The Milwaukee Bucks are staring at a mess that didn’t appear overnight.
After Sunday night’s 117-97 loss to the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee dropped to 1-9, and the club is already only a few losses from matching the worst start in franchise history. The 1974-75 Bucks opened 1-11, and this group is suddenly in that neighborhood.
A lot of this traces back to the front office. The Bucks traded away Giannis Antetokounmpo after 13 years, and while that move came after a 32-50 season in which the former MVP played only 36 games, the trade itself was not the main issue. The bigger problem has been how Milwaukee has handled everything around it.
That story really starts in May 2023, when the Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer after a five-game first-round loss to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat. The move looked hasty at the time, especially with Jimmy Butler putting together a huge series: 37.6 points, 6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 59.7% from the field and 44.4% from 3. Antetokounmpo played in only three games because of injuries, and Milwaukee was left without its best player.
From there, the chain reaction got worse. The Bucks hired Adrian Griffin, then traded Jrue Holiday and other pieces for Damian Lillard.
That run unraveled quickly. After 43 games and a 30-13 record, Milwaukee fired Griffin for Doc Rivers, who finished 17-19.
Antetokounmpo missed the first round against the Indiana Pacers, Lillard missed two games, and the Bucks lost in six.
The next season brought more of the same. Milwaukee traded Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma, returned to the playoffs, and again ran into the Pacers.
Injuries kept piling up. Lillard missed the final games of the regular season with a blood clot in his right calf, returned for Game 2 after missing Game 1, struggled in Game 3, and tore his Achilles in Game 4.
A few months later, the Bucks waived him and stretched the remaining $112.5 million on his contract over the next five years. The idea was to clear the way to keep Antetokounmpo and pair him with Myles Turner, who signed a four-year, $107 million deal.
It didn’t land.
Rivers was fired after the season, and Antetokounmpo was traded in June, when Milwaukee received Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakučionis, three future first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and a second-round pick. Plenty of people believed the Bucks waited too long and should have moved Antetokounmpo a year earlier, before settling for a package many viewed as lighter than what could have come from the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors or New York Knicks.
Milwaukee also made other moves that are now under the microscope, including bringing back players and signing Gary Trent Jr. to a four-year, $64 million deal after he posted some of the worst statistical numbers since his rookie season.
Ten games into the season, the results are ugly. The Bucks have won only once, and the players brought in through those decisions are producing unevenly at best.
Herro has started well, averaging 21.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 45.5% from the field and 39.7% from 3. Jaquez has been solid too, putting up 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds on 48.3% shooting and 42.5% from deep, though his impact has come and gone.
Ware has gone the other direction. He opened with three double-doubles in his first six games, then slid to 2 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 19% from the field over his last four.
He has been disappointing as the third center on the roster, with Jericho Sims seeing more floor time lately. The same motor and energy concerns that followed him with Erik Spoelstra have shown up again in Milwaukee.
Jakučionis has flashed more than Ware, even if the numbers are uneven. He averaged 6.2 points and shot 42.3% from 3 with the Heat last year, but this season he’s at 6.4 points, 3.4 assists and 1.9 turnovers per game while shooting 42.2% from the field and 20.8% from 3. The energy is there, and the playmaking has shown up, but the turnovers and shooting have held him back.
Turner has been the toughest watch of all. He’s averaging 7.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2 turnovers while shooting 34.6% from the field and 26.7% from 3. In the last two games, he’s played 37 total minutes and has gone scoreless, missing all 13 of his shots.
Trent has barely been part of the picture, with six points in 13 minutes through 10 games. His contract is under investigation for salary-cap circumvention, and if the Bucks are found guilty, they could face harsher penalties than the Los Angeles Clippers, who were stripped of five future first-round picks and fined $30 million.
The criticism that followed these moves from the start is only louder now. From Budenholzer’s firing to Trent’s contract, the Bucks are dealing with the fallout both on the floor and beyond it.
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