Wow great trade for Bucks..clearly favorites in East for now
Did you read the part where they trade away 3 firsts and 2 pick swaps? 
I'm a big fan of Jrue's game, but that's a massive overpay. Imo, the Bucks got fleeced. They did become a considerably better team though, that's for sure.
Probably an overpay in a vaccuum but when you have one of the three or four best players in the NBA and you want to convince him to stay in your city, you're going to have to spend a bit more to get good players. There's 29 front offices in the league that want Giannis out of Milwaukee, after all.
They could have still overpaid for some player at the trade deadline assuming Giannis had refused to re-sign with them (the deadline for an extention is on December 21). I like the Bogdanovic trade though. If no other Bledsoe trades were on the table, I really think the Bucks should have just made the Bogdanovic deal. I'd also be open to the idea of trading BroLo. For instance, I would have tried to strike a deal with the Rockets for Covington.
PG: Bledsoe - Hill
SG: Bogdan
SF: Middleton
PF: Covington
C: Giannis
Hill was literally the perfect fit next to Giannis. He was happy to play off the ball and he led the league with 46% from 3 last season on 3 attempts per game. Jrue may be the best on-ball guard defender in the NBA, but he's just a passable shooter (35.3% from 3 this year, 35.4% for his career).
Btw, Bobby Marks is reporting that Bogdan signed for $14.65M in year 1. That's fair value in my book. Based on this number, the Bucks got about $17.3M to fill out 8 roster spots. I'm really curious to see how they fill out their roster.
The Blazer gave up 2 probable mid 1sts for Covington. If Giannis stays, all 3 Bucks 1sts are probably late 1sts and the 2 pick swaps don't occur. 3 late 1sts for Holiday >>> 2 mid 1sts for Covington.
Agreed. I would have been unwilling to beat Portland's offer and I would have just kept Brolo.
PG: Bledsoe - Hill
SG: Bogdan
SF: Middleton
PF: Giannis
C: BroLo
That's still a significant upgrade over their 2019/20 lineup. Imo, the Bucks #1 need going into the offseason was adding a closer. Jrue is an amazing 2-way player, but he ain't a closer. He was shooting 34% in the clutch last season. The respective number for Middleton is even worse. He was shooting 30.6% in the clutch. They traded away 3 firsts + 2 pick swaps and they didn't even address their biggest need.
Bogdanovic was shooting 40% in the clutch last season. Not sure whether he's good enough to lead a contending team in the clutch, but he's definitely a nice pick up for the Bucks.
Mind you, Jrue has a player option in 2021. Chances are he'll opt out. If Giannis walks (fwiw, I believe he'll stay), it's possible that the Bucks gave away all these assets for a 1-year rental of Jrue. They are basically putting all their eggs in one basket. It's a massive risk on their part. At the very least, they could have waited till the deadline to take such a risk. It's totally possible that Giannis would have signed an extension prior to the start of the season. If so, they would have kept both Giannis and all their future assets.
I disagree. Priority 1, 2 and 3 for the Bucks is to re-sign Giannis. If the Bucks don't trade for Jrue now, he likely is traded to some other team soon not at the deadline. Trading for Jrue now significantly increases the chances Giannis signs his supermax now. Midseason trades rarely work out. It is very disruptive to team chemistry. Players aren't plug and play.
The massive risk is not doing everything possible to get Giannis to re-sign. If Giannis re-signs, they've only given up 3 late 1sts in all likelihood. That isn't a big deal even if Holiday leaves after 1 season.
Agree to disagree.
Again, Giannis could have extended his contract prior to the December 21 deadline regardless of the Jrue trade. Why not wait and see? Unless he informed the Bucks he would only stay if they traded for Jrue (which seems unlikely), imo this is a panic move from the Bucks. They got fleeced big time.
Never said they could have gone after Jrue at the trade deadline. They could have gone after a different player. Jrue isn't even an ideal fit next to Giannis cause he's just a passable shooter. He's basically a rich man's Bledsoe. Is it worth it to trade away all these assets for an upgraded version of Bledsoe? Imo, it definitely isn't.
Like Jrue and all but yikes, he was so underrated he became massively overrated and this is a massive over pay for him, no guarantee this actually makes them better
This. Jrue was underrated all these years. I guess it's about time he became overrated.
In a vacuum, Jrue > Bledsoe + Hill. No doubt about that. Specifically for the Bucks, I'm really not sure. Again, Hill was the perfect fit next to Giannis. Losing Hill is a big blow for them. Possibly an even bigger blow than losing Bledsoe. Fit matters, especially when your star player is a below average shooter. Giannis needs to be surrounded by shooters. Jrue can do a million things on the court. Unfortunately for the Bucks, he ain't a knockdown shooter.
