The Milwaukee Bucks finally ended the Giannis Antetokounmpo era this summer. It's a new day in Milwaukee, and it will be painful until the Bucks are able to build a consistent winner again. However, the future is brighter now than it has been in the last several years.
The problem is that the front office hasn't done what it needs to do to make this future even brighter, and this may come back to bite them.
The Bucks got back a haul from Miami in the Giannis trade. It was essentially everything the Heat could have offered. It included the No. 13 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which became Nate Ament, two more first-round picks, a pick swap, and four capable players.
This is enough of a return to feel good about kick-starting the rebuild in Milwaukee. Yet, the Bucks haven't made the necessary moves to set themselves up better for the rebuild.
Bucks have to fully embrace their rebuild with a fire sale
The right approach would have been to turn other veterans on the roster with trade value into future assets. The Bucks have to be in asset accumulation mode. So, any veteran who has positive trade value and can bring back draft picks and young players, including those the Bucks acquired in the Giannis deal, should have been on the trade block.
Myles Turner will turn 31 during next season, and he is under contract for three more seasons. His trade value is unlikely to be as high as it is now.
Tyler Herro is on an expiring contract. The Bucks could probably get a first-round pick for Herro instead of giving him a multi-year contract extension.
AJ Green is an elite shooter on a reasonable contract for the next four seasons. Especially given the crowded backcourt in Milwaukee, is there really a point in keeping Green around? Why not try to get back a couple of second-round picks or an intriguing young player in return?
The same goes for Jaime Jaquez Jr. He is a valuable rotation player, to be sure, but he is a better fit on a playoff team than the Bucks. He will turn 26 during the season, and he is on an excellent contract, making $5.9 million next season. Plenty of contenders should have interest in a versatile forward who makes so little, bringing back an asset or two to Milwaukee.
One could even argue that the Bucks should have considered trading Ryan Rollins. He is on an expiring contract, making $4 million next season. This makes him one of the best contracts in the league. Given how cash-strapped a lot of contenders are, there must be teams willing to give up at least one unprotected first-round pick for Rollins on his deal. Once the Bucks sign Rollins to a fair market value contract, he will lose a lot of his appeal as a trade chip.
The Bucks simply have too much depth on the roster for a team that is going to be in the lottery. There is no need to have this many capable rotation players on a rebuilding team. They will end up losing some of these players for nothing in free agency or will have to sign them to unfavorable deals. Some of them may lose their trade value or become entirely untradeable, like Kyle Kuzma is right now.
It's difficult to understand why the Bucks wanted to hold onto their veterans after trading away Antetokounmpo. The front office is making a mistake by not converting veterans into future assets. Let's hope that they wake up from their post-Giannis-trade nap and do what needs to be done.
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