Monday Morning Media Roundup: February 13th, 2023

You’ve got to hand it to Jon Horst and Suki Hobson: The gamble to gather an army of dudes in their 30s to try and win a title looks like it... might pay off?

With Jae Crowder coming to town, the Bucks have placed another few chips on the 30+ crew, but for the purposes of the immediate goal to win a title, the teams looks like it could pull it off yet. Suddenly, Milwaukee has guys they can throw at any number of different fires at will — the kind of flexibility that should allow coach Mike Budenholzer to find the right pieces for each puzzle that awaits the Bucks in the playoffs.

When you look at the roster this morning (keeping in mind open spots for buyout or 10-day pickups), I count a total of three guys who have no business being on the floor when games matter. AJ Green and Sandro Mamukelashvili are two-way guys, so that’d be asking them to play above their pay grade as it is, and even Thanasis Antetokounmpo could give you 25 seconds of chaos to close a quarter. It is also probably too early for MarJon Beauchamp, too, even if he has shown far more promise than expected.

That means 11 guys who you could argue should have a shot to see the floor for the Bucks. Compare that to our title run where we had arguable 7 at most in the Finals. The key will lie in how Bud is able to manage this group. How long will he need in any given series before he picks the 8-9 players best suited to any matchup? Is an embarrassment of riches going to result in too many dudes seeing the floor to give the starters more rest than warranted when games are more or less do-or-die?

It is, in any event, a good problem to have. And if Horst can find even a single buyout veteran worth a damn, the ranks of the playable may grow further yet.

Let’s roundup!

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Oreo releases Milwaukee Bucks’ themed cookies (TMJ4)

On the one hand, these do look unexpectedly tasty. On the other, $40 (plus shipping!) for 12 cookies is some of the worst highway robbery since the league came up with TopShot. Make branded cookies affordable, Nabisco and Adam Silver!

Ranking Every NBA Trade Deadline Deal by Title Impact (The Ringer)

Bucks literally acquired PJ Tucker with hair in exchange for George Hill and were able to notch the third-most impactful trade ranking behind the Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant deals. Some teams are playing checkers. Jon Horst is playing 98D chess. There’s levels to this business.

The KD And Kyrie Trades Stole The Show At A Wild NBA Trade Deadline (FiveThirtyEight)

One of the more thorough recaps of a majority of the moves made at the deadline I’ve come across so far. Not a ton here about the Bucks, but that is OK because we’d been telegraphing this acquisition for months now. For all intents and purposes, I’ve built up my personal canon that Jae has been a Buck since last September or so and is just now returning from a mysterious injury.

Who are Top 4 teams in East after trade deadline? (NBA.com)

Shaun Powell and Mark Medina get invites to the victory parade this summer. In fairness, we’ll have to check out what version of Jae Crowder we get in the near future. I’m already bought in to the concept of Crowder’s fit on the roster/rotation, but can concede that his impact remains a known unknown. Can he be a net-positive goon? I’ve hopes he can.

Fan Post of the Week

Lonely tumbleweed was well on its way to winning back-to-back-to-back FPOTW awards, then R983 reemerged from the digital wilderness and dropped this bomb on us, “62 Best 3&D Guards/Wings/Forwards”.

Extremely pleased the Bucks picked up a 3&D guy who ranks below Donte DiVincenzo and Torrey Craig on average per R983’s metrics. Jon Horst just can’t help but try to fix his mistakes, can he?

Know Your Enemy (Until SBNation ceases to exist)

Boston Celtics - Celtics Blog - 10 Celtics-centric thoughts following a hectic NBA trade deadline

• I respect the hell out of my fellow blogger saying they think the Bucks closed the gap with the Celtics via the Crowder trade, but that it will make no difference in Boston’s inevitable march to immortality. I’d be saying the same thing in their shoes.

Chicago Bulls - Blog A Bull - Arturas Karnisovas can’t explain himself

• Subtitle: “now we know why he doesn’t talk often, whenever he does it suggests incompetence”. I’ve not read a piece that goes this hard after a front office buffoon in a long time, so I highly encourage you to give it a read. Watching someone go scorched earth is one of the few reasons to actually be on the internet, after all.

The Social Media Section

Jae Crowder and Pat Bev signaling here? Is Mike Budenholzer ready to go to war on a nightly basis?

Go forth and bury thy foes through your magnificence, God Emperor Goof

Bring him home

I’m glad Christian is showing a lot of personal growth on the internet

Huh...

Learned today that Greece has roughly the same population as 3.5 Arkansases

Getting revenge on the Blazers — it is what Pat does

Jordan will go down as one of the Milwaukee Bucks of all time. Bon voyage.

Thank you for the memories and the album, Mafuzzy

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Riley’s 2022-2023 Weekly Prediction Record: 29-27

Milwaukee’s Actual 2022-2023 Record: 39-17

A short week as we head into the All-Star Break! It is nearly a glorified two game home stand with things opening on Tuesday against the Celtics. Then, it’s off down I-94 to play the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday.

If Jae Crowder suits up against Boston I’ll consider it a W regardless of the actual score and the Bulls are returning to their hapless equilibrium. Nobody will actually want to play in that Chicago game, but even lackadaisical Bucks should get it done. 2-0 with great vibes heading into the break.

Happy Monday!