Milwaukee Bucks – Remove needless contracts and keep role players
Giannis Antetokounmpo is every franchises’ dream of a player to build around and the Milwaukee Bucks have capitalized on their MVP caliber Greek Freak. The Bucks had an almost perfect season falling just short of the NBA Finals.
They had the best record in the league and Giannis is the frontrunner to win MVP. The Bucks have a riveting free agency ahead of them with key players such as Brook Lopez, Nikola Mirotic, Malcolm Brogdon, and All-Star Khris Middleton all with expiring contracts. If the Bucks are able to keep these guys long term then I don’t see them having any less successful of a season as last year’s. Everything went right for Milwaukee and if they are able to hold onto the team they’ve assembled then they have the best chances of coming out of the East on top.
The Bucks also have some unnecessarily expensive contracts as well that are just milking away money that could be used to negotiate contracts with their expired players or even to go after a big-time free agent. They just recently made a great move for freeing up cap space by trading Tony Snell to the Pistons.
Snell is set to make over $11 million until the end of the 2021 season. This is a clear indicator that Milwaukee knows what to do and is already on the right track but there’s still room to improve. George Hill, for example, is on an $18 million dollar salary. Granted it’s only partially guaranteed, but the veteran point guard is 33 years old and way past his prime making more money than even some of the starters for Milwaukee.
Ersan Ilyasova is taking $7 million from Milwaukee’s cap total while averaging less than 20 minutes a game. Both of their salaries add up to $25 million that could be going to high priority players and/or free agents. These financial situations weren’t any problem for the Bucks during their great run last year, but with so many vital pieces that are a necessity to re-sign the cap gripping contracts may just have to be removed.