![]() ![]() Still, this goes back to the character fit. One imagines the Bucks would’ve already arranged some sort of wink-wink deal with him given the level of capital they committed, but that’s never assured. Jrue is only locked in to one more season before he has a player option for 2021-22. I’d be incredulous if he didn’t do the same here should the bottom fall out of this roster and Giannis leaves. Jon Horst seems to take sick pleasure in putting together the most pick protections on his transactions. Giving up a BOATLOAD of picks is terrifying, but I can’t imagine it reaching Brooklyn-Boston levels of misery even in the darkest of timelines. Now, there are many, many potential downsides here. Eric Bledsoe (MAYBE but secretly Wes Matthews or Donte Divincenzo?)Īnd thought that I could turn it into this:Ģ020-2021: Giannis, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Brook Lopez If I were him, considering my best postseason players, and saw this:Ģ019-20: Giannis, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez. Given the Bucks’ realistically difficult path to a blockbuster trade like this, that only further signals the fact that Horst wanted to do whatever possible to shore up his chances that Giannis would commit to the Bucks. Neither was a fringe move for a competent PG who clears the lowest of bars that Eric Bledsoe set. A first round selection in this year’s draft wasn’t going to accomplish that. ![]() The quickest path between Jon Horst’s office and Giannis signing on the dotted line was an NBA championship, or a roster better equipped to win an NBA championship. The only question that mattered this next season was whether Giannis Antetokounmpo would sign a supermax and commit to the Bucks franchise for another five years. He’s the kind of player Giannis probably would want to spend his prime playing with, rather than some easily alienated superstar whose feet freeze up the second he touches down in the General Mitchell airport. Holiday isn’t a pure injection of talent, he’s a combination of fit, talent and character. One of the clear signals of this move, and the lack of noise around Chris Paul, is that Horst, Giannis, Bud, and the Bucks organization values their “no assholes” ecosystem to the umpteenth degree. He’s never been an All-Star (probably somewhat a Western Conference problem), and isn’t touching the star potential of players like Chris Paul, James Harden, Paul George and other recent malcontents on the move. Effectively five first round picks is, in a vacuum, an overpay for Jrue Holiday. Let’s call a spade a spade, the cost was massive. In Bogdanovic, they get the do-it-all wing who can slot next to Jrue and Khris, can moonlight in both backcourt spots and hopefully translate into the postseason, an experience he never had in Sacramento. Horst sacrificed every ounce of draft capital he could for Jrue Holiday, a player they believe will be the perfect stylistic and cultural fit in Milwaukee. ![]() They’ve been on the other side of it, when the Lakers gave up a boatload of prospects back in the day for Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. The Bucks have never made an all-in trade of this magnitude before. For anyone fearing a stale, rerun of a regular season next year, there’s a whole new cast to liven things up. Wilson and Donte DiVincenzo heading to Sacramento in the deal.Īnd just like that, in the span of an hour, your Milwaukee Bucks became an entirely new squad. Woj confirmed later it would be Ersan, D.J. Then, around an hour later, Kevin O’Connor first mentioned that the Bucks were pursuing the long-rumored Bogdan Bogdanovic sign and trade. Instead, he’d be jettisoning any semblance of a youthful future, giving up Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, three first round selections and two pick swaps for Jrue Holiday. As that magical night turned to early morning, Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania broke the news that Jon Horst wasn’t content with fringe moves. Whether that phrase conjures up Luke pledging his love to Lorelai in Gilmore Girls or Daniel Craig pushing all his chips in during Casino Royale, for Milwaukee Bucks fans, it will forever be tied to the twilight hours of November 16, 2020. ![]()
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