The Milwaukee Bucks made major changes at head coach and in the frontcourt during the 2018 offseason. What can we take away from their moves thus far?
The Milwaukee Bucks are a team pushing against the ceiling, trying to break through. The franchise has a true superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo, the kind of player you can win a title with. Entering the 2018 offseason, the Bucks needed to try different approaches to that pursuit of excellence, as their last attempts have failed to get them past the first round of the playoffs.
Step No. 1 was a new coaching staff, and Mike Budenholzer was brought in to wipe clean the mistakes of the Jason Kidd era. He brings with him much of his staff from Atlanta, a team that maximized its talent year after year. In Antetokounmpo, Budenholzer will have a player better than any he had in Atlanta.
From there, the Bucks had to tackle the question of how to apply their limited resources in such a way as to raise the ceiling on this squad. How could they break through to a playoff series victory — and more — in an Eastern Conference suddenly devoid of LeBron James?
On draft night, the team selected Donte DiVincenzo, a combo guard out of Villanova fresh off an NCAA title. Free agency saw Ersan Ilyasova — a former Budenholzer player in Atlanta making his return to Milwaukee — and Brook Lopez come aboard. Duke point guard Trevon Duval was signed to a two-way contract and Pat Connaughton will be joining the mix as well.
Whether or not these moves work out, they provide signs of the direction Milwaukee is moving in. By looking at the Bucks’ offseason — what they did, what they did not do — we can understand what they hope to accomplish in the year to come. What are the biggest offseason takeaways for the Milwaukee Bucks?