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With the Milwaukee Bucks facing a lot of questions this offseason, checking their bench may end up being one of the most urgent.
After the Milwaukee Bucks’ Conference Semifinals exit, it didn’t take long for a number of pressing issues to come to light.
Will Giannis Antetokounmpo sign to supermax and how should the Bucks react if he doesn’t? Should Mike Budenholzer’s position as head coach be considered? Has the time finally come for the Bucks to walk away from Eric Bledsoe?
As important as all those questions are to Milwaukee’s present and future, the reality is that ultimately they may not be the key talking points that reflect the decisions the Bucks may make in the months to come.
That’s because it’s quite possible that rightly or wrongly, the Bucks may choose to rely on their core and instead make margin changes in the hopes of unlocking an additional team.
The importance of making these changes, whether they accompany more important changes or not, should not be overlooked. One of the many things put forward by the Heat during the playoffs is that the depth the Bucks had put so much faith in throughout the season was never real to begin with.
George Hill and Donte DiVincenzo certainly proved they have courage and must stay at the helm of the bank, but the outlook beyond that is incredibly bleak.
Marvin Williams has already retired and Kyle Korver may still choose to follow him. Pat Connaughton is a free agent and, although he played frequently in the postseason, his minutes were far from positive.
Beyond that, the Bucks instantly move to an extended portion of their roster that was deemed unplayable in the postseason.
Ersan Ilyasova’s contract is not guaranteed for next season and Sterling Brown is a restricted free agent. Robin Lopez has a player option that can take on a different dimension given that it was deemed unnecessary for almost the entirety of the playoffs. DJ Wilson remains under contract for one more year, but for a long time he seemed to have no real future with the Bucks. And then there’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who played just 129 minutes in his first season with Milwaukee.
The Bucks will find themselves in a very difficult situation with the salary cap, but the reality is that they cannot afford to get to the same juncture next year with so few players who can be trusted to make a positive impact like they did it. this year.
Despite all the talk about Budenholzer’s preference for his rotations to run a bit on the deep end, Erik Spoelstra tied him on that front during the second round, but Miami had a huge advantage in the fact that they could do that while providing quality. collaborators in the game.
It won’t be easy for Milwaukee with the limited tools at its disposal, but Jon Horst and the front office will need to find ways to improve the depth of the roster beyond any kind of surface-level regular-season facade.
That will require real creativity in free agency, the draft and potential trades, but it is as essential to the Bucks’ prospects for success as many of the other problems they will face in the coming months.
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