2024-25 NBA Season / Playoffs

[STEVEHOLT]

That wasn’t his fault. He slipped.

He didn’t slip. Draymomd Cretin threw him into Butler. It was beautiful seeing greens stupidity screw his own team.

 

[Melancer46]

For the first time in my life, I actually think Giannis is gone. Loyalty be damned, he'd be an actual idiot to want to stay with the Bucks at this point. I think they'll struggle to make the playoffs next year even with him being his usual dominant self.

 

[Knicks411]

For the first time in my life, I actually think Giannis is gone. Loyalty be damned, he'd be an actual idiot to want to stay with the Bucks at this point. I think they'll struggle to make the playoffs next year even with him being his usual dominant self.

I kinda think it was trending that way anyway, but with Dame presumably out for all of next year and probably never the same player again, I would think he has to ask out now. A real shame, I feel terrible for Dame.

 

[Cusefan0307]

JJ Redick was terrible yesterday. Steve Kerr can find rest for Curry when the Warriors have absolutely no one else to go to with Butler out, but Redick can't find 4 minutes a piece for Luka, Lebron, and Reaves in the second half yesterday. It should be zero surprise they ran out of gas.

 

[Melancer46]

I kinda think it was trending that way anyway, but with Dame presumably out for all of next year and probably never the same player again, I would think he has to ask out now. A real shame, I feel terrible for Dame.

I continued to believe Giannis and the Windhorst types saying Giannis has no interest in leaving, but I think this injury is probably the last straw. It was always a long shot we'd get another title with how badly we've drafted and some of the bad trades we've made and whatnot, but like I said, it feels like even making the playoffs will be difficult after this injury. The only real hope is you convince Dame to medically retire (won't happen; knowing how he's wired he will want to come back) or get one of those medical exemptions to allow us to use the NTMLE but that won't be enough to make us a contender again.

 

[Knicks411]

Fwiw, Chris Haynes was saying he didnt think Giannis would end his career in Milwaukee this past week (granted that doesnt mean he would ask out this summer necessarily) and he (Haynes) is cousins with Giannis fiance/gf. So he's probably pretty plugged in

 

[jncuse]

Would OKC make a play for Giannis?
And would Giannis want to go there?

Or is this a case where OKC should not mess with a good thing.

OKC has the assets and cap fillers to get it done, but perhaps their play will be to use assets to acquire high value contracts that are lower paid.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

He didn’t slip. Draymomd Cretin threw him into Butler. It was beautiful seeing greens stupidity screw his own team.

Oh, that was the Morant one I was thinking of.

 

[Melancer46]

Would OKC make a play for Giannis?
And would Giannis want to go there?

Or is this a case where OKC should not mess with a good thing.

OKC has the assets and cap fillers to get it done, but perhaps their play will be to use assets to acquire high value contracts that are lower paid.

I imagine Milwaukee will want to do right by Giannis and get him to an org that he wants to play for. Will be really interesting to see where he wants to go. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't crave big cities the way a lot of other players do, but still not hard to imagine him deciding one of them is a good situation for him.

OKC obviously has all the assets they need to make a strong offer if he greenlights them as a destination.

I'm still of the opinion that until he requests a trade, Milwaukee should keep him. I know a lot of Bucks fans just want to set him free at this point and embrace the tank but I would much rather get to watch him play and fight for a playoff spot than return to the days of playing legitimately unwatchable basketball.

 

[Knicks411]

I imagine Milwaukee will want to do right by Giannis and get him to an org that he wants to play for. Will be really interesting to see where he wants to go. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't crave big cities the way a lot of other players do, but still not hard to imagine him deciding one of them is a good situation for him.

OKC obviously has all the assets they need to make a strong offer if he greenlights them as a destination.

I'm still of the opinion that until he requests a trade, Milwaukee should keep him. I know a lot of Bucks fans just want to set him free at this point and embrace the tank but I would much rather get to watch him play and fight for a playoff spot than return to the days of playing legitimately unwatchable basketball.

Yes I think the only way you trade a player at his level is if he asks out (Nico, you listening?!?) And if/when he asks out, I also think they will do whatever they can to send him somewhere he wants to go.

There's also no tank for the Bucks to embrace. They don't control their first rounder till 2031.

 

[Melancer46]

Yes I think the only way you trade a player at his level is if he asks out (Nico, you listening?!?) And if/when he asks out, I also think they will do whatever they can to send him somewhere he wants to go.

There's also no tank for the Bucks to embrace. They don't control their first rounder till 2031.

It doesn't really matter if they have the picks or not; the second Giannis is gone this team is effectively tanking lol. They just won't benefit from the tanking (unless they acquire some of their own picks which I have to imagine they'll be hoping for).

 

[Knicks411]

It doesn't really matter if they have the picks or not; the second Giannis is gone this team is effectively tanking lol. They just won't benefit from the tanking (unless they acquire some of their own picks which I have to imagine they'll be hoping for).

Yeah thats what I mean, surprised fans are ready to embrace the tank since theres no upside to it.

Milwaukee kinda owes their picks to various places. This is what I think the deal is

26 and 27: 26 is a swap with New Orleans, 27 they owe outright to them. (That one is interesting just because maybe New Orleans is bad again and the swap doesnt tank your pick)
28: I'm just gonna post the screenshot. Chat GPT tells me they probably are swapping with Portland or Wash.
29: Gone to Portland or Wash, no swap.
30: Portland swap

So basically you're looking at Portland or New Orleans. Neither of which seem like likely destinations for Giannis. Maybe they could trade their 2031 or 32 pick (when either becomes available) to entice those teams to give them the earlier picks back. But I dont know if I would go for that as the other side

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I imagine Milwaukee will want to do right by Giannis and get him to an org that he wants to play for. Will be really interesting to see where he wants to go. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't crave big cities the way a lot of other players do, but still not hard to imagine him deciding one of them is a good situation for him.

OKC obviously has all the assets they need to make a strong offer if he greenlights them as a destination.

I'm still of the opinion that until he requests a trade, Milwaukee should keep him. I know a lot of Bucks fans just want to set him free at this point and embrace the tank but I would much rather get to watch him play and fight for a playoff spot than return to the days of playing legitimately unwatchable basketball.

Why would okc want to mess with their team?

 

[Melancer46]

Why would okc want to mess with their team?

Who knows if they will but Giannis is one of very few players that may better than SGA at this point. Every single team in the NBA has to at least think about making a run at a player of Giannis' level.

Whoever/whatever they theoretically offer for Giannis would be nowhere near the level of player that Giannis is.

This also obviously can't occur until after these playoffs so if they come up short, this might feel like the final move for them to win some titles. If they win the title, then yeah, harder to see them wanting to make a big move.

Also FWIW, I would be much more interested in a godfather offer from Houston vs. what OKC can offer if both teams were to.make a very strong offer. But I'm really just hoping we're able to keep Giannis.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Great game

 

[Melancer46]

Rockets could really use one more halfcourt creator but if it's the wrong guy they could easily lose the defensive identity in the process. Just way too reliant on Sengun. Nearly won still though.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Rockets could really use oneore.halfcourt creator but if it's the wrong guy they could easily lose the defensive identity in the process. Just way too reliant on Sengun. Nearly.won still though.

They shot 19-31 from the line. Warriors went 20-22. And they lost by 3. Common theme amongst all my fandom ? My teams can’t do the most basic crap.

 

[Newhouser]

They shot 19-31 from the line. Warriors went 20-22. And they lost by 3. Common theme amongst all my fandom ? My teams can’t do the most basic crap.

Should have left Adams in the game - he couldn't shoot FT's any worse than the rest of the team. Also the screen on the last play for Sengun was dreadful. Little things matter.

 

[Melancer46]

Should have left Adams in the game - he couldn't shoot FT's any worse than the rest of the team. Also the screen on the last play for Sengun was dreadful. Little things matter.

I kinda agree; I think I probably would have risked it personally given everything he was providing last night. He's generally around a 45-50% FT shooter so if he shoots his average, he's getting you around 0.9 to 1.0 points per possession...gotta be very close to their halfcourt productivity. Of course with such a poor free throw shooter, there's a realistic chance instead of 0.9 you're getting closer to 0.7 or something and you probably lose.

I was surprised Golden State didn't just foul him at the end when they had a 3 point lead and Houston reinserted him. Coaches still haven't totally learned.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Yeah thats what I mean, surprised fans are ready to embrace the tank since theres no upside to it.

Milwaukee kinda owes their picks to various places. This is what I think the deal is

26 and 27: 26 is a swap with New Orleans, 27 they owe outright to them. (That one is interesting just because maybe New Orleans is bad again and the swap doesnt tank your pick)
28: I'm just gonna post the screenshot. Chat GPT tells me they probably are swapping with Portland or Wash.
29: Gone to Portland or Wash, no swap.
30: Portland swap

So basically you're looking at Portland or New Orleans. Neither of which seem like likely destinations for Giannis. Maybe they could trade their 2031 or 32 pick (when either becomes available) to entice those teams to give them the earlier picks back. But I dont know if I would go for that as the other side

I agree, can't see Giannis at Portland or NO but I could see a 3 way trade involving NO or Portland to get some of their picks back as well and if you include Brooklyn or Houston there are probably some players they could be interested in. Houston probably makes the most sense. Houston clearly needs a star to to get to the next level. I just can't see Giannis staying in Milwaukee given their current situation.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Should have left Adams in the game - he couldn't shoot FT's any worse than the rest of the team. Also the screen on the last play for Sengun was dreadful. Little things matter.

I didn’t understand pulling him either. So what they hack him? They were up or tied during that time. Go ahead . Put him on the line. I’ll take 1 point on every possession if you want to give it to me. Game totally turned the second they took him out

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I kinda agree; I think I probably would have risked it personally given everything he was providing last night. He's generally around a 45-50% FT shooter so if he shoots his average, he's getting you around 0.9 to 1.0 points per possession...gotta be very close to their halfcourt productivity. Of course with such a poor free throw shooter, there's a realistic chance instead of 0.9 you're getting closer to 0.7 or something and you probably lose.

I was surprised Golden State didn't just foul him at the end when they had a 3 point lead and Houston reinserted him. Coaches still haven't totally learned.

Fouling off the ball under 2 minutes is a FT and possession .

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Rockets could really use one more halfcourt creator but if it's the wrong guy they could easily lose the defensive identity in the process. Just way too reliant on Sengun. Nearly won still though.

Jalen green is exactly that right now . A half court “creator” who can’t play defense. So I’ll take the mystery player over this stooge

 

[Melancer46]

I agree, can't see Giannis at Portland or NO but I could see a 3 way trade involving NO or Portland to get some of their picks back as well and if you include Brooklyn or Houston there are probably some players they could be interested in. Houston probably makes the most sense. Houston clearly needs a star to to get to the next level. I just can't see Giannis staying in Milwaukee given their current situation.

The only reason I haven't completely given up on Giannis staying in Milwaukee is because (1) he simply loves the city, and (2) he's absolutely the type to see all the talk about how he should leave and how Milwaukee is finished and respond by wanting to prove them wrong.

Still think at this point it's more likely he finally asks out but we'll see.

Assuming he does request a trade, I would honor his request given all he's given to the Bucks. In terms of actual proposals, it obviously depends on how many teams are competing for him and whatnot, how many picks are involved, etc., but some centerpieces that I think would be acceptable:

• Houston: Sengun or Amen Thompson (preferably both as I'm not sure either are interesting enough for my liking, but guessing in this scenario one of them would be enough as a centerpiece)
• OKC: Chet or Jalen Williams
• Orlando: Paolo (probably not) or Franz
• Whoever Gets Flagg: Flagg

Of course Giannis may request specific teams that aren't necessarily listed here and that could definitely impact things.

 

[Melancer46]

Fouling off the ball under 2 minutes is a FT and possession .

Ah yes, forgot about that. True-ish; this is only true if the refs deem it to be intentional. If they had the risk appetite, you could just "accidentally" get tangled up with him running down the court or something, but yeah, given the time and situation, no sense in risking them calling it intentional. Should have still obviously fouled FVV instead of giving him a good look at a game-tying shot though.