16 reactions to Milwaukee Bucks’ trades for Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic

Here are 16 immediate reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks’ blockbuster trades for Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic and what it means for their future.

What the heck is happening out there? If you went to bed early last night and/or weren’t tuned in to social media you may have missed it all. The Milwaukee Bucks were busy boys, as they completed not one, but two gigantic deals while a lot of people were sleeping.

In their first blockbuster, they acquired star combo guard Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans for Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, three future first round picks AND two pick swaps! Not one to rest on his laurels, general manager Jon Horst swung another deal later in the night when he sent Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Bogdan Bogdanovic (via a sign-and-trade) and Justin James. 

With the dust yet to settle, here are my reactions, in no particular order, to anything and everything related to the two trades as well as the news that Wes Matthews and Robin Lopez opted out of their player options yesterday as well.

Current roster

The Bucks roster is extremely thin at this juncture and Horst has a lot of work cut out for him once free agency opens up over the weekend. As of now, here’s Milwaukee’s current roster:

• Jrue Holiday
• Bogdan Bogdanovic
• Khris Middleton
• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Brook Lopez
• Thanasis Antetokounmpo
• Justin James

Jrue Holiday

Jrue Holiday is the big prize the Bucks acquired on Monday night. He’s a two-way stud who is unselfish, knows his role and can hold his own in the biggest of situations. He’s not quite the shot-creator Bledsoe is, but he’s more versatile offensively. He’ll give Milwaukee some much-needed spacing from behind the arc even if he’s not exactly a sharpshooter from downtown. He’s also extremely tough on defense and can guard three, maybe even four positions.

Bogdan Bogdanovic

Here’s the extra shooting Milwaukee desperately needed. Bogdanovic, who made 37.2 percent of his 7.2 three-point attempts per game last season, can get his shot off both in catch-and-shoot scenarios and off the bounce. This versatility is huge, as he’ll force his defender to pay close attention to him on the perimeter and not allow him to wander to help on Antetokounmpo and Middleton. Suddenly, the Bucks have four guys who can create their own shot in the halfcourt. Defensively, Bogdanovic is nothing to write home about. He’s not exactly awful, but he’s certainly the Bucks’ weakest defender in their projected starting lineup. Antetokounmpo and Lopez will have to clean up for him a lot at the rim.

Cap space

Holiday will make $25.4 million in 2020-21 and Bogdanovic is reported to make $16.3 million, leaving the Bucks with very little cap space to work with. When you add up the salary for all seven players on their current roster, Milwaukee only has a little bit over $15 million to work with until they hit the $139 million hard cap. It’s unclear how much they’ll be able to use via their mid-level exception, but it’s safe to expect a lot of veteran minimum deals coming to fill out the roster.

Championship window

Holiday has a player option for the 2021-22 season and Antetokounmpo could depart via free agency that year as well. At a minimum, that gives the Bucks a one-year championship window. At the most, Milwaukee has a three, maybe a four year window to win championships. In four years, Antetokounmpo will still be in his prime (29-years-old), but the rest of the roster will have their best days behind them: Bogdanovic will be 32, Middleton will be 33, Holiday will be 34 and Lopez will be 36.

Eric Bledsoe

Bledsoe often drew the ire of fans for his up and down play in the regular season and his disappearing acts in the postseason. However, he gave everything he had to the Bucks and played his tail off every night–no matter the results. Bledsoe was great in the locker room and in the community as well. We shouldn’t hold any ill-will for a guy who left everything on the court each and every night for this franchise.

George Hill

Hill was steady for Milwaukee in his backup point guard role. He could either replace Bledsoe or play alongside him as well as sliding in next to just about anybody else in the backcourt. Although he’s not explosive as he once was, he still provided good shooting and solid defense. His veteran presence in the locker room will also be missed.

Donte DiVincenzo

One of Hill’s best friends on the team, the Bucks used the potential of Donte DiVincenzo to convince the Kings to agree to the sign-and-trade deal for Bogdanovic. After missing most of his rookie year due to an injury, DiVincenzo showed some potential throughout the regular season. He’s an energetic player who slashes to the rim when his man pays too much attention to the ball and is a good off-ball defender as well. His poor play in the bubble and the playoffs hurt his stock, but he could turn into a top of the rotation or fifth starter type player if all goes right.

D.J. Wilson

Wilson never got a real opportunity in Milwaukee, as the Bucks were constantly looking for veterans to play the power forward role behind Antetokounmpo off the bench. He has potential as a versatile defensive player, but he has absolutely no touch on offense. We’ll see what kind of playing time he gets with a fresh start in Sacramento.

Ersan Ilyasova

The writing has been on the wall for Ilyasova’s departure for quite some time. Two years ago the Bucks traded for Nikola Mirotic at the deadline and last year they acquired Marvin Williams via the buyout market–both moves were indicative of their lack of trust in Ilyasova. He played hard for Milwaukee, but it was clear he just didn’t have enough left in the tank to make a positive difference.

Robin Lopez

Before the big trades at night, the two veterans on the roster declined their player options for this season. Lopez was the most shocking, as he turned down $5 million for 2020-21–more than he’ll likely get in free agency. Lopez didn’t play in the postseason, but it’s possible the Bucks could bring him back on a vet minimum as insurance at the five.

Wes Matthews

It’s less certain whether Matthews will be brought back or not. Despite playing extremely well against the Miami Heat in the postseason, Mike Budenholzer continuously had him on the bench in the fourth quarter and at the end of tight games. It’s certainly possible that ticked Matthews off. The Bucks desperately need a wing just like Matthews so if there’s any way they could convince him to come back that would be a tremendous “addition.”

Future draft capital?

Do the Bucks have any picks left? They already owed a 2022 first round pick to the Cavaliers that is top 10 protected and now they owe the Pelicans three more firsts. It’s unclear if their 24th overall pick in this year’s draft is included. If it is, they will likely send New Orleans their 2024 and 2026 selections. If it’s not, they’ll ship out their 2024, 2026 and 2028 picks dependent on if their 2022 selection conveys.

Bucks’ needs

With just seven players on the roster, Milwaukee has a lot of work to do once free agency opens up this weekend. I’d rank their needs as the following:

1. Wing
2. Point guard
3. Big man

Giannis supermax?

Antetokounmpo is eligible to officially sign the supermax at 11:01 pm CT on November 22nd. Marc Stein reports the last two weeks have indicated Antetokounmpo will be signing the supermax with the Bucks and these two deals for Holiday and Bogdanovic certainly point that way. If he does, they are worth it no matter what. If he departs, the Bucks will be one of the worst franchises in the next decade.

Bottom Line: They got better

When it’s all said and done, the Bucks improved their chances to win a championship next season no matter what happens with the rest of the offseason. They put their money where their mouth is and showed Antetokounmpo and the rest of the NBA they are serious about winning it all.