NBA Rumors: Milwaukee Bucks continue to double-down on desire to keep core intact

NBA Rumors: The Milwaukee Bucks continue to double-down on their desire to keep their core intact heading into the 2024-25 NBA season.

After losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs in back-to-back offseason, it was only natural to believe that changes were on the horizon for the Milwaukee Bucks heading into the summer. However, as the days continued to pass and the Bucks remained relatively quiet, it became more and more apparent that perhaps the big changes were coming for Milwaukee.

Instead, the big move of the summer revolved around signing Gary Trent Jr. to a prove-it deal. Adding to their moves, or lack of moves, this offseason, there continues to be a clear desire from the team to keep the core intact for at least one more season.

According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Bucks have continued to tell Lopez that they have no plans of trading him. If that is indeed the case, it continues to point to the fact that the team has no desire to shake up their roster by any means. Objectively, if the Bucks were going to have any chance to shake up their roster heading into the start of the season or even at the NBA Trade Deadline, trading Lopez seemed like the most likely path forward.

The Milwaukee Bucks want to see their core healthy

However, if the Bucks are telling Lopez that they don't have any desire to trade him, that means the Bucks want to give this core at least one more shot together. That does make sense on some level considering, for the most part, it was injuries to Giannis and Lillard that hurt this team the most in the NBA Playoffs.

This is not to say that the Bucks were on their way toward beating the Boston Celtics in a potential playoff series but not having a healthy version of Giannis and Lillard in the playoffs didn't even give them a chance.

It will be interesting to see what a healthy version of the Bucks could look like in April and May. It seems like it's been years since we've seen that. In fact, there's an argument to be made that the last time the Bucks were healthy heading into the playoffs, they ended up winning a title.

Maybe that's exactly what the front office believes and wants to see play out heading into the 2024-25 season.