The Milwaukee Bucks are headed into a very different kind of season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is gone after a trade that sent the two-time MVP to the Miami Heat, and Milwaukee is trying to piece together a new identity around the players it got back. There’s still time before opening night, and the roster could change again - the Bucks have even been linked to Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets - but with the group they have now, the early outlook has not been kind. Some projections have them near the bottom of the league.
That’s the reality Milwaukee is staring at. If the Bucks are going to push back against that kind of label, the starters will have to carry a heavy load. Here’s what each projected starter needs to bring.
Ryan Rollins looks like the point guard, and he’s coming off the best season of his career. He averaged 17.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 47.2% from the field and 40.6% from 3-point range. That kind of production is why he should be in the opening-night backcourt.
But the job gets tougher now. Tyler Herro was added in the Antetokounmpo trade, and with Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. likely in the starting group, Rollins may not get the same room to operate.
Milwaukee needs him to hold steady anyway. The Bucks need proof that last season wasn’t a one-off, and they need him to keep producing while taking on more of the defensive burden.
With Herro drawing plenty of offensive attention, Rollins may have to be the primary perimeter stopper, especially after showing flashes and averaging 1.5 steals per game.
Herro is the biggest name coming back in the deal, and Milwaukee is counting on him to be the offense’s anchor. The former Sixth Man of the Year and All-Star returns home with a clear chance to be the team’s top scorer.
The talent is obvious. The availability is the question.
In seven NBA seasons, Herro has played more than 60 games only three times, including 33 games last season with the Heat. He enters the least year of his contract with a chance to put up a huge season as the No. 1 option, but the Bucks need him on the floor.
That’s the ask: health, consistency and the scoring punch that made him the centerpiece of the trade.
Jaquez Jr. might not be the first name people circle in this deal, but he matters. While attention naturally goes to Herro, Kel'el Ware and even Kasparas Jakučionis, Jaquez Jr. gives Milwaukee a real piece to work with.
He made NBA history by becoming the first bench player ever to post 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, 300 assists and 50 three-pointers in a single season. He finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting after averaging 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on 50.7% shooting.
After a sophomore slump, he bounced back in a big way, and now he gets a chance to start. His game already has polish - patience, footwork, IQ - but the one area that still needs work is the outside shot.
He has never been a strong three-point shooter and owns a career 31.7% mark from deep. If that part of his game improves, both he and Milwaukee benefit.
Kyle Kuzma is the most uncertain piece in the projected five. He has been in trade talks this offseason, partly because he’s on an expiring deal and partly because the fit has never felt seamless.
He did shoot a career-high 49.2% from the field in his second season with the Bucks and averaged 13.0 points per game, but the role has been awkward. With the Washington Wizards, he had the green light.
In Milwaukee, playing next to Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard required a different approach.
For Kuzma, the ask is simple: keep taking and making high-percentage shots and stay in his lane. The Bucks also need him to be one of the steadier veteran voices for younger players like Nate Ament and Brayden Burries.
Then there’s Myles Turner, who did not have the first season Milwaukee wanted. He has also come up in trade chatter this offseason, and because of his four-year, $108.9 million contract with a 15% trade kicker, moving him won’t be easy. For now, he’s the starting center.
The Bucks need more from him on the glass. Turner was still one of the league’s top shot blockers, but his rebounding slipped, and Milwaukee finished No. 28 in the league on the boards.
Turner averaged a career-low 5.3 rebounds last season. With Ware added and Jericho Sims back after exercising his player option, there are other bodies in the frontcourt, but Turner is the one being paid to anchor the middle.
If Milwaukee wants to change the story around this team, that rebound number has to go up.
In Other News...
Taylor Jenkins First Bucks Staff Says Plenty About Milwaukees New Era
Taylor Jenkins has filled out his first Bucks coaching staff, giving Milwaukee a clearer look at the people who will help shape this next chapter. The group includes assistant coaches Darvin Ham, Pat St. Andrews, Vince Legarza, Brad Jones, Johnny Carpenter, T.J. Ford and Schuyler Rimmer, along with Jack Herum, Isaiah Wilkins and Nshan Kenjoian in assistant and development roles.
For Milwaukee, the staff matters because this is where a new voice starts to become a new structure. Jenkins now has a blend of experienced NBA hands and younger developmental pieces around him, the sort of mix that can influence everything from day-to-day habits to how the team grows over the course of the season. The bigger question is how all of those pieces will fit once the work really begins. [Read more 🡒]
Bucks May Have A Clearer Path In The Peyton Watson Chase
Peyton Watson has started to look like one of the more interesting names to monitor as the trade market develops, with Milwaukee among the teams believed to be seriously involved. The Bucks are being mentioned alongside the Hawks, Cavaliers and Clippers, which gives the chase some real texture and suggests this is not a one-team pursuit but a broader scramble for a young, versatile piece.
For Milwaukee, the appeal is obvious if the market stays crowded. Any delay or uncertainty on the Los Angeles side only matters more because a sign-and-trade remains a possible route, and those deals can be tricky even in the best of circumstances. If the Clippers cannot move cleanly, the Bucks could find themselves with a more workable lane to press their case for Watson. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Porter Jr. Just Became A Huge Bucks Roster Question
Kevin Porter Jr. chose to stay in Milwaukee by exercising his player option for next season, keeping him on a Bucks roster that already has more guards than obvious minutes. Last season, he played 38 games and quickly became one of the teams most useful backcourt pieces, finishing as Milwaukees second-leading scorer while handling a lot of the playmaking burden as the primary ball handler.
The problem is that a productive return does not necessarily make his place secure. The Bucks guard rotation is crowded, and with the team reportedly pursuing Denver forward Peyton Watson, Porters name is one that could come up in trade conversations as Milwaukee keeps reshaping the back end of the roster. If he stays, he could still have a real role as a key reserve, but for now his future is part fit, part math, and part whatever the Bucks decide to do next. [Read more 🡒]