The Milwaukee Bucks dip their toes into the free agency waters with two signings on day one

The Milwaukee Bucks dip their toes into the free agency waters with two signings on day one

today’s lock on bucks is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started on today’s show the Bucks get started in free agency they add two names one we suspect will play significantly more than the other but two very intriguing names so we dig into what they could provide especially that one name what it could mean for other players the Bucks may have been interested in bringing back and what we continue to see in terms of moves across the Eastern Conference we’ll get into that conversation next un locked on bucks you are locked on bucks your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome into locked on bucks I’m Justin Garcia joined by Camille Davis and we thank you for making locked on bucks your first listen every day we’re free and available wherever you get your podcast you can find us and and view Us on YouTube as well all part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day uh Camille we mentioned at the top the Bucks make some mov moves in the free agency we uh wondered what it was going to look like for a lot of teams I think you and I talked about this last week two is when is Paul George going to sign because that’s probably going to hold up a lot of deals for a number of teams and um I think Frank and I talked about this on the show we taped Sunday night but we both assumed it’s gonna be one of those weird things where if you’re a psycho that’s up you’ll see it in real time but you’ll wake up to something at a a new news report by wo your Shams that was dropped at 3: or 4 in the morning that Paul George is is going here and that’s basically what we got um it did seem though as if maybe there wasn’t quite as much hold up as I think we anticipated part of that is is probably just the players that were out there and the types of of deals that there were to be made but I I do want to get to a couple things about the overall scope of free agency that we’ve noticed so far but we do have to start with those two names that I mentioned that the Bucs added we’ll get to Stanley Amud in just a second but uh the place to start is dlan Riot and this is one of those players that a lot of us had talked about as a potential Target for the bucks this summer they were linked to him at the trade deadline I think Chris Dunn was probably number one in the uh preference for both of us for Frank as well for most Bucks fans uh but the LA right wasn’t too far behind kind and I think he checks a lot of boxes for this team I think the the tricky part is he can start sure but it’s it’s more of a spot starter six not even six starter type A guy that can start if you need that for short periods I think ideally he is your number one combo guard coming off the bench that’s pretty much where he’s thrived throughout his career so that becomes the other missing piece of the puzzle now is you feel pretty good about this depth with dlon Wright and what he can bring but now you just wait and see okay who’s starting at two guard do you envision dlon Wright is it somebody that’s already on the roster it’s it’s somebody else so that’s all part of the wait and see mode for this offseason for the bucks that’s the question because as soon as I saw the theine right signing my first reaction was just okay not bad like not bad I didn’t know if he was going to go for a minimum slightly above the minimum so to see him sign you know pretty much day two a free agency with the bucks for a minimum I was okay not bad not bad not a starter uh you know during his career he’s been more so a guy coming off the bench as you mentioned a spot starter throughout his career but uh he brings in what the Bucs have been looking for which is that point of attack defense so danan Wright 65 as you mentioned the combo guard he has been around the league on multiple teams I believe this is team what number nine for him nine or 10 or something like that yes it’s a lot that sounds right right he’s been around but again sometimes that just goes to show you as wellam number nine number nine okay where it’s like he’s been around but a lot of the teams that he’s been around have been playoff teams um outside of last year where he was with the Wizards and then he kind of fell out the rotation with the young guys and he was hurt a little bit then he gets bought out uh he goes to Miami and you see him in the first round in that Miami series like of course they had the Jimmy Butler injury but he put in some real minutes during that first round series and had an impactful game as well um the the thing I always look to see is how do fans of the the team base that he just came from how do they react to it um and seeing heat FRS just kind of like what are we doing how do we let Delon right get away like how and he went to Milwaukee all this is terrible may feel a little bit better seeing that reaction uh to his signing but I do think he’s going to be a useful player the question that I still have for the bucks right now though is who was that starting two guard um are they projecting that this is going to be a chance that they take on him are they looking at somebody who’s on already on the roster like you mentioned is is it going to be Andre Jackson Jr is it going to be AJ Green like who is going to be that starting two guard is he not on the roster yet is there still a move to be made for the bugs to get that guy on their roster but um I think Wright is a really solid rotational piece he’s not like a knockdown shooter he’s definitely not Malik Beasley when it comes to that but he’s all right at the three um he’s somebody who should benefit again from gravity being created by Giannis and by Dame getting some open looks and above all he should be able to play some defense not the level that he did a few years ago but I think that he brings to the table a lot of what Pat Bev did for you but a little bit taller and honestly probably a little bit better at this stage in their respective careers so I’m I’m glad you brought up the name pep Bev because I’ve I’ve seen a handful of Bucks fans um social media on Reddit wherever just I don’t know if it’s upset but merely pointing out I would assume this means that P Bev is is not going to be brought back and I would make that assumption as well um they basically check the same boxes and I think at this point in their careers and a few of the other things that we’ll get to in terms of his overall style of play thean Wright is probably a better fit for you than Pat Beverly uh was especially at you know a player that’s already Beyond his mid-30s in Pat Beverly and a team that is searching to get younger you shaved what about four years five years off of your backup point guard age with this signing um but look I think the big things are he is a better shooter than pep Everly it’s as you mentioned it’s not like he’s a knockdown shooter um but he’s he’s he’s decent enough um he can certainly knock down open shots he’s been a very good shooter in the playoffs too he’s played in more than 40 postseason games Celtics fans were quick to point out as well you know he was one of the few guys that was actually really good in that series against us this past year he shot 60% on thre in that Series against the Celtics uh just a couple of months ago but through his career through 40 41 playoff games he’s a 43% three-point shooter so you know when we have the conversation about 16 versus 82 players I don’t know that it’s a a finalized product here that you can say hey Delon Wright is clearly a postseason guy but his numbers have risen to that level in those moments and that’s the things that you would look for the other big parts are again he’s a better shooter than Pat Beverly he’s younger than Pat Beverly and his size is the other big part of it is he going to be able to defend Wings bigger Wings threes um probably not that’s going to be a challenge but we’ve seen throughout his career he can switch off between ones and twos and holds more than holds his own out there on the perimeter defensively so in that regard it’s a pretty nice move for the bucks pretty good value to get dlon right at the a vet minimum for that one year and um since we’re in the mood for just kicking around names and comps and and what uh his role reminds you of I I think that’s the thing to point out here it’s not so much his game that reminds me of this player but his role with the bucks um what you envision at least reminds me of what you had with Javon Carter two years ago and how you’re going to look to use him in that there’s going to be moments where he’s on the floor with d Daman Lillard there’s going to be moments where he’s spelling Damen Lillard and he’s running the offense and here’s he’s your defensive guy out there that can give you some of those Sparks so in that sense I think that’s another thing I know Pat Beverly technically did that last year um but I just think it’s another thing when we look for fits and what type of role will he play that dlon Wright is going to provide more so than Pat Beverly would have yeah and I think the size piece is is a big piece of it as well I mean being 65 uh it just helps especially as a accountable guard I think that’s one of the appealing parts of him as well like you mentioned a lot of what Pat beev did last year as well but Carter is a good a good pull as well just someone that kind of reference in regards to the role that they had on the team that we might see with Wright as well because he does he’s somebody who can come in and spell Damen Lillard he can be the backup point guard Off the Bench and he can also play with Damen Lillard and we mentioned that before even with Chris Dunn being at the top of our list one thing that we’ve talked about was like if they do do that like they’ll a little bit smaller um but like we trust in Chris Dunn’s defense to kind of make up for that but the line right is 65 when you see him on the court if you play him next to Dame you’re like okay I can see this working it feels like a good fit there um and like you said value I think that’s a great word for it and the reality of it is we knew that the Bucks were going to have to be in the value Bend as it is because of their current cap situation um I mean second apron talk has been the talk of the NBA throughout free agency so far with even the Clippers was putting out a press release before Paul George even signed somewhere like like the new CVA and the cap and we tried and all this other stuff so seeing the Bucs get right out that value bin so to speak I think that’s a really good pickup for him there’s still some questions I think with the roster and we did see the Bucks are still looking for a couple of different more things that they mentioned after the press conference of um drafting AJ Johnson of what they’re looking for um still mentioned they wanted a big they wanted some shooting I feel like they got some W or some perimeter defense here as well as some guard size with this signing so uh we’ll see how else they target trying to get more shooting as well as a more versatile defensive big in this offseason given the fact that they’re going to be value Bend shopping unless they’re able to make some trades um yeah and you Frank and I kind of kicked around some names on the show that we did last night yesterday’s show the interesting piece here uh to me is how the Bucks use what we presume to be three open roster spots how they use those spots so this is one of them I know there we mentioned there was another move made as we learned that was a two-way signing so not quite as much uh what you would look at in terms of well now they have this to play with but I am curious your thoughts on what are the goals for now those final two spots to fill those out and what type of players was should the Bucks be looking at here we’ll get into that conversation and that other name that we mentioned a two-way deal for Stanley umud um thoughts on his game I do recall very vividly watching him in one game last season so we’ll share some thoughts on that and could this be the buck striking gold with something as I’ve seen a lot of writeups and scouting reports on umud um umud from uh when he entered the draft a couple of years ago projecting What type of game he would bring and the best case scenario is exactly what the Bucks are looking for right now so we’ll get into that conversation coming up next unlocked on bucks well it’s time to talk to you now about our friends at FanDuel as we mentioned the sports calendar starting to wind down now we all love sports and never want them to stop but as those things start to wind down you get fewer games and the sports just aren’t sporting like we all want them to the FanDuel is here to keep the sports going for you whenever you want all you have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime you are in the mood this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right it means something for everyone every day all summer long head over to fanduel.com locked on and start making the most out of your summer fan duel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball all right Camille the other name was uh we mentioned there Stanley ude who had spent time with the Detroit Pistons um last year he primarily played in the g-league for the Pistons but was there at the tail end the 2223 season and then last year played in 24 games for them uh collegiately he’s most remembered for his time at Arkansas transferred from South Dakota he was on that Arkansas team with the other Jaylen Williams and it was a tenacious defense he was a big piece of it um I think a lot of Bucks fans probably weren’t very familiar with him and saw the name and thought wait what and especially since that was the first name the bucks came out out of the gates with of here’s who the Bucks have signed you think I mean I knew there were limited resources but wow how just how limited so I think the first thing most fans probably did was you just go to look up clips and scouting reports and what can I get my eyes on here for Amud and you see the very best plays the tantalizing things for him that’s the thing about the highlights and in this those scouting reports is you see the best plays you don’t necessarily see the others um but I mentioned I went back and I found some scouting reports from other draft people from two years ago going into the draft and it seemed almost unanimous that it was one of those guys that you said a lot of the the talk we had about a lot of players in this draft of look here’s what a ceiling is it’s probably a three and D guy who could be able to if if he harnesses everything he could be able to to carve out a role as maybe a eighth man on the roster that’s out there for defense pretty good shooter especially in the catch and shoot form a very good athlete has very decent size as well on the perimeter and showed a lot of switchability at Arkansas and at times with the Pistons last year certainly in the g-league but that’s what you would look at and say okay if things break right for this guy he can shoot he brings that with the three and D aspect he’s a very good athlete yeah he could be a very You Know instrumental bench piece for you is that going to happen this year who knows you know maybe but I think the fact that it’s a two-way contract is where you have to temper your expectations and say look maybe you find something here there have been a lot of success stories coming out of the g-league and the other thing I I I don’t recall if you and I have had this conversation but these are the types of moves that intrigue me the most and I’m most in favor of for two-way contracts because it’s a guy that has a little bit of something and you feel like okay we’ve seen him at the pro level for a handful of games let’s really see if we can harness this and and really treat this as you know a developmental system and like the minors that you see in Major League Baseball too um those are the types of moves that I’m very in favor of in using your two-way deals on versus you know especially the first iteration of two-ways when we sell the Bucks just signing local products or just the guys that you knew I mean best case scenario for this guy is is what he can maybe be your 13th guy that he has one thing that he does well AJ Green you know when we talk about two-way deals and and guys really developing AJ Green you have to start there too that he started on a two-way deal and carved out a role with this team it took a year a year plus for AJ so maybe it’s the same in this instance but I was really encouraged by this type of signing as a two-way contract yeah a 66 Swingman who as you mentioned projects to be a three and D guy and still in this ba three and D guys Wing Defenders they are going to be high value guys every team needs them I mean we just watch the Celtics win a championship with a combination of just Five Guys on the court who can shoot pass and defend um so of course like especially people are copycatting but Wing Defenders have always been involed like that’s something that you need um what it makes me think about too is Ryan Rollins and Jaylen Galloway are still signed as two-way guys with him getting this third spot makes me wonder what happens with Tai Tai Washington it seems like this might be the end of the road um with Tai Tai here in Milwaukee I know that people had some some hopes something could turn into something with him as well as a backup point guard for the bucks or something of that ilk but um the buck seem to be going in on that that Wing Defender as we just mentioned um a lot of what you mentioned that he projects to do I think is what people are looking at with Chris Livingston for example 66 big body um someone who projects to be able to defend but the difference is that with uh umad is that we’ve seen him in limited handful of like NBA games a bigger sample size what we’ve seen from a Chris Livingston or something like that and the way the Bucks are building out their roster is so fascinating to me right now because as we mentioned they clearly had some holes on this team that they needed to fix we had questions about how they would do it given the fact that they are in a pretty difficult situation with their salary cap they don’t have access to like the mid level or anything like that to entice some guys to come here so was like what are they going to do and seeing the draft with them going with two young guys who don’t project to contribute much in their first year uh seeing them now go and make this you know two-way signing with a um day where it’s like okay we are trying to see hopefully someone in this group can pop for us because we’re going to need this youth athleticism to come through and it’s doesn’t seem like the Bucks are rushing it but it’s like at the same it’s like we’re trying to find some vets to play immediately hence again the right signing where it’s like he can definitely be a rotational piece he can definitely be a top eight guy in your rotation in the playoffs but on the other side of this as well we’re looking a little bit ahead to next year the year after that and seeing if any of these younger guys that we’re drafting can be something because we see that potential in them like you mentioned what we talked about with this draft where it’s a lot of guys who don’t have complete games but you see these outlines and you’re like if they can hit their potential or we believe that we can teach them X and Y and help them unlock something that’s what they’re going for and it’s a really interesting approach and one that I did not consider um that this new CBA might make the Bucks and other teams in the situation lean into a little bit heavier yeah I mean we mentioned that that word of development that we heard JJ reck really lean into that we wondered too is this something that Doc Rivers and Company are looking at and you know certainly you’re looking to develop those two draft picks with um what the overall impression is of of where their game is currently at uh Amud is another one that you would throw into that category though um he’s maybe more of a you can put this in the microwave versus you have to bake it that I think that’s kind of the timeline that that it looks like he’s on here but all the tools uh that you would look for you mentioned the size he has a 610 wingspan um I know it’s just college but it’s easy to get very excited when you watch a lot of that College film of what they did defensively at Arkansas and how he switched from really one through four a lot of times out there uh with the Razer backs and a 40 plus perc three-point shooter albeit in limited attempts in those 24 games for the Pistons but shot better than 40% he’s got a good-look stroke too so very interesting move to keep an eye on here for the bucks with that uh that signing of Stanley Amud to a two-way deal and I mentioned I did remember seeing him one game that as as soon as I saw the name I thought that sounds familiar um he had a very nice game against Golden State Warriors this past year and I remember that because the Bucks were playing the Pistons either the next day or two days later was their next game so I was watching the Pistons game to get ready um for that broadcast and this guy that I had never heard of was making plays I think he finished with 15 or 16 points hit a couple of Threes had some defensive plays in that game so again very very limited but he’s shown flashes of it at the NBA level and C ly in the G League where he averaged about 17 or 18 points per game last season so uh interesting signing made there by the Bucks it leaves them as of this moment we think with two roster spots with no trades made yet so let’s just assume this is how this team is going to carry into the season two roster spots open Frank and I kind of talked about uh yesterday what would you target maybe not so much players per se but but what are you targeting I think everybody kind of assumed you get one of each of the three needs that you had we knew they needed some backourt depth we keep saying they need a bigger wing and they need some help in the front court so is it as simple as okay now you just got to find the best of what’s out there for wings and big men could be it could be and I I do Wonder too because I’ve always been someone who liked going into the season with just 14 guys under contract where you have that flexibility with that last roster spot in case something happens uh but given where the Bucks are with the cap and everything like that I was wondering I mean one saves you a little bit of money by not having to to have that minimum guy on that 15th spot um but also just thinking about we I mean to the NASA’s piece is so interesting still where it’s like we know that he’s been a member of this team but the Achilles injury coming um after the season ended what does that mean for him in the Bucks this year do you keep that spot open in case something shakes with him later on like just throwing it out that one I don’t see as being as likely I just want to be completely honest at this point but you never know just given the ties that the nases has to the team um especially with Giannis being here as well and just what he has been to this franchise uh during his time here as well so I do wonder if there’s anything with him that comes back around and if not um looking at the market it’s like okay there are still some bigs out there I did see Mo Bamba is now gone he’s going to the Clippers along with Chris Dum where it’s like wow okay you got two two guys who bugs fans have been clamoring for a bit with these uh value contracts but um yeah the buck still need some like a lot of the still the same problems that we saw with the roster last year are still here we mentioned like hey getting right definitely helps it gets you that point of attack Defender that you need you don’t longer have Malik Beasley as a starting to but there’s still questions around who’s starting uh we saw that the Bucks have had some news come out about them wanting to have a more versatile defensive scheme are there any young bigs or bigs on the market that can bring something different to the table defensively um that will allow you to kind of start playing around of what that versatility might look like for the team is there anybody out there I know you guys mentioned uh precious Dua before landing on a tman where it’s like ah that that would fit as well so do one of those two guys sign with the bugs here in one of those last spots but personally I would still try to keep that 15th spot clear um just as an in case situation um who knows maybe a trade is made for one of the guys that we’ve mentioned Brook Bobby or PC where you might get two guys back and again having that extra roster spot helps with the flexibility there so um what I would say Target at least one of the other two like if you can get one of those bigs that we mentioned if you can get auua if you can get tman go ahead and pull that trigger if there’s anyone else on the market who can give you some shooting as well because I think that is a piece of what Malik Beasley brought to the table that the Bucks will miss having that guy off well we wanted him to come off the bench but just having that guy who can come in the game um and be an unconscious shooter a high volume shooter at a very efficient clip like if you can find somebody who can also give you some shooting uh on that free agency market I think that could be really really valuable for this team as well well you know uh we’ll save this for after the break because there’s a few things I want to point out about that and clear up some things on this the roster as it currently stands right now as well and I think a few important pieces to um to really clarify with the dyon Wright signing so we’ll get to that conversation coming up next after the break here unlocked on bucks if you’re watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day and have to turn down the volume because of the shouting means it’s time to make the switch to lockon sports today it is a free 247 sports streaming channel that is programmed for you every day bringing you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news in it streams 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day um so as it currently sits Camille the Bucks have including um this signing here of Delon Wright they have 11 players under contract uh um they did not sign either of their draft picks yet so that’s kind of the caveat and you mentioned the two-way deal that the Bucks signed a mud to and what that could mean for Tai Tai Washington I do wonder if because we’ve seen a lot of teams trying to force those second round picks onto two-way deals I don’t know if we ever received clarification that this is not going to be a two-way deal for uh for Ty there so I I wonder about that I would assume Aj Johnson is not going to be on a two-way deal as a first round draft pick but you know the interesting Parts about all of this in where the Bucks save some money is the vet minimum so Eric name clarified we saw the initial report that it was 3.3 million for Delan wri and I think a lot of us kind of scratched our heads and thought okay what move is coming next for the bucks cleared up some money uh Eric did clarify it is a vet minimum which is 3.1 million but with those vet minimum deals the league subsidizes part of it so only 2. essentially one million counts towards the Bucks cap so you save a little bit of money there um if you do sign Aj Johnson to a contract it’s going to be more than that 2.08 9 whatever it is figure um but it’s it would give you the flexibility then if you just do one and one is on a two-way um and again I don’t know if that’s even in the cards and if this was part of a conversation that we saw a lot of Agents push back push back on and say no we’re not doing a two-way contract my guy is getting a guaranteed deal in the second round or at least that one year guaranteed but if you were to do that then it would lead you to those two spots that R reference where you would still be at 14 guys and keep one open roster spot but you would also save a little bit of money with the the value of those signings with the league subsidizing the minimums and then in that case I suppose it all depends on on what types of moves they think are going to be there you and I talked about this late last week that if let’s say Bobby poris were to be traded that’s a move that I would expect to come later in free agency not like late late like when the Bucks signed Brook Lopez that was what mid to late August uh six years ago uh not necessarily there but July 15 somewhere around there a couple of weeks into free agency after teams have seen okay we missed out on this guy we missed out on this guy so let’s go get this guy and Bobby poris so that’s going to be an interesting thing to monitor because especially I I think the one area where you could say what the Bucks do let’s say it’s two guys that they’re going to sign uh to the vet minimum here two additional guys that could kind of tip their hand of any moves coming are what if you sign two bigs right what if those names that we mentioned what if you get precious auua and Xavier Tilman for example okay now this is interesting because that leads you to believe they’ve got something worked they got something cooking on either Brook Lopez or Bobby poris here that’s what make you think for sure because you wouldn’t figure that the Bucks would go into the season with you know four or five bigs on their roster feels like something would be happening and Brook Lopez name is the one that you’re still kind of hearing rumbled about um with various teams having interest in Brook Lopez and as the market continues to unfold I think as you mentioned you will start to see where some of these other teams have holes and feel like okay let’s actually Circle back around um there are some really interesting teams being thrown out with interest in Brook Lopez like a San Antonio Spurs which is really interesting after like the Chris Paul signing and it’s kind of okay what are you envisioning for this season not saying that the Spurs are going to be trying to make a big playoff push or anything like that but just getting the vets in the door to kind of help this team as it finds its next iteration or you can look at Orlando was a team that was mentioned before with Brook Lopez interest where you see wow you got kcp like that’s a that’s a really nice vet pickup who brings a lot of shooting that the team needs as they are negotiating things I did see they’re looking to renegotiate with Jonathan Isaac um and try to find a new contract that works for him there if those talks go sour if it’s more than you expected then do you make a move from okay we need to make another move for window Carter Jr uh we’ve heard the Lakers having interest in Brook Lopez and they’re trying to figure all kinds of things out LeBron already came out saying I’ll take a discount if these guys come most of them are gone so we could probably expect for Bron get his money but the conversations are so fluid things change a lot um so you would think as you mentioned if you do see the bugs picking up two bigs that there’s a move coming um and even just looking at they pick another Wing player or something like that it would make you really question like okay what is this rotation looking like what does it mean for a pat conon somebody who we’ve seen play consistent minutes for this team as a vet um but last year you saw slipping a little bit we’ve heard Doc Rivers mention the the faith that he has in Pat conon as well so he could be a DOT guy at this point or is somebody going to come in and you know make Pat’s minutes a little bit less for him because they came in and pushed that pace for him and were like I need to be on this court as well so um it’s going to be really interesting to see that I’m really looking forward this the summer league starting up in a couple of weeks as well just to get a look at some of these young guys especially if this is going to be the most extensive look that we get to see with them um and also curious to see if any of the third year guys are on the team if we’re seeing AJ Green or Mar on the team or if they’re already kind of quotequote graduated uh from summer league and they just might be there to support but I don’t know it’s really interesting like like you said I don’t think for the bucks we’re going to see like everything solidified within the next couple of days it’s probably going to take some weeks uh for everything they kind of settle in for the bucks a a couple other names that were interesting that we’ve seen throughout the course of the day on um on Monday that have uh signed deals you mentioned moamba uh so that’s gone for the bucks goes to the Clippers Gary Harris another name that was out there and granted I think a lot of us assume well Gary Harris isn’t taking the minimum and Gary Harris takes a two-year 14 million deal to stay with the Orlando Magic um Garrett Temple another interesting guy that would have fit some needs for the bucks he signs a one-year deal to stay in Toronto with the Raptors and goab baz stays in Orlando with the magic on a deal it’s going to pay him about $8 million uh per year so that’s also interesting when you mentioned the Jonathan Isaac component they already have Wendell Carter on the roster um are they looking to maybe turn Wendell Carter into something else in terms of a big and Goa baz at that dollar figure is your backup big it it leads us to the brook conver Brook Lopez conversation Frank and I spoke about this quite quite a bit on the the show last night but wanted to give you a chance to share your thoughts if you had any um I don’t know what to expect in terms of Trades if if the Bucks do in fact trade Brook Lopez uh we would certainly be saddened because of the value that he brings and you know the more Frank and I talk through scenarios and even before we started recording we were kicking back and forth what are the the realistic trade proposal that have been pitched out there by Bucks fans or sourced ones on the Brook Lopez front and talked through those and I just keep coming back to regardless of how you feel about Brook Lopez I don’t know that there is a trade out there at least among what has been proposed through the trade machine and everywhere else that makes sense that makes the Bucks a better team there are trades that will make you different but I don’t see the trade involving Brook Lopez that makes you a better team and you know as as we talked about maybe you can get some switchability right maybe you can get a guy that can hold up on the perimeter what are you doing in the post what are you doing for you bigs because again it’s not going to be honest it that he doesn’t want it you can do it in the playoffs in closing situations in the playoffs but you’re not going to do it throughout the course of 82 games um so you got a very big gaping hole to fill there and all these names we kicked around even if the Bucks let’s say made a trade where they ship out Brook Lopez and they bring in just for for S’s and G’s they bring in Marcus Smart where you just do a one for one the names that we kicked around precious aoua Xavier Tillman even if you sign both of those guys I I don’t know how much that really changes you right you it changes your perimeter defense it certainly weakens your PO your your your low post defense and your Rim protecting ability I know Giannis can be the rim protector but to me the tricky part is if you trade Brook Lopez I think you almost have to in the deal get a switchable big get like a stretch four in the deal so that’s the guy that plays next to Giannis and Giannis is the rim protector in closing situations and among all those teams that we kicked around and said well this one sense and this one makes sense you’re not getting that anywhere I mean unless you say well tar een could eventually be that I don’t think he is at least not that stretch four he’s more of a three type of guy um that that’s the real struggle that I have with this is are we doing something just to do something like even the magic deal let’s say you worked out a deal where you take back some piece of salary filler and uh Wendell Carter and not to match Brook’s salary but just to get you under that second apron per se I mean Wendell Carter is a nice player but he’s a downgrade over Brook Lopez offensively and defensively so part of me really wonders for all the reasons we talked about before of look it’s it’s not the worst thing in the world to carry Brook Lopez into the season on an expiring contract to have a $23 million trade ship that you can use and if you can get under that second apron too at the deadline or during the season you can aggregate Brook Lopez with someone else at the deadline to trade for another piece that would make sense or you just go into the season play it out and Brook Lopez leaves or retires or whatever and that $23 million is off your cap um but what I’m most curious your thoughts on the more I look at what has happened already in the Eastern Conference you there’s no move like that for the bucks with their roster constraints right they’re they’re not going to go out and get the kale Bridges they’re not going to sign a Paul George type they’re not going to be a add those types of pieces that I really wonder if your best course of action here is to just say I I I know the definition of insanity but we really feel like if we stay healthy we’re still as good as any of those teams and none of these moves that we would make I I feel like it chips away at what we have so our best course of action as much as people may not want to hear it may just be not necessarily status quo but largely stat status quo I don’t know if there’s a singular move that can be made there might be a series of moves but that feels like you’re you’re counting on a few different you know things to break your way where it’s like we need to trade Brook in a separate trade and then get packed out in a separate trade and then maybe like it feels like it’s a little too much going on in that in that sense where it’s like there’s no singular move that you can do um with trading Brook Lopez that immediately improves you like like you mentioned even if you did do a trade where like Brook Lopez for Bruce Brown straight up and you get a quality starting two guard there it’s like okay well now who’s your Center we’ve talked about it this particular free agent Market when it comes to centers wasn’t a great one it wasn’t a great one and then the ones that you would want the Bucks couldn’t afford so um it was a question of like again does moamba interest you but now that’s not even an option because he’s with the Clippers do you want to take a chance on James wisman who you know is still young but just has not lived up uh to that lottery draft pick that he was is that what you want to do is that what you really want to entrust you know as your anchor in this situation where you are still trying to be for a championship while in the background as we’ve mentioned you have some of those guys uh for Player Development like is that what you want to do it doesn’t seem like it would be what you would want to do and to your point I think that there is a possibility you just go into the season and see how it plays out you have a whole few months to see how it works out um um a couple months under dock fully being able to incorporate how he wants it to be ran um a chance for Brook Lopez to continue to show his value across the league and then you try to trade them at the deadline um I think what a lot of bugs fans don’t want to see happen is where it’s like you don’t trade them at the deadline um you don’t reach another contract extension with them at at a better level that you would be more comfortable with paying him and then he walks away for quote unquote nothing where it’s like to your point you get the salary cap relief for sure because there’s 23 million coming off your books clean and you’re going to get the little boost from the the TV deals coming in but you didn’t you weren’t able to flip an asset into another asset at a time where you don’t have many Assets in your cupboard right now to trade like can you get something can you recoup something if he’s not going to be part of the long-term term so I I get it for sure I just similar to what you said I just don’t want to make a move just to make a move for move sake like it has to make sense and if you are moving Brooke for a non- center then there needs to be another move to figure out a way to get a starting caliber Center in but as we’ve mentioned there are not many guys around the league that bring everything that Brook Lopez brings to the table even though he is older and slower the rim protection is still there uh the three-point shot is still there his ability to score in the post is still there when he’s given opportunity to do so um so like there’s value in bringing Brook Lopez back I can see that being disappointing to some people um but you don’t want to sell yourself short where you know you’re selling them for 75 cents on the dollar um with the disclaimer that this is all Reckless speculation here um when when I look at Western Conference teams that’s going to be the interesting thing to me because um we’ve seen a handful of teams in the west take a step backward right I mean the Warriors made some moves um DeAnthony Melton is in theory a nice signing for the Warriors but they’ve started to really lose a lot along the way the Clippers you know you and I were talking too like what what is what is going on here with the Clippers then you’re drawing the line here but you’re going to keep signing these other guys they’ve taken a step backward um regardless of how you feel about the Lakers I think they’ve just kind of treaded water so far but to me some of those other teams that the Denver Nuggets we didn’t even mention they took a big step backward um if you’re a team like the Grizzlies or the Sacramento Kings um even you know to a lesser extent the Timberwolves and we’ve seen the Thunder do this now too the time is now to say look these teams are are starting to slide back the Rockets those teams the time is now to go out there and say all right here’s our chance to maybe crack the top three and then who knows from there we’ve talked through the Rockets scenarios and I I think of all of the trades that logistically would make the most sense you come back to that Rocket’s potential trade for in theory what Stephen Adams and tar E I think we’ve all aligned on I think the Rockets were probably push back quite a bit on the tar e component but whatever um the magic one we’ve talked about one other one we haven’t talked about and there is no sourcing on this or anything it’s just merely looking at the landscape of the conferences what these teams have started to do and contracts what if the sacr kings called the Bucks and said we want to play and I know it didn’t necessarily work in Indiana but we want to play domas at the four and we want to bring in more vets and we feel like now is the time for us to win this Division and go in another Deep Run we kept Malik monk we have uh dearen Fox that’s really coming into his own we’ve seen guys like Keegan Murray start to take a step uh forward here what if the kings called the Bucks and said we got we got a deal for you that we think is going to give you one of the things you’re looking for and it’s certainly going to give you some cap relief here it would knock the Bucks under the second apron Harrison Barnes for Brook Lopez straight up do you do that trade now that one was flowed out there before but it was with uh Davon Mitchell attached to it as well before he was traded out so I was like that one was kind of interesting to me to be able to get the the young Scrappy defensive guard another undersized guy but Harrison Barnes straight up for Brooke for me that doesn’t move me enough to be like yeah let’s let’s go and do that I get the salary cap savings for sure Haron Barnes is still uh he’s an effective player like he can he can play some meaningful minutes for you but for what the Bucks need and with his size like I just that one wouldn’t move it for me um because I feel like that would still require a lot more Giannis at the five uh to have Harrison Barnes out there and that just doesn’t feel like a realistic fit like I get it for sure um but unless there’s another move corresponding with that to bring in like trade someone else out to get another big in I wouldn’t I wouldn’t personally go for it would you um no I would lean towards no but again it’s just looking through okay this would match up this would seemingly fit what both of the teams are looking for um the challenges with it for me are what you just mentioned in that it it makes more sense in closing minutes of the games um to have at the five and Harrison Barnes at your four and it’s not necessarily five out that you’re playing but it’s it’s four out with Giannis assuming you have a lethal shooter or at least a good shooter at uh two guard there but yeah that’s the big piece is what do you do throughout the course of the regular season because you still need a center to absorb those minutes so Giannis isn’t doing it and then if you get that then you’re selling Harrison Barnes hey for us and you started all 82 years last year in the last couple of years but you’re going to be our sixth man so I just and and that’s kind of where we’re at with these trades for Brook Lopez which again brings me back to I think the best course is to not do anything and just say all right this this really is our last shot with this group so we think if we stay healthy I know the Knicks got better I know the Sixers got better we’ll see about the Cavs I think their coach is better who knows what moves they make but it could be very tough in the East the Pacers were in the Conference Finals but we think it if we’re healthy were as good as any of those teams the real difficulty and the last thing to I suppose wrap on here is I kind of mention this with Frank but let’s say you move Brooke and and again Brook’s been very good for the bucks in the playoffs the last years but a guy like that you would look at say well he’s very valuable in the regular season in the playoffs it needs to be in a tandem you you need him for moments you need somebody else that can play a different style in those other moments but if you move him you leave yourself very vulnerable and exposed during the regular season for the bulk of those other moments that we spoke about and as we just mentioned in a conference where the Celtics are still going to be very good where a couple of other teams got better if you do that I mean think about what it was like the year that Brook Lopez missed two-thirds of the season with an injury and this is a better conference than it was that season so let’s say you do something like that do you run the risk of saying hey we’re fighting for the six-seater we’re fighting to possibly be stay out of the playan tournament I mean that is realistically on the table if that’s the type of step backward you’re going to be taking in the regular season with the absence of a guy like Brook Lopez it’s definitely on the table I mean we were worried towards the end of this past season like hey are the BS going to fall into the four seat because the math was mathing in that way where it was a possibility to see them fall down to four and it’s like we could have like up the two spot a while ago had we not gone on this losing streak here but that’s the thing with the NBA season it is long and as the games add up and one of those random Tuesday night losses which can snowball into a two three game losing streak um can really come back and bite you at the end of the season especially when you have other teams competing you already mentioned Boston defending champ you expect them to to win or to be number one in the East again after the regular season you have Philly which has a really strong big three and if they’re healthy that’s going to be really formidable you mentioned the Knicks they also need a center at this point now uh with uh hardenstein going to OKC but they look like they’re going to be tough as well with Mel Bridges coming over there you got the Pacers who are going to be in year two of this current iteration with uh Pascal cakam and Tyrese halberton kind of running the show we didn’t even mentioned Cleveland we’re still not sure exactly what they’re going to do but they’re not going to be just a walkover team if Donan Mitchell does resign there um and then of course Miami hasn’t really done anything but you always give Miami a certain level of respect knowing that you can’t just assume you’re going to win against Miami you’re going to have to earn it we mentioned Orlando what they have done so far in this off season uh with kcp going there they can be better so like it’s a chance for sure if the Bucks aren’t healthy or things don’t break their way um that you do see them in that middle section of the playoff contention for the for the Eastern Conference where it’s like you know last year it was clear the tiers where it’s like it’s the Bucks and this the Celtics up here and then it’s another tier underneath that with some more gu or more teams that you think could push um but this year uh you might some might reorder and put the Bucks in that tier below you know the Celtics and the Knicks um so far in the East and the 76ers even though that’s all on paper right now I do have a lot of faith in Giannis and DNE being healthy and what that does for this team especially if they can really learn how to work together instead of my turn your turn so if people were feeling that way I can get why I still feel pretty good about the bug chances I mean not having Giannis in the playoff series really changes the Dynamics um so like if they can have health I think that does bold well for the bucks but it’s not going to be easy yeah well and another reason to hate the Miami Heat they’ve signed Kad Johnson one of the sleepers that I had two a two-way contract um but yeah and look not having Giannis a big piece of it and um I think it’s good thing for the bucks to enter the season as you know viewed to probably finish fourth or fifth in the conference everybody’s going to talk about the Celtics the Knicks um the 76ers maybe of the Pacers up there maybe the Cavs make a move and you put them up there so the spotlight is squarely off the Bucks and I think that’s going to be a good thing for them coming into this season here we’ll uh we’ll touch more on free agency as it pertains to the Bucks in the next couple of shows here um now that we we go through all these scenarios Camille something major is going to end up happening later today or tomorrow and that’s what the next show will be about before we do wrap up though one last thing two last things all of the news to come out of Boston the last couple of days so uh number one the fact that they just kind of O by the Wade christs porzingis is probably not going to step foot on the floor until 2025 seems like a pretty big deal for a team that just has Al Horford and I know they kept Luke cornette as well but that seems like a fairly significant deal we saw other contracts reached with other pieces of that team I mentioned Luke cornette um earlier in the what regular season or offseason they they locked up pton Pritchard for a couple more years years and then the big ones we saw the extension for Derek white and saw the extension for Jason Tatum the largest in uh NBA history there’s one other big piece of news we’ll get to in just a second but why I’m bringing this up is because not this upcoming season but the season after that the 2526 season in that year the Celtics are going to be committing $18.5 million to Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown Drew holiday Chris DS porzingis and Derek white five players out of a requirement of 14 are absorbing just under $199 million the second apron figure for That season is 207. eight so they are going to blow past the second apron in 2526 uh I think they have two additional three additional players under contract for That season so they’re projected to be about $35 million past the second apron in the 2526 season they’re going to be the most interesting test case for this new CBA second apron because um everybody knows more about second apron has heard about aprons more this weak than they’ve ever heard in their life and you’re probably more and more familiar with it now but the second apron isn’t meant to detour teams from keeping their own guys like if you have ownership that is willing to pay the tax and that’s the other thing they’re going to have an astronomical tax bill it’s also going to mark three straight Seasons they’re in the second apron so the picks are frozen and are going to get moved to the end of the first round and you made me quick to say well so what they’re gonna be good so they’re going to be picking at the end of the first round anyway yeah that year you never know what’s going to happen seven years later um this is meant to prevent you from bringing in other players you can keep your guys but you’re not adding to it so it all has to do with how much is your ownership willing to spend they’re going to be the most interesting test case for this to me because I think if there’s a team that can get by with this as long as your ownership group is willing to cut that check it’s probably the Celtics when you look at the age of those players it’s just drew holiday that’s going to be Advanced into his mid to late 30s at that point the other guys are just going to be hitting 30 and that’s the big piece if you have a young core even if it’s expensive but you lock them up it’s easier if they’re still at that level of play to fill out your roster with vet minimums it’s when you start to get down the path that we saw the Warriors get into the Bucks may be in there now as well when that roster starts to get older and older and older and maybe you can’t rely on them quite as much throughout the regular season and as we saw the last two years in the playoffs either that’s where it gets really tough to remain at that level when your reserves and your backups are just F minimum guys yep I definitely agree with that only thing I will add to that Justin is everything that you said is exactly why I can see that the Celtics ownership group is like you know what well that’s we’ll put this team up for sale let’s let’s put this team up for sale we’re gonna give all our guys some money and we’re gonna make some money and get out of here it’s a genius move when you think about it because I mean look CU it’s NBA franchise it’s not like you’re hitting LS but you are selling at the absolute Peak right now after winning an NBA championship I think that group bought the team for 300 or so million dollars 20 some years ago uh that what might be a five billion dollar valuation Celtics so you’re making back a lot of money and then the best part of it is what we just talked about what the Clippers have started to do you don’t have to be the bad guy that says well second apron we can’t afford to do this so very very shocking but you can kind of understand the logic I get it it’s the same thing with the in Golden state where Bob Meers left and I was like ah I see why you left at this particular moment in the Fran in the franchise history you don’t want to have to make the Klay to or the Klay Thompson decision I get it you don’t want to have to make these decisions as this dynasty comes to an end I get it go ahead and get out get your money somewhere else now well speaking of the Clippers we will be back tomorrow uh we’ll see what breaks in free agency and moves by the Bucks we’ll get you speed on the rest of the chatter other moves that are made in the East too and how that could impact the Bucks and uh it is also the finale of clipped so we will uh share our final thoughts on the miniseries and the key takeaways and I’ve already seen people suggest let’s make this an anthology series just like you thought you were doing Showtime I want to see a clipped on this version of the Clippers that team that never really was so let’s get a season two on that whoever they they would cast for Kawai would have the worst Tyler perest braids I already know it would just be a bad representation so like yeah we might as well like we got to see this this bootleg version of uh you know Paul George and and Kawai and getting all that story told as well especially now that Paul George is gone like let’s let’s keep it moving uh we will uh keep keep you up to date on the latest on free agency because it’s probably going to be a pretty big week filled with maybe not seismic moves but there’s going to be more and more that pops up throughout the course of the week it always seems like we start to hit a low you get the first day then it dies down a little bit and then it’s right around the Fourth of July that things pick up across the league and and we expect it to be the same this year we’ll be back tomorrow with the latest on free agency and our final thoughts on clipped four Comm I’m Justin we’ll talk to you once again tomorrow on lock on box

Justin and Camille discuss the Bucks first signings of the offseason, adding backcourt depth in Delon Wright and taking a flyer on former Pistons project Stanley Umude. What are the realistic expectations for both, what else are the Bucks looking to do and who is left for them to acquire? Plus we share more thoughts on the trade market and other moves made by Eastern Conference teams on the latest Locked on Bucks

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