Now that the dust has begun to settle on a fantastically competitive NBA Finals, the page is officially turning to an offseason full of buzz and rumors. With the NBA Draft just days away and the start of free agency looming soon after, front offices are canvassing the league for opportunities to help their teams. And whether they like it or not, all eyes are back on the Milwaukee Bucks.
While GM Jon Horst is knee-deep in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade offers and finalizing the team's draft board, he's also likely having conversations with other GMs about who else might be available this summer. According to Jake Fischer on The Stein Line Substack, one of the players who's recently come up in those discussions is Pistons center Isaiah Stewart.
"League sources say that the Pistons' Isaiah Stewart is not merely available but outright bracing for a trade," Fischer wrote. "Sources say that the Bucks, furthermore, are Stewart fans."
Although it was one tidbit in a broader story, it does suggest something much more complicated about the future of the Milwaukee Bucks' frontcourt.
One way or another, the Milwaukee Bucks are likely overhauling their frontcourt rotation this summer.
This is the latest in a long line of rumors and analyses suggesting that the Bucks' best path to significant roster progression this summer is by changing their frontcourt. Of everything that went wrong for Milwaukee last year, the young, talented, and admittedly inconsistent guard pairing of Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. was far from their biggest issue.
Setting the possibility of a Giannis trade aside — which I understand is a pretty big ask, at the moment — the Bucks' most tradable contracts belong to Bobby Portis (2 years, $30M remaining) and Kyle Kuzma (1 year, $20.5M remaining). By the current standard of the NBA, these are incredibly reasonable deals for two former champions.
Another Bucks player whose name has popped up is last summer's big free-agency acquisition, Myles Turner. Although the 30-year-old big man left something to be desired during his debut season in Milwaukee, Turner's unique skill-set and defensive upside, when engaged and healthy, still have broad appeal around the league. His 3-year, $83.5 million price tag feels hefty because of the raw number, but it represents roughly 16% of the cap, which Turner can more than justify with a bounce-back season.
So you may be asking yourself, 'How does this relate back to Isaiah Stewart, again?'
Good question.
If Milwaukee is sniffing around the Stewart situation like Fischer reported, there's a lot to glean about how Horst is operating during this 'pre-agency' period. First and foremost, the Bucks are not leaving any stone unturned. Whether it be to replace backup big man Jericho Sims, match salary in a multi-team deal, or anything in between, Horst is trying to figure out every way to maximize Milwaukee's return in any trade they make this summer.
At the same time, it signals that change is coming. The Bucks haven't had a genuinely impactful starting small forward since Khris Middleton's injury woes truly took over in the 2022-23 season. They made lemonade out of lemons by adding Ousmane Dieng at the trade deadline. He is a promising talent whom they should prioritize re-signing on a team-friendly deal, but Dieng still has a long way to go in his development, and unless he takes a big jump this summer, that small forward position will still be a weakness next season.
As for the fan favorites, it's beginning to feel more likely that both Giannis and Bobby are dealt this summer than it is that they both return. Your mileage may vary on how they fare as a combination, but I still believe those two can be a successful frontcourt pairing with the right rotations and system around them. The data backs it up, as Giannis and Bobby's two-man net rating of 3.9 was 10 points better than the overall team's -6.1. Just because the Bucks couldn't turn into a dynasty doesn't mean they couldn't retool into a new contender with Giannis and Bobby helping to lead the charge.
But in the modern NBA landscape where CBAs and Second Aprons put front offices in a stranglehold, keeping the band together has arguably never been harder. So brace yourself for change in Milwaukee this summer, one way or another.
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