The Milwaukee Bucks don’t have a single top-10 player on their roster. They didn’t have an All-Star on their team last season, and the closest thing they had to an All-Star was shipped away to Phoenix at the trade deadline. And yet, even without a discernible superstar, Milwaukee has one of the brightest futures in the Eastern Conference and enjoyed one of the better offseasons in the NBA.
The Bucks won’t be in the title hunt in 2015-16, but there’s reason for legitimate optimism in Milwaukee, quite possibly for the first time since the days of Sam Cassell and Ray Allen. With such a young, moldable roster at Jason Kidd‘s disposal, the Bucks are starting to gain recognition as one of the league’s most exciting long-term rebuilds.
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Bearing that in mind, Milwaukee really didn’t have much to do this offseason. The Bucks were fully aware they’d never be in the running for the heavy hitter free agents, and their days of contending for championships in the future rests on the shoulders of young guns like Giannis Antetokounmpo (20), Jabari Parker (20), Michael Carter-Williams (23) and Khris Middleton (23).
However, as much as Milwaukee could’ve afforded to be complacent this summer and rest their laurels on internal development, the front office went out and helped the team take the next step forward by landing a second-tier free agent, taking care of a few housekeeping items and bolstering the team with youth.
Here’s a look at the Milwaukee Bucks’ offseason, with individual grades for each move.
Next: The First Trade