In the course of the offseason so far, I’ve spent my time thinking about the youths. Not so much those who are already with the Milwaukee Bucks (Andre Jackson Jr. might make a leap or not, AJ Green had flashes, MarJon Beauchamp), but those who could be around the corner with the NBA Draft.
That focus has led me to overlook a crucial group of players who could or could not make up part of the spine of next year’s roster: The team’s free agents. Here are the contestants:
Thanasis Antetokounmpo – age 31 – Bird rights/torn Achilles
Malik Beasley – age 27 – non-Bird rights/shimmy dance/wishcasted defense
Patrick Beverley – age 35 – non-Bird rights/four game suspension
Jae Crowder – age 33 – Bird rights/please God/not again/this guy stinks
Danilo Gallinari – age 35 – non-Bird rights/old Italian guy/Doc guy
TyTy Washington Jr. – age 22 – non-Bird rights/he was on the team
Truly one of the group of free agents of all time. On the one hand they represent around 33% of the roster and so a chance for turnover. On the other hand, that three to four of them were getting actual burn when it counted is another sad indictment of the group Jon Horst and Doc Rivers assembled and chose to play, respectively.
So what does an ideal summer look like for the Bucks with their free agents? Taking a stab at it, the platonic ideal sees Thanasis finally retire to the coaching staff, Malik will get paid big bucks by a team with cap space and a promise of more starter minutes, Pat Bev might be back if there isn’t much of a market for a somewhat volatile man in his twighlight years, we never hear from Jae Crowder ever again, and the team waits at least a day into free agency before announcing that Gallo is back. TyTy? Not a clue.
In my scenario, two of the six return; ironically, it would be the two oldest of the bunch, as well. Gallo really makes no sense at all, but I’ll hazard a guess that a Rivers Guy making $15 and a bag of chips annually gets him back on the roster, and Beverley is an insurance policy for the idea of guard defense and a steady hand running the offense occasionally. That would leave the roster like so before anyone else is signed:
Damian Lillard, Patrick Beverley, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, Danilo Gallinari, MarJon Beauchamp, Andre Jackson Jr., AJ Green, Chris Livingston, Draft Pick #23, Draft Pick #33.
14 out of 15 roster spots accounted for from the jump with a little under 50% of the roster being youth with upside. I find it hard to believe Bobby Portis will be back and who knows what other trades could emerge from the ether, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the roster more-or-less looks like this when things kick off in October. Your level of fright at that possibility may vary.
Let’s roundup!
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