Giannis unfollows all Bucks Teammates on Social Media and Meets with Lasry

@MichiganPacker2 posted:

The East is going to be really tough next year. Jayson Tatum is a bona fide superstar. He is definitely a better player on the offensive end in the playoffs than Giannis. Brooklyn is going to be a favorite if Durant is even 90% back. Miami is obviously tough. The Sixers are going to flip either Simmons or Embiid and they'll get some high value back. Toronto is always tough. 

The playoff picture next  year is going to be really interesting in both conferences. The Warriors return to the fray in the West, and the Nets new super team enters the fray in the East. Washington gets Wall back (and who knows what that’s going to be like... he hasn’t played in 2+ years).

Two other teams that have young talent- the Hawks and the Suns- are building on young stars that will be one year further along. The Suns showed that in the bubble, where they were dangerous and came real close to a playoff berth. 

That’s why I think you are seeing some of these players sign shorter term deals.   Things can flip so quickly (see Miami) in a year or two and the ability for players to move is more important than total dollar value of the contract or the long term security of the contract. 

There are some intriguing free agents available this year and if Milwaukee is serious about spending money (even above the cap) there are some options albeit they won’t be bargains like we got with Wes Matthews or Kyle Korver.

Guys like Jae Crowder and Paul Millsap and Danilo Gallinari at PF.  Serge Ibaka at PF/C. Joe Harris at SF.  Goran Dragic at PG/SG.  Bogan Bogdonovic is a restricted free agent but could also be an option at SG.

If the Bucks could find a way to package Bledsoe and maybe Ersan to get a decent scoring/shooting guard and then add one of the players above then I’d say that’s a healthy upgrade.   

@Tschmack posted:

There are some intriguing free agents available this year and if Milwaukee is serious about spending money (even above the cap) there are some options albeit they won’t be bargains like we got with Wes Matthews or Kyle Korver. 

But it’s important to remember- the Bucks are already over the soft cap, and they cannot sign someone from the free agent pool (not on their team) until they’re under it. They can only go over the soft cap to keep their own, and they can only go above the tax threshold with their own guys. 

Sign and trade is in play of course- but they’d have to find a willing partner. Often you can sell to the other team that they’re better offer getting something instead of nothing, but who that trade partner could be is the $64,000 question.