Monday Morning Media Roundup: August 5th, 2019

Okay, NOW we’ve officially entered the windswept desert that is the true NBA offseason. Barring Dragan Bender accidentally UPS’ing himself to Montreal and forcing the Bucks to cut him in lieu of other options, we’re at roster capacity from top to bottom.

That’s not a bad thing in the least, and that the Bucks could still unearth the lotteryiest of lottery tickets in Bender to cap things off is a high note to end on. A turnover of seven players (including the two-way guys) looks like a good deal, but much of the shuffling occurred outside Milwaukee’s top-eight. How far this team goes depends almost exclusively on Giannis’s ceiling and betting that the goose eggs laid in the ECF either don’t repeat or can be offset with an influx of new (older) talent.

And there’s likely no rest for the wicked. Constrained or not, Jon Horst is bound to prolong the churn in hopes of marginal improvements. Circumstances shift every day for every team in the NBA, and you can guarantee the Bucks will be licking their chops at a chance to capitalize off one of their 29 rivals’ misfortune.

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Bucks offseason review: Milwaukee gets creative after second-round steal gets expensive (CBS Sports)

I thought the comparison James Herbert makes between the Bucks offseason and the ill-fated James Harden trade executed by Oklahoma City interesting. For the Thunder the move looked bad, but survivable up until the moment the Warriors became the Warriors.

Malcolm Brogdon is very good, but he’s no James Harden. His loss will hurt, but Giannis could realistically improve even more heading into next year, and those around him are just about mid-stride in terms of contributing. The thing that may haunt Milwaukee looking back on how the Brogdon situation turned out may never arise — until a legitimate challenger stands between the Bucks and Finals glory.

Gambler bets $10K on Bucks making playoffs, which would yield ... $100 (Yahoo!)

Even as someone who is basically investing-illiterate, this seems like a poor use of money.

Sir/Madame who made this outrageous bet, I hope against all hopes that you didn’t just sink Milwaukee’s season, and I also note that my Twitter DMs are open in case you want to financially support an up-and-coming pud from the Upper Midwest.

Growing up a Buck: Years Later (Babcock Hoops)

This one is the concluding piece to a series of articles Matt Babcock, son of current Bucks head of player personnel Dave Babcock, has written about his time growing up in and around the Bucks organization since 1997. Think of it as a unique history and point of view on the 2001 team that nearly was and all that followed. For those who lived those moments I’m sure there will be plenty of resonating anecdotes; and for those who have only recently become fans, I think there’s value in understanding where this team has been to better appreciate where they’re presumably going.

Why Are Prospects Not Accepting G League Invitation? (Two-Ways, 10-Days)

The NBA has only started to grapple with how to reconcile the desire of top-ranked high schoolers to go pro right away and the quid pro quo the league reached with the NCAA years ago. One tool rolled out last season was the offer to let prospects jump right into the G-League for a year of development before formally entering the NBA Draft.

Just one problem: Nobody is joining up.

Part of that has to do with better offers overseas, and much (if not most) relates to the somewhat confounding ownership/management structure of the G-League. First, a prospect would have to be drafted without any say in the matter, and the drafting club’s parent team would have no guarantee of retaining said player past the one season.

It may go down as a misnomer with the league likely opening the gates to 18 year-olds in a few seasons anyhow. Still, for all the progress the G-League has made since its inception, it has a very long way to go to become a true talent producer.

Chase Buford Named Head Coach Of The Wisconsin Herd (Bucks.com)

Here are a couple of things I’ve found out about Chase Buford:

1. He is San Antonio Spurs GM R.C Buford’s son
2. Last season he was an assistant coach with the Delaware Blue Coats
3. People with the first name ‘Chase’ generally run at least 0.3% faster than the average human

Most importantly, bringing Buford aboard is roughly in-line with Milwaukee’s attempts to replicate what the Spurs are/were by, well, borrowing directly from the Spurs. Stepping up from G-League assistant to head coach is a reasonable move for Buford and should give him a decent chance to prove his mettle before any moves into the NBA assistant ranks.

Nike brings Giannis Antetokounmpo’s favorite film to life with ‘Coming to America’-inspired sneaker (The Undefeated)

I’m thinking this might be the last big piece on Giannis’s sneakers we run because, at the end of the day, they’re simply sneakers. I also have a personal rule that prevents me from rocking anything that sports leopard print, but will not hold against those of you who find the design appealing.

And hey Nike, it’s not “Coming to America — A Giannis Antetokounmpo Story”; it’s “Coming to Milwaukee”.

The Social Media Section

Why... does DJ’s shooting form emphasize the guiding hand being atop the ball?

Good to know someone will be filling Milwaukee’s Tetris quota next season

Skip to the 2:30 mark and thank me later

The Bulls drop $45-50 mil to bring Nikola Mirotic back would’ve been the best timeline

Bucks gonna find a way to accidentally pay Bender $10 million by year’s end

Counting down the days until the World Cup!

Fin

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I’ve been thinking about my opening statement to this article while writing and I’ve come to a conclusion: The Bucks don’t need to swipe any talent from any other team. An answer already resides within, just waiting to be discovered and brought into the light of day.

It’s smoove. It’s planet-sized. It’s downtown, uptown, throw it down, shutdown. And it’s saucy.

Happy Monday!