Is continuity sufficient to get the Bucks again into title competition?

A number of days after the official begin of NBA free company this summer season, Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers flew from his Los Angeles-area house to Miami for a recruiting go to. After the preliminary flurry of signings across the league had been full, Rivers was stunned to see a well-recognized face and not using a crew — capturing guard Gary Trent Jr.

Trent had recognized Rivers since he was 6 years previous due to his father, Gary Trent Sr., whose NBA profession overlapped with Rivers’. Trent Jr. had been a productive participant with the Toronto Raptors for 3 and a half seasons however failed to achieve an extension or discover a multiyear deal on the free agent market. Phrase was out that Trent might be searching for a one-year deal for the 2024-25 season, and Rivers jumped on the alternative.

The Bucks had been searching for a alternative of their beginning lineup for guard Malik Beasley and noticed a youthful vitality in Trent, who might match easily alongside Milwaukee’s famous person duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

Signing Trent to a one-year deal served as the largest offseason addition for a crew that prioritized depth signings over daring strikes. The Bucks additionally swapped out gamers equivalent to Jae Crowder and Patrick Beverley, who noticed their roles and manufacturing decreased through the postseason, for a brand new crew of veteran backups in Delon Wright and Taurean Prince.

After a yr of change and turnover for the Bucks — up to now 12 months they swapped Jrue Holiday for Lillard, and employed and fired coach Adrian Griffin earlier than turning to Rivers halfway by the season — a quiet summer season was welcome for a crew that enters the 2024-25 season attempting to steadiness the benefits of continuity with the urgency of its championship expectations.

“We’ve that stability,” Antetokounmpo stated the day after the crew’s first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. “We’re not questioning and attempting to determine how it may look shifting ahead.

“Now that you already know, you simply set to work.”

Bucks common supervisor Jon Horst was restricted in his flexibility to alter his roster this offseason. Milwaukee’s draft picks had been depleted by the commerce for Vacation in 2020 and for Lillard final yr. Due to the restrictions of the brand new collective bargaining agreement, the Bucks didn’t have wage cap house and weren’t allowed to combination contracts, purchase a participant through sign-and-trade or use the tax midlevel exception.

It left them with little choices other than including gamers through the veterans minimal.

Apart from, it had nonetheless been lower than a yr since Milwaukee swooped in for Lillard earlier than coaching camp, sending a bundle to the Portland Trail Blazers that included Vacation — the start line guard on the Bucks’ 2021 championship crew — who was then despatched to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. It was a daring transfer that paired an All-NBA guard in Lillard with a two-time MVP in Antetokounmpo, with every being essentially the most completed teammate both participant had ever performed with.

Lillard’s arrival additionally paid off in one other means, as Antetokounmpo dedicated to the Bucks by signing a three-year, $186 million max extension that begins this season.

Antetokounmpo inked his deal at some point earlier than the beginning of the season, however the Bucks’ optimistic momentum did not carry into the video games.

Lillard was gradual to regulate to a brand new atmosphere and struggled to seek out on-court chemistry with Antetokounmpo. Griffin was fired 43 video games into the season (with a 30-13 report) earlier than the crew turned to Rivers, who went 17-19. With Antetokounmpo lacking your entire six-game collection towards the Pacers due to a strained left calf and Lillard restricted by an Achilles harm, the Bucks crashed out within the first spherical of the playoffs for a second straight season.

When Rivers took over the crew in February, he acknowledged how tough it might be to show a crew round midseason. Now with a full offseason and coaching camp, he could have a chance to ascertain a method of play, together with by including function gamers who higher match his imaginative and prescient.

“Give it some thought: Giannis labored out all [last] summer season not figuring out he was going to have Dame,” Rivers stated the day after final season’s playoff exit. “Dame labored out a little bit bit, not figuring out he was going to have Giannis. Khris [Middleton], the identical means. Now all three of them get to work out this summer season figuring out a number of the issues we’ll do.

“Crucial stuff is the units and the stuff that you’ll run, giving it to them lengthy earlier than camp begins. As a result of it is simple for a star participant to grasp what he can do, it is higher when he understands how he could make all people else higher by these units.”

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The Bucks are betting on a full offseason and coaching camp to assist construct chemistry for Lillard and Antetokounmpo. Nonetheless, they had been inspired by the numbers with these two gamers on the ground final season: The crew was plus-10.2 factors per 100 possessions final season when their two stars shared the ground.

“I am prepared to place in work this summer season. I feel I’ve guys round me that they are prepared to take action,” Antetokounmpo stated on the finish of final season. “I noticed how Dame was after the [playoffs]. I noticed how Khris [Middleton] was after the sport. … I do know they will put within the work.”

The query for Milwaukee is how the Bucks will evaluate to the remainder of a stacked Jap Convention.

Boston is coming off a historic season through which it received its league-leading 18th NBA championship. The Philadelphia 76ers simply reloaded by including famous person Paul George to play alongside Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey. The New York Knicks strengthened their core by including Mikal Bridges. Rising younger groups, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Pacers, are on the rise, having completed with playoff spots final season.

In the meantime, the Bucks return one of the oldest rosters within the NBA with 4 of their projected starters over 30. Antetokounmpo, who has been injured over the past two postseasons, turns 30 this season. Lillard might be 35 in October. Middleton is 34 and coming off offseason surgical procedure on each ankles. Middle Brook Lopez is 36.

“I all the time like a crew that wins to have a little bit little bit of expertise, which comes from being a little bit bit older, figuring out the best way to play the sport and have that company data of the sport,” Antetokounmpo stated on the finish of final season. “And a little bit little bit of vitality.”

The age of its roster and the strain to maximise every season of Antetokounmpo’s prime — “With Giannis, you are all the time on the clock,” Horst informed ESPN firstly of final season — guided Milwaukee’s daring strikes over the previous yr in pursuit of one other title.

Now the Bucks are relying on an offseason outlined by continuity, a number of additions to their depth and a few higher well being through the postseason to offer them an opportunity at one other championship.

“We’re getting older. We’re not getting any youthful, however that does not imply we can’t nonetheless carry out at a excessive degree,” Antetokounmpo stated. “It is arduous to say, ‘Yeah, we’re previous and it’s important to make modifications.’ As a result of these guys, they’re beasts.”