Monday Morning Media Roundup: May 15th, 2023

When the Milwaukee Bucks rolled Mike Budenholzer out to the curb on trash day, one of the prevailing assumptions outside observers held was that surely, SURELY, GM Jon Horst had a top replacement in mind.

Well, er... we’ve got these guys so far:

• Scottie Brooks (lmao)
• Mark Jackson (LMAO)
• Kenny Atkinson (Bud Pt. 2, Electric T.O.galoo)
• James Borrego (got canned and replaced by the guy he originally replaced)
• Charles Lee
• Adrian Griffin (Raps assistant I’ve no thoughts on)

Conspicuously not on that list — so far — is former Toronto head coach Nick Nurse.

In a world where the possibility to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo looked to be the best opening on the market, you could more or less ignore the random people Horst paid the travel expenses for to entertain himself for a few hours. Now, other options like the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers (there’s no way Doc survives this again, right) will end up competing with Milwaukee to secure the best win-now coach available.

The Bucks prepped us for a long process, and that process will likely lengthen if Monty Williams and Doc Rivers also get invites for a quick stop in Milwaukee. If Nurse ends up in the mix, that’s at least a handful of playoff-experienced coaches to pick from and a couple of assistants offering massive boom/bust potential. Unlike the Bud hire, there isn’t a particular silver bullet at hand for Horst to grasp.

And, frankly, there remains the possible impossibility of successfully replacing Budenholzer. When you take a leap as drastic as relieving your head coach at a crucial turning point in your franchise’s arc, you never quite know where you’re going to land.

Let’s roundup!

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The Bucks’ Playoff Defeat Has Caused Giannis To Massively Think (Defector)

Let the record show that I used the image of Giannis looking like a discount supervillain as the header for last week’s MMMR before he used it on his Instagram. Giannis, I know you’re reading! Don’t be shy about reaching out!

My initial reaction to a lot of Giannis’s posting in the immediate aftermath of the defeat is that he’s a goof, if only because nobody really cares two weeks removed from said defeat. I mean, people care, but hitting the “grindset” button after you just got punked is sorta boring at best. There I go being a member of the legion of haters, though.

Giannis Antetokounmpo ‘forever grateful’ to Mike Budenholzer (ESPN)

Went to war with a dude by your side, reached the mountaintop, then more or less OK’d canning him, and finally topped it by posting the social media equivalent of this gif:

The Suns Lost to a Better Team. Now They Have Work to Do. (The Ringer) & Is This the End of the Warriors’ Dynasty? (The Ringer)

Somewhere between comforting and annoying is the knowledge of all the other teams who also crashed out of these playoffs. Not as bad as the Bucks did, mind you, but misery loves company, and boy am I happy to see miserable Suns fans flailing aimlessly on the internet as the Kevin Durant gamble detonated the first go-around. I’m not sure if Warriors fans are too bummed since they already have three more rings than we do in the contemporary era.

They’re interesting inasmuch as its an aging core that may have to part ways for any number of reasons — sort of like the Bucks, except with a lot more success at the highest level to cherish as the twin realities of time and the CBA bring the dynasty down.

NBA announces 78 Draft Combine participants, but no Victor Wembanyama (Basketballnews.com)

78 participants means Mr. 58 himself may be in this particular mix. Happy to hear from those readers far more informed than I am if there are any names you 1) Would be interested in 2) Have any chance of being the vessel of all our franchise’s hopes and dreams in the coming season(s).

Fan Post of the Week

Where in the World Is... Jae Crowder’s Next Team?

Firstly, we congratulate one of Jae Crowder’s possible overseas employers, Telekom Baskets Bonn, who just won the Basketball Champions League in Europe. Yes, I am all-powerful.

• The city: Adelaide, Australia - pop. ~1.3 million
• The league: NBL
• The pay: Whatever the hell you can convince the Aussies to pay you if you can convince them to make you a “marquee player” (i.e. exempt from the salary cap)
• The logo: Looks like the love child of the Sixers and the Pelicans

• The pitch: Jae, you and I both know you’re not quite the player you once were. You threw a fit about starting minutes in Phoenix and were deemed so unimportant by your employer that they happily paid to keep you away. In your words, you cut off your finger to save your hand only to find out that having all ten fingers is valuable in professional basketball. So in some sense, you’re maybe a little less than half the player you once were. Like you’re ~47.3% of the player you once were. In that spirit, instead of dreaming of the 76ers, we’ve got you the 36ers. Frankly, the team has been bad the past four seasons and have nothing to lose paying you a lot of money to show them what it means to have a winning mentality. Go get ‘em.

The Social Media Section

So begins the chronicle of the Legendary Third Little Antetokounmpo

Things that aged really well

Let’s push all the chips in and trot out the league’s first three co-head coach setup

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The one upside to some of the names getting thrown around the Bucks job so far is that it can’t possibly get less inspiring. They could bring in as many assistants to interview as they like and I’d be happy as a clam since I wouldn’t know any better about their qualifications. Right now the team is softening us up for the Mike D’Antoni appointment. I see right through their ruse.

Happy Monday!