Milwaukee Bucks: Will 2020 be the year of the Bucks?

With the potential of a ground-shifting summer, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks could be up next

When the Milwaukee Bucks drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo a few years ago, nobody foresaw him becoming the player he is today.

He was a skinny European project player that they hoped to develop into an athletic defender and maybe dynamic dunker? Giannis had the body of KD but without the jumper to match. Having added 50-plus pounds of muscle since coming into the league somehow (won’t get into that…) he now looks like prime Dwight or a chiseled Shaq.

But even Dwight and Shaq weren’t as good as the now Greek Freak is in the open court, and you could argue he’s already on par with the greats.

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Giannis is essentially a point center at this point. How many of those have we ever seen? None? We came into this unicorn-like era with AD, Kat, Porzingis, etc. and we thought they were unique…but he is something the likes of these guys, with a handle, with court vision, and with the same rebounding center traits.

I think people undervalue what he’s able to do at his size because of the fact that he’s traditionally been labeled as like a small forward type, which he can also play by the way. This stems from his much thinner days in the first couple years and probably back to when Kidd stated he’d be the point guard next year. He still is the teams point guard though, or well, one of them at least.

For sidekicks, the freak has had one of the most under-appreciated players in the NBA beside him in Khris Middleton. Middleton was with Milwaukee through the thin years even before Giannis, and similar to him, no one quite expected him to be this good coming out of A&M.

Middleton is an all-around player the likes of Jimmy Butler. I wouldn’t put him on that same level but he is right next to it. His shooting ability, playmaking vision, and just intelligent playing style make him a perfect secondary player to pair with Giannis and it should be priority numero uno that the Bucks re-sign him this offseason.

The Bucks have somewhat come into an embarrassment of unforeseen riches in the last couple of years. Before this year we saw them as Giannis, Khris, and….Henson? They proceeded to make a good late round pick on a solid all-around player in Brogdon, a witty trade for Bledsoe, and an under the radar FA move to pick up Lopez.

Brogdon can play 1-3 while shooting the cover off and playmaking secondarily. Bledsoe has the athleticism to be a helpful defender and can be a bucket getter if needed. Lopez was utilized terribly in LA and once moved into a more competent system such as Budenholzer’s, has had a career year shooting and defensively.

The team also traded a bundle of second-round picks prior to the deadline to pick up Mirotic who fits well the mold but just hasn’t really hit a stride with the team yet. So do they re-sign him? Let him walk? What about MB who’s also up? And Lopez, and Middleton, and they just resigned Bled, so can they keep all of these guys?

I think they can, they’re just going to be in the lux a little and they should be okay with that considering this is now a championship caliber team. Definitively, pay Khris whatever he wants. Brook can be had for like probably, under $15 million on a shorter deal.

Brogdon could be gotten for similar values, and probably the same on Mirotic. Aside from these guys, I think it’s imperative that they re-sign Pat Con, who’s finally getting some due shine. The guy is a great energy player and rebounder for his position, shoots well, and can easily be a 6th-8th man consistently.

Paying Giannis around $25 million, probably similar for Khris, bundle the other trio for $50 million, Grab Pat forrrrr…maybe around 7M, and you have Hill’s salary on the table. Taking other salaries and free agency into account they’ll be slightly into the luxury tax. Almost all championship teams are paying this to some degree, and there’s no reason they should try to avoid it.

With the potential disbandment of the Warriors, Chris Paul‘s rising age, and the uncertainty with the other three East teams, the Milwaukee Bucks should pretty much be considering themselves up next.