Grading The Bucks Off-Season Moves
Milwaukee Bucks General Manager Jon Horst is a former Executive Of The Year award winner and the roster. When considering the team he built just produced an NBA championship, you got to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. The move he pulled off less than a year ago to bring in Jrue Holiday, the signing of Bobby Portis and the mid season deal for P.J. Tucker proved to be key to the Bucks championship run.
Bucks 2021 NBA Draft Picks: C
The C is for Average as the Bucks didn’t do anything particularly special on Draft night, as they traded down and made 2 second round picks.
The Big East Player Of The Year, the 6’11” big man from Seton Hall, Alexander “Sandro” Mamukelashvili is interesting to me at 54th overall. He has an ability to shot from the outside and there’s a toughness he plays with. This guy could end up being a backup to Lopez of a sold piece inside for the Bucks down the road.
With the last pick in the second round (60th Overall) the Bucks drafted Georgios Kalaitzakis from Greece. Many fans hoped the Bucks would Draft a different player from Greece in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s youngest brother Alex who went undrafted and was picked up by the Sacramento Kings to play on their summer league team.
Bobby Portis Resigning: A+
I can still hear the fans chanting Bobby, Bobby, Bobby as Portis brings toughness, rebounding and a surprising ability to shot from the outside. To get Portis back on a team friendly deal at 2 years 9 mil was a steal!
Signing Semi Ojeleye: C
Ojeleye is a strong 6 foot 6 Power Forward who is 26 years old and played college ball at Kansas. The 37th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft played the last 4 seasons in Boston well averaging less than 15 MPG in that time span., averaging 3 and a half points and 2 rebounds in that time.
Loosing Bryn Forbes: C-
You never want to use a guy that can get hot and score like Bryn Forbes but the Bucks definitely made moves to counter his loss. Forbes honestly looked extremely unhappy on the sideline as he played little to no mins as the playoffs went deeper and deeper. Forbes went back to the Spurs the place the Bucks signed him away from and hopefully he can pickup where he left off.
Loosing P.J. Tucker: D
The D is for disappointment as P.J. Tucker was a big piece of our culture this championship season and he also helped the dogs on the team, be dogs! But the NBA is a business and the Miami Heat are going to pay Tucker 15 Million for 2 seasons and the Bucks letting him go helped maintain cap flexibility.
Signing Rodney Hood: C+
Hood was hurt last season but before that had a couple very strong seasons as he seemed to have really been developing as a player before the injury. Hopefully Hood is fully recovered and ready to get back to that form.
Bringing Back George Hill: B+
George Hill is a savvy veteran who can be counted on to be a leader, play good defense, make smart decisions with the ball and hit open shots. Getting Hill back was a very strong move as he fills our need for a backup point guard and he’s familiar with the team so he should fit back in just fine.
Grayson Allen Trade: B+
Grayson Allen is the type of player you definitely HATE if he’s not on your team. His antics, hard fouls are what many would consider dirty plays. He kinda take’s my mind back to guys like Ron Artest. But he’s a tough defender, plays hard, hustles and can score including an above average outside shot. To get Allen from the Memphis Grizzlies for Sam Merrell and 2 Future Second Round picks was a good deal for the Bucks. The move ads depth on the wing and helps sure up the backcourt as Donte Divincenzo is expected to be out with the Ankle injury until the second half of the season.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo Resigning: B+
Anytime your able to make a move that the franchise player likes, you did a good thing. In this case Thanasis is the older brother of Giannis and is a big ball of energy. In the limited mins he get he’s all over the place, making winning plays. You can’t even see a player on the Bucks score a basket without noticing Thanasis pumping his fist, jumping up and down and cheering his teammates on. The Bucks were able to lock the Antetokounmpo Brother up on a 2 year deal to complete the offseason moves.
Overall Offseason Grade: B
The High move of the offseason was the return of Bobby Portis and the low move was the loss of P.J. Tucker. But overall the Bucks and Horst did a very good job of filling out the roster and they not have more depth on the wing than in a very long time. They stuck with the theme of defensive minded, tall and tough players and they should compliment the core and players already in place well.
