1045
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:02,000
during the draft. I really liked Keishawn George. I was

1046
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,199
a big fan of him. I thought maybe he could

1047
00:46:04,239 --> 00:46:07,480
help a little earlier. But I'll be the first to

1048
00:46:07,519 --> 00:46:09,920
say I'm not an expert scout, and I thought a J.

1049
00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:13,000
Johnson summer league was really fun. He really impressed and

1050
00:46:13,079 --> 00:46:14,880
kind of I think a lot of people, even if

1051
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,159
they still disagreed, they saw the vision after that of like, okay,

1052
00:46:18,199 --> 00:46:20,679
like if he pans out, he's like probably at least

1053
00:46:20,679 --> 00:46:22,960
a starter, and it's just really hard to find those

1054
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:24,800
at the late twenties and beyond.

1055
00:46:25,679 --> 00:46:27,000
Speaker 1: Uh, based on what you just said, let me see

1056
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,000
if I can ask this question correctly. Just getting Tyler

1057
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:31,880
Smith imply they're ready to move on from Giannis attend

1058
00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:33,400
Kompo a little bit sooner.

1059
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,280
Speaker 2: Dude, there was and I don't think he was saying this,

1060
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:39,400
but Jake Fisher of Yahoo at one point reported, like,

1061
00:46:40,079 --> 00:46:42,119
you know, it could be an option for the Bucks

1062
00:46:42,159 --> 00:46:44,119
to start Tyler Smith at the five, and one of

1063
00:46:44,159 --> 00:46:47,920
the Brook Lopez things was like, Tyler Smith can't defend

1064
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,360
the one, two, three of the four. He certainly could

1065
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:52,599
not defend the five at this point. I don't think

1066
00:46:52,599 --> 00:46:56,159
he ever will be Frankly, maybe you know, I know,

1067
00:46:56,199 --> 00:46:57,760
I don't think it means they're gonna move on from

1068
00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:01,000
Giannis or Brook or Bobby Portis. I do think it

1069
00:47:01,039 --> 00:47:04,079
made It made myself and some other Bucks analyst slash

1070
00:47:04,079 --> 00:47:06,599
fans feel a little better about the A. J. Johnson pick.

1071
00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:08,960
It's one of those where, like I think, if they

1072
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,679
had taken him in the reverse order, it's a less

1073
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:15,159
pan draft, which is a little weird, right, but I think, like, Okay,

1074
00:47:15,199 --> 00:47:17,960
the big guy who shoots like that's fine flyer, I guess,

1075
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:21,280
versus the really you know, I think was seen as

1076
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:23,920
very far away point guard, who again I thought looked

1077
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:26,480
closer than the consensus in Summer League. But it's also

1078
00:47:26,480 --> 00:47:29,840
Summer League. But Tyler Smith is fun. I think his

1079
00:47:30,159 --> 00:47:34,679
upside is like a Channing Fry Michael Porter Junior kind

1080
00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:37,679
of player more than anything. Like, obviously, that's if it

1081
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:39,519
really works out. I'm not saying he will for sure

1082
00:47:39,639 --> 00:47:41,760
do that, but that's a really useful player. And I'm

1083
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:44,039
the honest team a really really useful player, so excited

1084
00:47:44,079 --> 00:47:45,920
to see can he just figure out where to be

1085
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,360
at all defensively. But he's a good athlete with a

1086
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:51,039
really good quick shot. So that's a fun player to land.

1087
00:47:51,119 --> 00:47:53,880
Speaker 1: What do we make of John Horse saying that the

1088
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:55,880
way their roster is kind of balanced when you look

1089
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:59,079
at just the number of young guys is intentional. It's

1090
00:47:59,079 --> 00:48:02,400
obviously a nod to the collective bargain agreement the second Apron,

1091
00:48:02,679 --> 00:48:04,960
But does that kind of mean like it's not that

1092
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:06,519
the Bucks have a ton of stuff to trade? It

1093
00:48:06,639 --> 00:48:08,440
was like, are the Bucks kind of settling into like, well,

1094
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:10,559
we're trying to plan for like the next era at

1095
00:48:10,559 --> 00:48:12,599
this point, and we're not going to be necessarily as

1096
00:48:12,639 --> 00:48:16,119
aggressive and maybe doubling down on let's just call it

1097
00:48:16,159 --> 00:48:17,880
the core four. If you want to throw Bobby Portis

1098
00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:18,840
in there too as well.

1099
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:21,960
Speaker 2: I would put Brooke in over Bobby to be honest

1100
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:23,639
even contract like.

1101
00:48:23,599 --> 00:48:28,400
Speaker 1: Plus Bobby Portis is what I meant. Like it justating,

1102
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,079
not that they're they're clearly all in on this window,

1103
00:48:31,159 --> 00:48:32,960
but it's like, oh, we're definitely trying to plan for

1104
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:35,360
this next era of Bucks basketball.

1105
00:48:36,039 --> 00:48:39,639
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think it's more a reaction

1106
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:45,039
to they tried for so long to get these expendables

1107
00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:48,519
group of thirty six year old players because they were

1108
00:48:48,639 --> 00:48:51,480
so good and they were so helpful, and it just

1109
00:48:51,519 --> 00:48:54,079
has not worked for a long time, right, Like they've

1110
00:48:54,119 --> 00:48:58,320
just kept bringing these guys Joe Ingles, Jay Crowder, Pat

1111
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:01,519
Bev was okay, But like, I just think they've kind

1112
00:49:01,559 --> 00:49:04,519
of made this decision we would rather take the long

1113
00:49:04,599 --> 00:49:07,719
term flyers than just have more of these guy guys

1114
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:11,079
who probably can't play, and it's a little awkward if

1115
00:49:11,079 --> 00:49:13,800
we don't give them minutes even though they actually cannot play.

1116
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:17,599
I think it's more of we'd rather have real competition

1117
00:49:17,679 --> 00:49:20,639
with players with an upward trajectory who maybe can play

1118
00:49:21,199 --> 00:49:24,880
then add in, you know whatever. I don't want to

1119
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:28,239
just smirch anyone. Right that's about like West Matthews I

1120
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:29,960
think is a free agent right now, bring back Wes

1121
00:49:30,039 --> 00:49:32,840
Matthews for the third time. He's like thirty nine years old, Like.

1122
00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: Bring back Jay Crowder.

1123
00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:37,559
Speaker 2: I don't think that's likely. I saw him on a

1124
00:49:37,559 --> 00:49:40,239
boat with Malik Beasley this week on Instagram, and I

1125
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:42,159
was like, I wonder what these guys are just talking about,

1126
00:49:42,159 --> 00:49:44,679
Like the Bucks. The Bucks made such bad decisions, man,

1127
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:46,719
I bet that's what they were. I would too. I mean,

1128
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:49,320
good for those guys, but yeah, I think they're just

1129
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,280
like done trying that. And I think it's more about

1130
00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:55,519
the rest of the Yannis era. How can we find

1131
00:49:55,559 --> 00:49:58,519
more helpful players because I don't think you know, if

1132
00:49:58,519 --> 00:50:01,440
you subtract those five players you mentioned and it's like

1133
00:50:02,159 --> 00:50:04,000
four years from now or these young guys are gonna

1134
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:05,440
be good enough for us to do anything of note

1135
00:50:05,639 --> 00:50:08,840
probably not right. You're probably cooked either way. But like,

1136
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:10,719
can we have can three of the of the eyes

1137
00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:13,320
hit to be role players are better? And then we

1138
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,440
have a core around thirty three year old be honest,

1139
00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:19,480
that is like still functional with like a vetman here

1140
00:50:19,519 --> 00:50:20,360
and a trade there.

1141
00:50:20,719 --> 00:50:23,400
Speaker 1: So when you look at this roster before watching any games,

1142
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:27,119
what is their biggest need void to.

1143
00:50:27,159 --> 00:50:34,039
Speaker 2: You an athletic backup rim protector. Probably I think that

1144
00:50:34,199 --> 00:50:38,000
is the biggest gaping hole and it's not necessarily like again,

1145
00:50:38,039 --> 00:50:41,159
they can fill out their rotation pretty well, but I

1146
00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:46,840
don't think they have a good matchup option outside. I mean,

1147
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:48,440
honest with the five is this, but they don't want

1148
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:50,480
to do that too often. And I think they would

1149
00:50:50,519 --> 00:50:53,079
like to have another player as well, and I think

1150
00:50:53,119 --> 00:50:54,760
they kind of looked at it and weren't able to

1151
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:57,039
really find one. But I think this is where the

1152
00:50:57,039 --> 00:50:59,599
Bobby Portis thing becomes kind of a weird fit. I mean,

1153
00:50:59,599 --> 00:51:02,679
this idea that they built the roster around Drew that

1154
00:51:03,039 --> 00:51:05,519
was kind of the you know, they first got Bobby

1155
00:51:05,519 --> 00:51:08,360
Portis that summer too, and I think being able to

1156
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:11,519
be like an Iso big, it's just a lot less

1157
00:51:11,599 --> 00:51:14,280
valuable on this version of the Bucks and even even

1158
00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:16,559
less so now with like a Gary Trent Junior. Like

1159
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:19,239
if you go through Bucks actions you want to see,

1160
00:51:19,559 --> 00:51:21,400
I think you can name quite a few before you

1161
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:23,400
get to Bobby Porta's post up ice. Oh you know

1162
00:51:23,440 --> 00:51:25,639
what I mean. But he still wants to do it

1163
00:51:25,679 --> 00:51:27,119
and he doesn't want to give it up. He's like,

1164
00:51:27,159 --> 00:51:29,199
this is still a big part of the offense and

1165
00:51:29,719 --> 00:51:31,599
he just doesn't have that ability to be that like,

1166
00:51:31,679 --> 00:51:34,440
you know, mobile rim protector or rim finisher. I think

1167
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:36,559
he finished. This is stat I don't know if you

1168
00:51:36,639 --> 00:51:40,239
knew Bobby Portis completed his first alley oop dunk as

1169
00:51:40,239 --> 00:51:45,039
a Milwaukee Buck late last season. Like for his body

1170
00:51:45,039 --> 00:51:47,440
type and size, you would just assumed there would be

1171
00:51:47,519 --> 00:51:50,199
a handful at least. He's just he's not really a

1172
00:51:50,239 --> 00:51:52,559
screen and rim runner. He's just a different kind of player.

1173
00:51:52,719 --> 00:51:54,400
I think they could really use one of those. I

1174
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:56,440
think you watched the last playoffs and there's so many

1175
00:51:56,519 --> 00:51:58,760
of them helping. I think the Bucks could really use

1176
00:51:58,840 --> 00:52:02,599
that just to not just for big depth, but like

1177
00:52:03,199 --> 00:52:05,800
some matchups aren't good for Brooks, some are, some aren't.

1178
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,599
The Pacer series obviously wasn't like if they had an

1179
00:52:08,599 --> 00:52:12,079
Isaiah Jackson type player. As meager as that sound, sorry

1180
00:52:12,079 --> 00:52:15,639
Isaiah Jackson. I think it's like a piece of optionality

1181
00:52:15,639 --> 00:52:17,239
for them that they're lacking. So I'd say that I

1182
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:19,840
think their guard and wing depth is pretty good at

1183
00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:21,920
this point. I think they don't have that and they

1184
00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:22,559
can use it.

1185
00:52:23,119 --> 00:52:25,440
Speaker 1: I wonder what it would take to get like a

1186
00:52:25,559 --> 00:52:29,559
Nick Richards, you know, it would be interesting for them

1187
00:52:29,559 --> 00:52:32,199
to Dayron Sharp out of dam and I would be

1188
00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:34,119
curious to like how much those two because they're cheap,

1189
00:52:34,119 --> 00:52:36,320
so it would be easy the salary match given the

1190
00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:38,320
Bucks a situation. But those would be two interesting options

1191
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:42,159
if they're looking to go that backup big archetype. Is

1192
00:52:42,199 --> 00:52:45,639
there anything whether it's a concern or something positive, maybe

1193
00:52:45,679 --> 00:52:48,199
hidden strength about this team that is flying under the radar,

1194
00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:50,599
not receiving enough attention, even if it's on the you know,

1195
00:52:50,719 --> 00:52:53,760
the national discourse rather than just the local Milwaukee level.

1196
00:52:55,079 --> 00:52:58,400
Speaker 2: I mean, I've already talked about the Damiana stuff. I

1197
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:01,800
think I'll do a double So I think Chris Middleton generally,

1198
00:53:01,960 --> 00:53:05,320
I think is still like it's it's funny because even

1199
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:07,239
among Bucks fans there's just like meme that I was

1200
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:09,760
get shared of, like the cycle of Chris Middleton, where

1201
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:11,880
it's like, you know, he gets he gets shit on.

1202
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:15,239
He plays okay, he plays really well, everyone loves him.

1203
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:18,000
He slumps a little bit or misses time, and it cycles.

1204
00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:20,519
And I think even though the last time we saw

1205
00:53:20,599 --> 00:53:23,480
him on court he was awesome, the surgery thing has

1206
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:25,760
you know, turned the wheel more so we're back to

1207
00:53:26,199 --> 00:53:28,280
not really believing it. I think he's just like still

1208
00:53:28,360 --> 00:53:30,760
really good, and I don't want to like rank him

1209
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:32,679
league wide or whatever. I think it's really hard to

1210
00:53:32,719 --> 00:53:36,119
do with like his different states we see over one year.

1211
00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:39,079
But I think like if he's moderately healthy in the playoffs,

1212
00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:41,440
it's still such a huge factor that I think gets

1213
00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:45,400
a little underregarded. I mean, go back to twenty one.

1214
00:53:45,559 --> 00:53:48,960
He was their main offensive initiator on a title team,

1215
00:53:49,639 --> 00:53:52,280
and I think he's not as far from that guy

1216
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:54,119
as people think. The other one is, I do think

1217
00:53:54,159 --> 00:53:56,639
some of their young guys have actual juice now, which

1218
00:53:56,679 --> 00:53:59,960
has not been the case maybe Dante if not done

1219
00:54:00,280 --> 00:54:02,559
since Malcolm Brogden, who is not even young. Like it's

1220
00:54:02,559 --> 00:54:05,119
been a long time since I think they've had even

1221
00:54:05,159 --> 00:54:07,400
I have not been that excited about like at any point,

1222
00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:09,960
like DJ Wilson is going to be that guy or

1223
00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:15,239
whoever else. Yeah, partially because they just don't pick that often.

1224
00:54:15,320 --> 00:54:19,079
But I think between in the shorter term, AJ Green,

1225
00:54:19,280 --> 00:54:21,400
I'm a big Chris Livingston guy, and I'll say Andre

1226
00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:24,079
Jackson junior as well, and then longer term, I am

1227
00:54:24,159 --> 00:54:26,800
kind of excited about the swings on AJ Johnson, who

1228
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:29,679
is like the most fun ball handler they've drafted. Probably

1229
00:54:29,719 --> 00:54:33,159
since Brandon Knight and then Tyler Smith, who again just

1230
00:54:33,159 --> 00:54:36,079
like that size, that skill set is interesting. Like I think,

1231
00:54:36,440 --> 00:54:37,880
I think they're going to be in a position to

1232
00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:40,440
have some of these young guys who pop like Bucks

1233
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:42,719
fans always bemoan like the heat always have another guy,

1234
00:54:42,840 --> 00:54:45,000
right these teams that always I think they can do

1235
00:54:45,079 --> 00:54:47,400
it at least to some extent, which is just a

1236
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:49,239
huge lift because if you look at the past couple

1237
00:54:49,239 --> 00:54:52,440
of years before last year, they just always relied on

1238
00:54:52,519 --> 00:54:56,119
their core guys and then the vet minimum vets again, right, like, Okay,

1239
00:54:56,159 --> 00:54:59,920
we'll bring in whoever it is. Marvin Williams, Wesley Matthews

1240
00:55:00,119 --> 00:55:02,760
goes on. I think they I think they need that juice,

1241
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:05,159
especially as the corp gets even older. I think it's

1242
00:55:05,199 --> 00:55:07,360
really gonna help them, and it's gonna push these guys

1243
00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:09,760
in a good way. I think they've really they got

1244
00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:12,360
way too old in the early twenties twenties. I think

1245
00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:13,519
this will help them quite a bit.

1246
00:55:14,360 --> 00:55:17,559
Speaker 1: I will say Aj Green, probably you served Andre Jackson

1247
00:55:17,599 --> 00:55:20,639
as my favorite Bucks young player, although I do just

1248
00:55:20,679 --> 00:55:23,960
again based off what little I know about Johnson, there's

1249
00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:25,400
like a chaos to the way he plays that I

1250
00:55:25,440 --> 00:55:27,639
feel like, even if it's not gonna go well, his

1251
00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:30,000
minutes might be the one that I'd be most like

1252
00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:31,920
want to see. But in terms of actual impact, I

1253
00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:34,159
still think aj Green is like the I think he's

1254
00:55:34,199 --> 00:55:37,119
now you served and Jackson as my favorite guy there.

1255
00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:39,639
Speaker 2: He's very plug and play right, Like, it's very easy

1256
00:55:39,679 --> 00:55:41,880
to get a guy out there with almost any lineup

1257
00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:44,159
as long as you're not too light defensively, but I

1258
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:46,960
think they'll be He's gonna he's gonna have a real role, I.

1259
00:55:46,960 --> 00:55:49,960
Speaker 1: Think, and he like he defends a little bit better

1260
00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:52,119
and bigger than you because he said three six four,

1261
00:55:52,199 --> 00:55:54,519
so he's not super huge, probably.

1262
00:55:54,239 --> 00:55:56,920
Speaker 2: About six four sixty five. But he's solid. Yeah, he's

1263
00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:59,880
a strong dude. Iowa Cornfed went to college for eighty

1264
00:55:59,880 --> 00:56:03,039
five years and in northern Iowa. He's uh, he doesn't.

1265
00:56:03,079 --> 00:56:05,000
He can do a little more offensively than you think too.

1266
00:56:05,079 --> 00:56:07,960
He's a he's a solid player, I think, yeah, because

1267
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:10,360
they've also they've had like the old new shooters as well,

1268
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:12,679
like the Brent Forbes kind of players. I think he's

1269
00:56:12,719 --> 00:56:15,039
a little more well routed than someone like that, if

1270
00:56:15,079 --> 00:56:17,159
not as quick or if not, he's probably actually a

1271
00:56:17,199 --> 00:56:19,000
better shooter, if not as quick as Brent Forbes.

1272
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:20,360
Speaker 1: So he's got that what where the kids say the

1273
00:56:20,639 --> 00:56:24,239
corn fed rizz. That's what we're gonna say about it. Yeah, yeah, sure,

1274
00:56:25,159 --> 00:56:27,119
are you ready to enter the cookie cutter portion of

1275
00:56:27,159 --> 00:56:27,760
the podcast?

1276
00:56:28,199 --> 00:56:29,079
Speaker 2: Let's cut cookies?

1277
00:56:29,679 --> 00:56:32,519
Speaker 1: So what does the top ten of their rotation look like?

1278
00:56:32,719 --> 00:56:35,440
At full strength? It feels like they're probably like between

1279
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:37,239
six and eight locks. So there's the starting line up

1280
00:56:37,239 --> 00:56:39,679
of the honest Dame Middleton Brook and then Gary Trent Junior.

1281
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:43,559
I would throw obviously Bobby Portis is in there for

1282
00:56:43,639 --> 00:56:45,920
six and just because I think that they are youthful,

1283
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:48,159
like at least one or Torrim Princes or Delon Wright

1284
00:56:48,199 --> 00:56:50,400
feels like a lot to me. I think you're both,

1285
00:56:50,519 --> 00:56:53,079
I think, and that's eight.

1286
00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:55,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why it's like, you know, it's gonna be

1287
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:58,199
a lot of competition with the vets and the young guys,

1288
00:56:58,239 --> 00:57:00,639
and also just the young guys amongst themselves, because I

1289
00:57:00,679 --> 00:57:02,559
think there is at least one or two of them

1290
00:57:02,559 --> 00:57:05,280
that deserves some consideration and there's not spots for that.

1291
00:57:05,519 --> 00:57:07,440
I would go aj Green maybe even ahead of some

1292
00:57:07,440 --> 00:57:09,719
of these vets, but like you know, to not belabor

1293
00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:12,119
the point, I would throw him in there solidly as well,

1294
00:57:12,239 --> 00:57:15,280
like I think on par with a Torrian Prince or

1295
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:18,159
a Delon right, So that's now nine. I think I

1296
00:57:18,159 --> 00:57:21,280
think I have nine locks. I think nine players I

1297
00:57:21,320 --> 00:57:24,360
feel very confidently will play and it works pretty well

1298
00:57:24,400 --> 00:57:27,079
positionally too. Right like the lan right at the one,

1299
00:57:27,199 --> 00:57:29,639
Prince is a forward, Green is like a two to three,

1300
00:57:29,679 --> 00:57:31,920
and then Bobby will play five for them, four or

1301
00:57:31,960 --> 00:57:34,159
five for them, So then it's like you can probably

1302
00:57:34,159 --> 00:57:38,079
take one more perimeter ish player. I'm going to put

1303
00:57:38,119 --> 00:57:41,039
Chris livingson at ten. I am such a believer to

1304
00:57:41,119 --> 00:57:45,000
give him that spot. I think they need Andre Jackson

1305
00:57:45,039 --> 00:57:47,599
Junior a little less now. I have not loved his summer,

1306
00:57:47,599 --> 00:57:49,920
but I think those two and I will say I

1307
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:52,119
think Pat Contenden still has a shot to be ten

1308
00:57:52,159 --> 00:57:54,119
as well. I think a lot of Bucks fans just

1309
00:57:54,119 --> 00:57:59,599
gave up. He's the worst contract in the league. Now, YadA, yadas.

1310
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:02,400
They're like, they're like, it's impossible to get rid of him.

1311
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:04,960
It's this eight million a year, is so unwilledy for

1312
00:58:05,039 --> 00:58:08,679
this and one more year that he's I had someone

1313
00:58:09,119 --> 00:58:10,800
I was like, like, what do you not like about

1314
00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:13,440
this offseason? They got Gary Trent Junior, Tory Prince, they

1315
00:58:13,519 --> 00:58:16,440
kept all their main guys. It's like Pat's on the roster.

1316
00:58:16,639 --> 00:58:17,679
It's not a good offseason.

1317
00:58:17,719 --> 00:58:21,039
Speaker 1: It's like, what do you mean that level of doomsdayism.

1318
00:58:21,039 --> 00:58:21,760
I'm not gonna lie.

1319
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:24,320
Speaker 2: It's crazy. Yeah, people will find any reason Pat and

1320
00:58:24,320 --> 00:58:26,840
Bobby are still here. At Pat's still here. I think

1321
00:58:27,480 --> 00:58:29,920
he actually handled the ball really well last year. I

1322
00:58:29,920 --> 00:58:32,000
think he's continued to build out a skill set. He

1323
00:58:32,119 --> 00:58:34,199
was kind of their backup point guard at times and

1324
00:58:34,239 --> 00:58:36,840
did a weirdly good job of like I'll run a

1325
00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:39,440
pick and roll action, like I'll swing across court pass.

1326
00:58:39,760 --> 00:58:42,239
I think he's not like gonna just like roll over

1327
00:58:42,280 --> 00:58:44,079
and be out of the rotation. So I think those

1328
00:58:44,079 --> 00:58:46,039
two young guys and Pat c will be fighting for

1329
00:58:46,119 --> 00:58:48,920
that tenth spot and the other I mean marj on two.

1330
00:58:49,239 --> 00:58:51,320
Like the rookies, I just don't think are close. And

1331
00:58:51,360 --> 00:58:52,920
that's I think the whole roster. So yeah, I think

1332
00:58:52,920 --> 00:58:55,079
it's going to be very competitive for ten. I think

1333
00:58:55,119 --> 00:58:58,199
the first nine. I'd be kind of surprised if one

1334
00:58:58,239 --> 00:59:01,719
of the outside players broke into that group. It'd be fun,

1335
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:03,559
it'd be a fun surprise, but I'd be surprised.

1336
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:05,840
Speaker 1: What do you think will wind up being their most

1337
00:59:05,920 --> 00:59:08,320
used crunch time unit. Is it just the starting five

1338
00:59:08,400 --> 00:59:10,559
or is their potential to tweak from there.

1339
00:59:11,320 --> 00:59:13,800
Speaker 2: I think it'll probably be the starting five. I think

1340
00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:16,039
the big question with the Bucks, you know, for five

1341
00:59:16,079 --> 00:59:19,199
plus years now, has been can teams force them off

1342
00:59:19,199 --> 00:59:21,840
of Lopez? Right? Like if you can't, I think it's

1343
00:59:21,880 --> 00:59:23,960
really hard to beat them. Like if Lopez is playing

1344
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:26,760
well against the team, their defense just tends to be

1345
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:28,760
so good around the rim and their offense like they

1346
00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:31,239
figure it out. So I think it'll be that, and

1347
00:59:31,280 --> 00:59:34,039
then the second one will be the small version of

1348
00:59:34,079 --> 00:59:36,599
the lineup, like teams that get like Boston gets too stretchy,

1349
00:59:36,840 --> 00:59:38,719
Brooke can't hang or at least they don't feel like

1350
00:59:38,719 --> 00:59:41,000
he hangs well enough. Who do we put out there?

1351
00:59:41,280 --> 00:59:43,239
I'll say, I think it's going to be prints in

1352
00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:47,559
for Lopez, will be like the closing lineup, but I

1353
00:59:47,639 --> 00:59:50,599
don't think that's locked in, So then it's it would

1354
00:59:50,599 --> 00:59:54,119
be Dame Trent again, Chris slash Prince. They're kind of

1355
00:59:54,119 --> 00:59:56,119
three point five in it there, and then the honest

1356
00:59:56,159 --> 00:59:59,360
will be like their smaller lineup. I don't think it'll

1357
00:59:59,360 --> 01:00:02,280
be Bobby On they trust him enough defensively. Uh, And

1358
01:00:02,320 --> 01:00:04,360
then I think the other players may just be too small.

1359
01:00:04,480 --> 01:00:07,599
They really need rebounding in those groups maybe more than

1360
01:00:07,599 --> 01:00:09,800
anything else. I don't know if anyone else is going

1361
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:11,159
to give an I mean, I know Prince isn't a

1362
01:00:11,159 --> 01:00:13,559
great remoinder either, but the other players were talking about

1363
01:00:13,559 --> 01:00:16,320
a pretty small or like Ajax just like or even

1364
01:00:16,400 --> 01:00:19,440
Chris Levingston is so unproven that'd be a little surprised

1365
01:00:19,480 --> 01:00:21,239
if if they made it to that spot.

1366
01:00:21,559 --> 01:00:23,679
Speaker 1: It's interesting because you say, when you mentioned the brook

1367
01:00:23,679 --> 01:00:26,400
Lopez stuff, if you would have like rewound like seven

1368
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:28,719
years ago whatever it is, and now we're coming to

1369
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:31,119
hear brook Lopez is gonna be his age thirty six season,

1370
01:00:31,159 --> 01:00:35,360
I think, And like how many teams, like would do

1371
01:00:35,400 --> 01:00:37,440
you think could actively make it a choice for the

1372
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:39,159
Bucks to pull him off the floor and crunch time

1373
01:00:39,199 --> 01:00:43,079
And it's like Boston for me, And then like maybe OKC,

1374
01:00:43,280 --> 01:00:45,079
who you only faced twice a year unless you're in

1375
01:00:45,079 --> 01:00:48,559
the finals. They're like, that's like pretty freaking impressive by him.

1376
01:00:48,960 --> 01:00:50,639
Speaker 2: It is. It is a thirty eight year and they

1377
01:00:50,719 --> 01:00:56,239
actually Brooke played awesome No. No. Thirty six seconds No,

1378
01:00:56,360 --> 01:00:59,280
he is, he is. He is solidly. He turns thirty

1379
01:00:59,320 --> 01:01:02,079
seven this but not until April, so it's his age

1380
01:01:02,119 --> 01:01:03,760
thirty eight, thirty six season. I don't know why I

1381
01:01:03,800 --> 01:01:06,280
keep saying thirty eight. He played. They played really well

1382
01:01:06,280 --> 01:01:09,320
against Oksee because those guys didn't want to shoot enough

1383
01:01:09,320 --> 01:01:11,280
threes and so Brooke was able to hang more and

1384
01:01:11,320 --> 01:01:13,599
they would just go more to his zone than making

1385
01:01:13,679 --> 01:01:16,239
him like chase around chet or whatever. That's gonna be

1386
01:01:16,239 --> 01:01:18,199
a big thing with okay See, Like those guys they

1387
01:01:18,199 --> 01:01:20,440
shoot well, but like, will you take enough to stretch

1388
01:01:20,480 --> 01:01:23,119
out the defense? I think that bit them in the playoffs.

1389
01:01:23,199 --> 01:01:25,400
But yeah, it's not that many teams. It's like Boston

1390
01:01:25,480 --> 01:01:28,960
for sure, and then maybe Miami. But I don't even

1391
01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:31,800
know how Miami's gonna play, to be I don't know what's.

1392
01:01:32,239 --> 01:01:33,039
Speaker 1: Think about Miami.

1393
01:01:33,199 --> 01:01:36,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but they've been a tough one because Bam

1394
01:01:36,559 --> 01:01:38,880
just out on the perimeter and dhling and stuff.

1395
01:01:38,880 --> 01:01:42,280
Speaker 1: But yeah, what's a funky, weird, quirky lineup. You want

1396
01:01:42,320 --> 01:01:44,880
to see Doc Rivers throw out on the court.

1397
01:01:45,199 --> 01:01:46,920
Speaker 2: Oh, I want to see some of the young guys,

1398
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:54,119
like I think, uh like Dame AJ Green, Chris Middleton,

1399
01:01:54,280 --> 01:01:58,079
Chris Livingston, Jannis like inject some of that athleticism, but

1400
01:01:58,119 --> 01:02:00,280
I think enough skill that. I mean, those guys will

1401
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:02,679
always get ignored if they're out there with those other players, right,

1402
01:02:02,719 --> 01:02:04,360
but like I think they can make you pay enough

1403
01:02:04,719 --> 01:02:08,239
like something like that. That's like the squid word future thing.

1404
01:02:08,559 --> 01:02:11,280
That's how I feel watching watching that line up. So yeah,

1405
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:13,000
I'd like to see something like that. No disrespect to

1406
01:02:13,039 --> 01:02:15,920
Gary Trent, but like the primary three guys with some

1407
01:02:15,960 --> 01:02:18,079
of the intriguing young guys, Like I want to see

1408
01:02:18,079 --> 01:02:20,679
a J. Johnson play with Gianna some right like stuff

1409
01:02:20,719 --> 01:02:22,480
like that where it's just like what can you do

1410
01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:24,840
with the real players when it's not like, Okay, we're

1411
01:02:24,840 --> 01:02:27,440
all just messily isoing because it's all a bunch of

1412
01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:29,199
us who don't really know what to do yet.

1413
01:02:29,440 --> 01:02:32,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, mine was gonna be Giannis and Dame plus kids,

1414
01:02:33,119 --> 01:02:36,559
So yeah, I would go with AJ Green Johnson and

1415
01:02:36,599 --> 01:02:38,920
Tyler Smith. I think like that's the five man unit

1416
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:40,320
I want to see. And you can even talk me

1417
01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:42,480
into like, now, look, you sold me on Chris Livingston.

1418
01:02:42,719 --> 01:02:45,719
Let's take Dame out and throw him right there too.

1419
01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:49,440
Speaker 2: That giannest is gonna get like a flash forward to

1420
01:02:49,519 --> 01:02:51,760
what his career is gonna look like once everyone else

1421
01:02:51,800 --> 01:02:53,000
ages out, Like, we just.

1422
01:02:52,960 --> 01:02:54,280
Speaker 1: Want to let you know what it's gonna look like

1423
01:02:54,280 --> 01:02:57,920
around here in like twenty.

1424
01:02:56,679 --> 01:02:59,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, Dame walks up, but he's like, now you know

1425
01:02:59,599 --> 01:03:03,079
how for over a decade. Now, welcome to my life, buddy.

1426
01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:07,800
Speaker 1: Okay. So, as we're recording this, which is on August

1427
01:03:07,880 --> 01:03:10,599
the twenty third, they're over under a set at fifty

1428
01:03:10,800 --> 01:03:14,920
and a half. Mister Taiwindish, are you taking the over the.

1429
01:03:14,880 --> 01:03:17,360
Speaker 2: Under smash in the over? I mean they have their

1430
01:03:17,360 --> 01:03:20,679
disastrous season where they win forty seven or forty eight

1431
01:03:20,800 --> 01:03:21,679
last year, I want.

1432
01:03:21,559 --> 01:03:25,079
Speaker 1: To says it's like their seasons did not go anywhere

1433
01:03:25,079 --> 01:03:27,239
near recording to planets, like they still kind of sniff

1434
01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:28,239
fifty victories.

1435
01:03:28,400 --> 01:03:30,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were still the second seed until like the

1436
01:03:30,400 --> 01:03:32,719
last day of the season. So I'm gonna go over.

1437
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:34,119
I mean, I don't know. I don't think they're gonna

1438
01:03:34,119 --> 01:03:36,519
win like high fifties. I think the East is a

1439
01:03:36,559 --> 01:03:39,280
little condensed to like the top six or seven teams.

1440
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:42,280
I think a lot of teams will win high forties

1441
01:03:42,360 --> 01:03:44,559
or low and then Boston. Boston may just go off.

1442
01:03:44,599 --> 01:03:48,920
Maybe they regress, maybe not.

1443
01:03:47,480 --> 01:03:50,440
Speaker 1: Missing the like I would be shocked he played before Christmas,

1444
01:03:50,440 --> 01:03:51,239
so that could be all.

1445
01:03:51,559 --> 01:03:54,079
Speaker 2: But yeah, but it's like they have a lot of them.

1446
01:03:54,119 --> 01:03:56,679
They signed all their bit they signed everyone. Here's the take.

1447
01:03:57,360 --> 01:03:59,360
How do you feel about this? I say they should

1448
01:03:59,360 --> 01:04:02,280
have an a plug soft season because everyone's like, who

1449
01:04:02,280 --> 01:04:04,760
did you add? Who did you retain? You were the

1450
01:04:04,800 --> 01:04:07,000
best team in the league all year, you won the title,

1451
01:04:07,280 --> 01:04:09,199
you kept all of them for the long term, you

1452
01:04:09,239 --> 01:04:11,400
have to sell your team for it ish like that's

1453
01:04:11,400 --> 01:04:14,239
a conflating factory, but like what more can you ask for?

1454
01:04:15,199 --> 01:04:17,800
Speaker 1: Yeah? I don't why are people down on their offseason?

1455
01:04:18,440 --> 01:04:20,159
Speaker 2: But it's just like, you know, who won the off season.

1456
01:04:20,199 --> 01:04:22,000
It's got to be like the Sixers or the Knicks.

1457
01:04:22,039 --> 01:04:23,559
It's got to be who did you add? Like that's

1458
01:04:23,559 --> 01:04:25,519
always the convo, right, Like that's the that's an off

1459
01:04:25,760 --> 01:04:27,519
Who did you add this offseason? Like last year I

1460
01:04:27,519 --> 01:04:29,559
said Bucks should get an A. They kept Chris, they

1461
01:04:29,679 --> 01:04:32,679
kept Brook Like this is really important things. It's like, well,

1462
01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:34,880
that's not an addition though, you know what I mean?

1463
01:04:34,920 --> 01:04:37,360
Like I feel like it's viewed differently, whereas if I'm Boston,

1464
01:04:37,760 --> 01:04:40,719
I resigned Tatum, I resigned everyone like.

1465
01:04:41,079 --> 01:04:43,960
Speaker 1: A White extension. We haven't done our grade yet for

1466
01:04:44,000 --> 01:04:46,079
this year. We actually just finish our regates from last year.

1467
01:04:46,119 --> 01:04:49,920
That was a that was a trip. But yeah, I

1468
01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:51,719
mean they have to get the Derek White extension alone

1469
01:04:51,760 --> 01:04:53,559
is huge and for what you said, the larger Yeah,

1470
01:04:53,559 --> 01:04:55,599
Wick Grossbeck wants to sell the team, but still have

1471
01:04:55,599 --> 01:04:59,000
to say, we'll see what fucking happens with that. But yeah,

1472
01:04:59,079 --> 01:05:00,920
it might be shady as as to how they get there.

1473
01:05:00,920 --> 01:05:02,840
But the fact that they just continue to reinvest in

1474
01:05:02,880 --> 01:05:05,360
the roster in the face of this, like extending Sam

1475
01:05:05,400 --> 01:05:08,480
Hauser is kind of the ho like, we really don't

1476
01:05:08,480 --> 01:05:10,679
give a fuck then about his bill right now. So

1477
01:05:10,880 --> 01:05:12,800
it'll come do at some point and they'll make changes.

1478
01:05:12,840 --> 01:05:15,400
But I'd be with you in the sense that, yeah,

1479
01:05:15,440 --> 01:05:16,960
when you look at it through that lens, it we

1480
01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:19,559
do look, we're drawn to think about how the NBA

1481
01:05:19,679 --> 01:05:22,199
has pedaled itself like it's a transactions league and so

1482
01:05:22,320 --> 01:05:26,039
like talent acquisition over retention. So that's a really that's

1483
01:05:26,039 --> 01:05:28,480
a that's a great point. But yeah, I don't think

1484
01:05:28,480 --> 01:05:30,880
it's do anything wrong. Is awesome, No, for sure.

1485
01:05:31,360 --> 01:05:33,159
Speaker 2: No, I mean the draft a guy who can maybe

1486
01:05:33,239 --> 01:05:34,719
be good one day. I don't I don't care about

1487
01:05:34,760 --> 01:05:37,719
Baylor Shireman, but they've resigned all their centers when they

1488
01:05:37,719 --> 01:05:39,800
have these big questions with putting it swore. But anyway,

1489
01:05:39,840 --> 01:05:42,239
the Bucks, I think way over. I think like mid

1490
01:05:42,239 --> 01:05:45,320
fifties is pretty reasonable. I think they'll be contending for

1491
01:05:45,639 --> 01:05:47,920
like one or two. If Boston has another sixty win

1492
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:50,119
then too, I think they'll be contending for a top

1493
01:05:50,199 --> 01:05:51,199
couple seed in the East.

1494
01:05:51,719 --> 01:05:55,280
Speaker 1: And based off the podcast you did power ranking the

1495
01:05:55,320 --> 01:05:58,199
Bucks' place in the East, it sounds like you're prepared

1496
01:05:58,199 --> 01:05:59,880
to say that Boston is the only team you would

1497
01:05:59,880 --> 01:06:02,519
be fairly confident is better than that next time.

1498
01:06:02,639 --> 01:06:05,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think the Knicks were

1499
01:06:05,000 --> 01:06:08,119
are the closest beside that. But for me with them,

1500
01:06:08,199 --> 01:06:11,000
I'm kind of like, what does this look like? I

1501
01:06:11,000 --> 01:06:13,679
think it's kind of underrated how much is being added

1502
01:06:13,679 --> 01:06:16,599
together And you know, listen, I'm not trying to I'm

1503
01:06:16,599 --> 01:06:18,400
not gonna Galaxy B and be like it's bad. They

1504
01:06:18,440 --> 01:06:21,840
have so many good players, but like adding bridges, add

1505
01:06:21,880 --> 01:06:24,280
back in Randall, I think it's gonna be kind of

1506
01:06:24,320 --> 01:06:26,280
funky and like there's gonna be this kind of feeling

1507
01:06:26,280 --> 01:06:28,519
out process, like the Bucks had this last year. I

1508
01:06:28,559 --> 01:06:31,840
think they're certainly deeper, but I think they're like they're

1509
01:06:31,920 --> 01:06:34,039
like the it's gonna sound Knicks fans are gonna be.

1510
01:06:34,039 --> 01:06:36,519
They're like the budget version of the Celtics. They have

1511
01:06:36,599 --> 01:06:38,519
like six guys where we're like, damn, that is a

1512
01:06:38,559 --> 01:06:40,880
good top six, but the Celtics one is just like

1513
01:06:41,000 --> 01:06:43,000
crazily like more talented.

1514
01:06:43,480 --> 01:06:46,840
Speaker 1: And also with Boston, their top six is universally revered.

1515
01:06:46,920 --> 01:06:48,400
And I think when you look at the Knicks, people

1516
01:06:48,400 --> 01:06:52,559
have and legitimately show questions about Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson,

1517
01:06:52,639 --> 01:06:54,480
Julius Randall. So i'd agree that it does feel like

1518
01:06:54,519 --> 01:06:57,480
there's more boom or bust. Is probably strong, but there's

1519
01:06:57,719 --> 01:07:00,719
there's more variance in what their outcomes could And I

1520
01:07:00,760 --> 01:07:02,719
don't know that I've settled on who should be the

1521
01:07:03,000 --> 01:07:04,440
best team in the East, but to me, I would

1522
01:07:04,440 --> 01:07:08,480
loop the Bucks, the Knicks, the Sixers, and like I'm

1523
01:07:08,519 --> 01:07:10,320
pretty high on Cleveland, like those are all teams that

1524
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:13,039
should be fighting. Like those just feel like bar None,

1525
01:07:13,039 --> 01:07:15,000
I like Orlando, I like Indiana, but those feel like

1526
01:07:15,039 --> 01:07:16,320
the five best teams in the league.

1527
01:07:16,840 --> 01:07:19,519
Speaker 2: I agree. I think I think it's pretty clear. I

1528
01:07:19,519 --> 01:07:21,880
think I'd be surprised. I mean, I think Cleveland, I

1529
01:07:21,880 --> 01:07:24,119
don't think it's as good as the other four that

1530
01:07:24,159 --> 01:07:27,159
you talk about, but regular season, if they were like

1531
01:07:27,199 --> 01:07:29,199
the two or three, would I be shocked. No, because

1532
01:07:29,239 --> 01:07:32,000
they know they also have the continuity and maybe to

1533
01:07:32,119 --> 01:07:34,559
like a startling degree. They've literally signed no players that

1534
01:07:34,599 --> 01:07:37,159
weren't on their team before, which like, okay, maybe get one.

1535
01:07:37,239 --> 01:07:37,760
Maybe do the.

1536
01:07:38,880 --> 01:07:41,800
Speaker 1: Players record for floating around out there?

1537
01:07:42,159 --> 01:07:43,599
Speaker 2: They kind of needed. You look at this team like

1538
01:07:43,599 --> 01:07:45,400
you guys are a little thin, like maybe add one

1539
01:07:45,400 --> 01:07:47,679
player two players. They also don't have a backup big

1540
01:07:47,719 --> 01:07:50,039
so they have some questions still, I think. But but

1541
01:07:50,079 --> 01:07:51,960
they know how to play together. Although they're best stretch

1542
01:07:52,000 --> 01:07:53,320
of the year, they were like half that they make

1543
01:07:53,400 --> 01:07:54,320
no just.

1544
01:07:54,280 --> 01:07:56,320
Speaker 1: To stop and start availability. I think people are gonna

1545
01:07:56,320 --> 01:07:58,159
be surprised at how good they aren't. Also, Evan Mobley

1546
01:07:58,159 --> 01:08:01,159
started taking above the break threes those who all be

1547
01:08:01,280 --> 01:08:02,679
and I think that they got more into you know,

1548
01:08:02,719 --> 01:08:05,480
you mentioned not having a backup center. They're staggering mobilely

1549
01:08:05,559 --> 01:08:08,119
now and more so that's like the team I honestly,

1550
01:08:08,239 --> 01:08:10,880
honestly we'll probably get killed for this, but I think

1551
01:08:11,039 --> 01:08:14,440
of the teams that we named the Knicks might have

1552
01:08:14,519 --> 01:08:17,880
the lowest floor and the highest ceiling of it just

1553
01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:19,720
because and I think you could talk me into Philly

1554
01:08:19,760 --> 01:08:21,800
having the lowest floor if there's like an Embiid injury,

1555
01:08:22,000 --> 01:08:24,439
but even just like they have a real team around Tyrese, Maxie,

1556
01:08:24,479 --> 01:08:26,920
Paul Georgian Embiid as well. But like with the Knicks,

1557
01:08:27,359 --> 01:08:29,680
the integration of Julius Randall, I thought he did better

1558
01:08:29,720 --> 01:08:32,359
accessory work last year, but that's like that's a thing

1559
01:08:32,399 --> 01:08:34,239
in this larger ecosystem. What's he gonna look like? And

1560
01:08:34,279 --> 01:08:36,840
also losing I say a Heartenstein is huge. That was

1561
01:08:36,880 --> 01:08:39,239
like you're two way big because Mitchell Robinson's so limited

1562
01:08:39,239 --> 01:08:42,319
on offense, and it's now if you're gonna rely on

1563
01:08:42,359 --> 01:08:44,359
Mitchell k fine, will he be healthy? You know you're

1564
01:08:44,359 --> 01:08:46,039
not gonna get a ton for him on offense. Aside

1565
01:08:46,039 --> 01:08:49,399
from the rebounding element, is Tims going to actually play

1566
01:08:49,600 --> 01:08:51,600
like Julius rand On Og is his front court where

1567
01:08:51,600 --> 01:08:54,920
Og is your defensive five and Julius is your offensive five.

1568
01:08:55,000 --> 01:08:57,199
I think that works out really well. But do you

1569
01:08:57,239 --> 01:09:00,960
want ognob being taxed that much defensively? And like Josh

1570
01:09:00,960 --> 01:09:03,640
Hart's average fifty minutes a game and like does John

1571
01:09:03,840 --> 01:09:06,000
look at he got injured last year? So there. I

1572
01:09:06,039 --> 01:09:08,079
think the Knicks, I think they could be really good

1573
01:09:08,199 --> 01:09:10,840
and I would probably I like their roster overall better

1574
01:09:10,880 --> 01:09:13,279
than a lot of these like like Milwaukee's up there

1575
01:09:13,279 --> 01:09:15,560
for me, but like I might like their ceiling for

1576
01:09:15,680 --> 01:09:18,640
next season more than a Cleveland or a Philly. But

1577
01:09:18,680 --> 01:09:20,520
at the same time, it's like I do have more

1578
01:09:20,640 --> 01:09:22,720
questions about the top of their roster than a lot

1579
01:09:22,760 --> 01:09:23,920
of these other rosters.

1580
01:09:24,279 --> 01:09:26,800
Speaker 2: I think one of the things that differentiates them from

1581
01:09:26,840 --> 01:09:29,479
the other teams is they have one player who's so

1582
01:09:29,560 --> 01:09:32,840
important in brunts into what they do offensively. And I

1583
01:09:32,880 --> 01:09:35,319
really wonder like if he misses any more like anytime

1584
01:09:35,359 --> 01:09:39,520
this year with the voting like that, yeah, or if

1585
01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:42,600
he just regrets, well, yeah, he had a crazy, crazy Yeah.

1586
01:09:42,600 --> 01:09:44,560
That contract discourse for him was kind of funny. Souse.

1587
01:09:44,560 --> 01:09:46,479
Everyone's like, yeah, he would have obviously gotten a full

1588
01:09:46,560 --> 01:09:48,640
max next year. I'm like, maybe I think it was

1589
01:09:48,680 --> 01:09:51,319
a good season to sign the biggest possible contract after

1590
01:09:51,399 --> 01:09:53,520
as well. I think that, you know, I understand he

1591
01:09:53,560 --> 01:09:55,840
probably would have gotten it, but like he don't know.

1592
01:09:56,640 --> 01:09:58,520
Speaker 1: I feel confident in saying he would have gotten it

1593
01:09:58,920 --> 01:10:01,359
from the Knicks just because they don't have especially after

1594
01:10:01,359 --> 01:10:03,840
the mcal Bridges trade, they had no outs like it

1595
01:10:03,960 --> 01:10:06,119
with him. But I think the best way to frame

1596
01:10:06,159 --> 01:10:08,399
it is he punted on like twelve to thirteen million

1597
01:10:08,439 --> 01:10:10,680
dollars a year over the next three years. And that's look,

1598
01:10:10,680 --> 01:10:13,159
if you're gonna save your team one Dante DiVincenzo a year,

1599
01:10:13,239 --> 01:10:15,479
is how I framed it. That's a concession.

1600
01:10:16,039 --> 01:10:19,119
Speaker 2: I just look, he's clearly deserving. I just I didn't

1601
01:10:19,119 --> 01:10:20,720
think it was like the craziest I think you honest

1602
01:10:20,720 --> 01:10:22,960
said the same thing like the year before and received

1603
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:25,319
less fanfare. I wonder, I wonder what played into that.

1604
01:10:25,439 --> 01:10:27,560
But but anyway.

1605
01:10:27,399 --> 01:10:28,720
Speaker 1: I will I agree with you on the front where

1606
01:10:28,720 --> 01:10:30,800
people have assumed that like, oh, when he can opt

1607
01:10:30,840 --> 01:10:33,119
out in three or four years whatever, twenty twenty eight,

1608
01:10:33,199 --> 01:10:35,560
I think it is he's just gonna get that five year.

1609
01:10:36,079 --> 01:10:37,479
And I had this talk when I was speaking with

1610
01:10:37,479 --> 01:10:39,600
Andrew Claudio Nick Filmscho on the podcast. I said, he's

1611
01:10:39,600 --> 01:10:42,319
not getting that deal, and quarters like really, I was like,

1612
01:10:42,520 --> 01:10:44,840
they're not going to give it. That is wildly irresponsible,

1613
01:10:44,840 --> 01:10:46,600
Like that is the sacrifice that's being made? Is you

1614
01:10:46,600 --> 01:10:49,279
could say there's an under the hand like a handshake

1615
01:10:49,319 --> 01:10:51,960
agreement here, he's not getting that full it's not happening.

1616
01:10:52,039 --> 01:10:53,119
Like it's just not happening.

1617
01:10:53,720 --> 01:10:55,880
Speaker 2: I don't think for any player outside of like the

1618
01:10:55,960 --> 01:10:58,720
Kevin Durance, you can ever assume three years from now

1619
01:10:58,760 --> 01:11:01,159
you get any sort of huge I just think that,

1620
01:11:01,279 --> 01:11:05,079
especially a smaller guard. Small guard is the riskiest.

1621
01:11:05,319 --> 01:11:07,800
Speaker 1: Look, the Clippers just like faked an excuse to get

1622
01:11:07,880 --> 01:11:09,920
rid of Paul George, like because like the CBA is

1623
01:11:09,960 --> 01:11:12,359
having this career impact where I think there's like the

1624
01:11:12,359 --> 01:11:15,000
top five to ten guys they'll be max like a

1625
01:11:15,119 --> 01:11:17,760
honest let's say he'll get max money in his next contract.

1626
01:11:17,800 --> 01:11:20,119
Like you once guys start to get into their thirties,

1627
01:11:20,159 --> 01:11:23,079
like if you're not a top seven player at that point,

1628
01:11:23,119 --> 01:11:25,079
like there's going to be questions about it.

1629
01:11:25,600 --> 01:11:27,479
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, there's it's gonna be a fascinating game

1630
01:11:27,520 --> 01:11:30,159
player option in a year or two here of like,

1631
01:11:30,239 --> 01:11:31,840
which which way is that going to go? Like, I

1632
01:11:32,159 --> 01:11:34,920
have no idea. I think obvious a lot will hinge

1633
01:11:34,920 --> 01:11:37,439
of course on what this year looks like. But uh,

1634
01:11:37,680 --> 01:11:39,479
it gets real interesting. I think we probably will get

1635
01:11:39,479 --> 01:11:41,720
to a point where almost every player option ends up

1636
01:11:41,760 --> 01:11:44,680
getting taken. I mean there were vetmins taken this year

1637
01:11:44,680 --> 01:11:47,159
that I like, Cam Reddish, He's going to go find

1638
01:11:47,239 --> 01:11:49,760
vetmin somewhere. He's like, I'm not gonna chance it. I'll

1639
01:11:49,760 --> 01:11:52,000
take the vetman in front of me, which wowed me.

1640
01:11:52,119 --> 01:11:53,840
So Yeah, I think it's it is a whole new

1641
01:11:53,920 --> 01:11:55,279
league league cap world.

1642
01:11:55,920 --> 01:11:57,960
Speaker 1: Yeah. I didn't mean to take take you on a

1643
01:11:57,960 --> 01:11:59,079
tangent so far out?

1644
01:11:59,560 --> 01:12:01,399
Speaker 2: Was that was? That was I got started. I did

1645
01:12:01,399 --> 01:12:03,159
the Boston offseason thing that got us here.

1646
01:12:03,279 --> 01:12:06,239
Speaker 1: Is there anything anyone else about this team we haven't

1647
01:12:06,279 --> 01:12:08,319
discussed that you think needs to be touched upon before

1648
01:12:08,359 --> 01:12:09,199
I let you skidaddle?

1649
01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:12,520
Speaker 2: I set too high of a standard four years ago

1650
01:12:12,600 --> 01:12:14,520
when I talked about like the honis as a play

1651
01:12:14,560 --> 01:12:16,880
starter versus finisher thing. I haven't had as good of

1652
01:12:16,920 --> 01:12:20,399
a one since then, and I feel like we've covered

1653
01:12:20,439 --> 01:12:22,479
a lot of the most pressing stuff. I'll say, like,

1654
01:12:23,279 --> 01:12:26,520
I am really curious to see, generally, what does Gary

1655
01:12:26,560 --> 01:12:28,880
Trent Junior look like on the box, because I think

1656
01:12:28,880 --> 01:12:32,359
he was a pretty drastically different kind of player in

1657
01:12:32,399 --> 01:12:34,800
Portland than he was with Toronto, and I think this

1658
01:12:34,880 --> 01:12:39,119
is even another much different kind of situation here, and

1659
01:12:39,199 --> 01:12:42,920
I'm really interested, like can't like NBA players are so talented,

1660
01:12:42,960 --> 01:12:46,319
and I think about a player like Michale Bridges, Notcale Bridges,

1661
01:12:46,319 --> 01:12:49,319
but like was like the three and D guy who

1662
01:12:49,319 --> 01:12:52,520
did almost nothing offensively in Phoenix and then gets the

1663
01:12:52,640 --> 01:12:55,720
role and immediately like his whole game changes in Brooklyn,

1664
01:12:55,800 --> 01:12:57,520
he couldn't really sustain it. But you know what I mean,

1665
01:12:57,600 --> 01:13:00,760
Like players I think sometimes are more scalable than we realize.

1666
01:13:01,000 --> 01:13:03,800
And I'm really interested in seeing, you know, what is

1667
01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:06,520
the version of Gary Trent Junior where they probably need

1668
01:13:06,600 --> 01:13:09,079
him less than any team has needed him offensively, and

1669
01:13:09,119 --> 01:13:12,079
they really needed him defensively. What does that look like

1670
01:13:12,199 --> 01:13:14,159
for him? How does he acclimate to that. I'm not

1671
01:13:14,199 --> 01:13:17,239
saying it's one hundred percent positive. I'm just very interested

1672
01:13:17,279 --> 01:13:19,880
to see what is his role, how does he play,

1673
01:13:20,159 --> 01:13:22,000
and what does he focus on this year?

1674
01:13:22,359 --> 01:13:25,600
Speaker 1: That's interesting. So it could almost be sort of the

1675
01:13:25,640 --> 01:13:29,039
inverse of what happened with Dylan Brooks in Houston, because

1676
01:13:29,079 --> 01:13:31,279
we're talking about Gary Trent Junior's defense. But if you

1677
01:13:31,279 --> 01:13:34,000
go look at Dylan Brooks's shot selection in Memphis versus Houston,

1678
01:13:34,319 --> 01:13:36,680
completely reined in in Houston and so it's like Gary

1679
01:13:36,920 --> 01:13:38,319
Junior all of a sudden going to be rained in

1680
01:13:38,319 --> 01:13:41,239
in a good way defensively for the Bucks. I wrangle

1681
01:13:41,279 --> 01:13:42,640
it out because he has a talent, I don't know

1682
01:13:42,640 --> 01:13:44,319
if he has like the physical tools to be like

1683
01:13:44,319 --> 01:13:47,600
a capslock wing defender, like you can get by like

1684
01:13:47,680 --> 01:13:51,000
certainly any guard position and like maybe some threes. That's

1685
01:13:51,039 --> 01:13:53,319
a really interesting sentiment that we probably should give more

1686
01:13:53,680 --> 01:13:56,159
consideration to. I do also wonder though, how it factors in.

1687
01:13:56,720 --> 01:13:59,199
It sometimes becomes very hard, Like brook Lopez is kind

1688
01:13:59,199 --> 01:14:00,840
of an exception. He gets the bi annual from the

1689
01:14:00,840 --> 01:14:03,920
Bucks and turns into this and like sometimes players end

1690
01:14:04,000 --> 01:14:06,319
up on minimums or discounted deals and they have so

1691
01:14:06,439 --> 01:14:08,239
much Like even only Beasley only got. I thought he

1692
01:14:08,279 --> 01:14:10,199
was good enough to get more than one year six million,

1693
01:14:10,560 --> 01:14:13,000
and that's all you got. So it's like that j

1694
01:14:13,640 --> 01:14:16,079
does that impact his psyche at all? But I think, yeah,

1695
01:14:16,520 --> 01:14:18,560
what you mentioned at the very beginning of this podcast

1696
01:14:18,600 --> 01:14:21,359
to come full circle is the difference between the minimum

1697
01:14:21,399 --> 01:14:24,199
and the tax payermid level. And like also a lot

1698
01:14:24,239 --> 01:14:26,920
of these contenders now I think they don't have the

1699
01:14:26,920 --> 01:14:29,239
tax payermid level because they're in the second apron and

1700
01:14:29,279 --> 01:14:33,000
if you're going to make like reinvent yourself or be

1701
01:14:33,079 --> 01:14:35,680
viewed more positively around the league, there may be maybe

1702
01:14:35,720 --> 01:14:38,199
players are coming around, even if they're younger. Like GTJ

1703
01:14:38,600 --> 01:14:41,159
was saying, if I impact a winner like that, the

1704
01:14:41,159 --> 01:14:43,159
Bucks go to the Eastern Conference finals, are deeper or

1705
01:14:43,159 --> 01:14:45,079
win the title, that's going to do more for me

1706
01:14:45,119 --> 01:14:47,039
than if I'm on Toronto or another team and I'm

1707
01:14:47,039 --> 01:14:49,520
averaging fifteen seventeen twenty points a game.

1708
01:14:50,119 --> 01:14:52,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the gamble. I mean there's always

1709
01:14:52,359 --> 01:14:55,880
the long route too, of what Portis did of. You know,

1710
01:14:55,920 --> 01:14:58,760
if you stay another year, then you can get the

1711
01:14:58,880 --> 01:15:02,279
early bird twos. Yeah, yeah, then you can get you know,

1712
01:15:02,880 --> 01:15:05,199
it'll probably be like fifteen million a year by that point,

1713
01:15:05,199 --> 01:15:07,039
So that's something still less than he would have liked

1714
01:15:07,079 --> 01:15:10,119
to make this year. I would assume he's gone after

1715
01:15:10,119 --> 01:15:11,840
one year. I think it's really hard to retain players.

1716
01:15:11,880 --> 01:15:13,720
But I didn't think he would show up in the

1717
01:15:13,800 --> 01:15:16,920
first place. So it's uncharted territory, right, Like, we don't

1718
01:15:17,000 --> 01:15:18,840
know how this will turn out. I was also I

1719
01:15:18,840 --> 01:15:21,159
wouldn't say surprised because I watched him, but I thought

1720
01:15:21,159 --> 01:15:23,000
basily would get a little more. It used to be

1721
01:15:23,119 --> 01:15:26,239
like you bang threes at that level? I mean, I mean,

1722
01:15:26,359 --> 01:15:29,439
I think Duncan Robinson is better, but like Davas Berton's right, like,

1723
01:15:29,479 --> 01:15:31,880
if you bang threes at a crazy level forty five percent,

1724
01:15:32,239 --> 01:15:37,279
you're getting double digit millions per year over like four years.

1725
01:15:37,920 --> 01:15:41,159
But I think teams are just really stingy now outside

1726
01:15:41,159 --> 01:15:44,760
of the exceptions, and it's like there's KCP and then

1727
01:15:44,800 --> 01:15:45,960
there's like everyone else.

1728
01:15:47,199 --> 01:15:49,439
Speaker 1: Ty, this was great as usual. Are you able just

1729
01:15:49,479 --> 01:15:51,159
to tell our listeners where they can find you and

1730
01:15:51,159 --> 01:15:52,640
all the fantastic work that you do.

1731
01:15:53,840 --> 01:15:58,159
Speaker 2: At Ty Wendish on Twitter and threads, probably posting it

1732
01:15:58,800 --> 01:16:01,079
both places, a little less on Instagram doing a little

1733
01:16:01,079 --> 01:16:03,840
Instagram did a reel the other day, really getting crazy.

1734
01:16:04,079 --> 01:16:06,520
But the Eure Outstep podcast network wherever you listen or

1735
01:16:06,760 --> 01:16:10,199
listen to or watch this fine podcast for our Bucks content,

1736
01:16:10,359 --> 01:16:12,720
and then GESPN dot info if you want even more

1737
01:16:13,000 --> 01:16:15,800
Wisconsin sports, including some premium stuff, you can check us

1738
01:16:15,840 --> 01:16:16,560
out there as well.

1739
01:16:17,600 --> 01:16:19,560
Speaker 1: TI, thank you so much, as you know by now

1740
01:16:19,560 --> 01:16:21,520
we'll be pestering you again in the future, so I

1741
01:16:21,600 --> 01:16:22,520
will talk to you soon.

1742
01:16:23,479 --> 01:16:26,239
Speaker 2: I can't wait. I hope the Bucks are a playoff factor,

1743
01:16:26,319 --> 01:16:28,239
so I can try and weasel my way in here

1744
01:16:28,479 --> 01:16:31,079
in not off season land, but we'll we'll see. It's

1745
01:16:31,119 --> 01:16:34,239
been a while now, so fingers crossed, at least for

1746
01:16:34,319 --> 01:16:34,720
my sake.