Things are going to look very different next season in Milwaukee. From the roster itself to the coaching staff and team executives to broadcast rights, every facet of Bucks basketball has shifted one way or another. And leading that charge is new Bucks President Josh Glessing, who grew to notoriety in a leadership role for Jimmy Haslam after years working his way through the ranks of high-profile financial institutions like Goldman Sachs.
The transition wasn't without trepidation from fans and stakeholders alike. Former Bucks President Peter Feigin remains beloved in the community, and his seemingly abrupt departure sent shivers down the spines of many Bucks fans. But since joining the franchise and connecting with the community, Glessing has shown flashes of why he was selected to carry the torch after Feigin decided to step down.
While speaking at The Cap Times' Power Hour in Madison, the Wisconsin native discussed the excitement and challenges the Bucks' young core will face next year, and why Taylor Jenkins is the right coach to lead them into this new era.
"I do think we're going to have a very different team at the end of the season than the beginning of the season, and I think that's a reality of — we've got 19-year-olds on our roster... they're going to develop a lot more under Taylor [Jenkins], under our incredible coaching staff over the course of the year," Glessing said. "It's exciting to see how we're going to take on the challenge of some of those early games."
That sounds like someone who not only understands the nuances of NBA team-building and setting a young core up for success, but also the steps it'll take to get there. So to know such a high-leverage leader like Glessing sees the vision for a long-term build and culture reset proves that Milwaukee is back on the right track.
Josh Glessing knows the challenges he and the Milwaukee Bucks face, but his mindset tells us all we need to know.
So often, franchises think they can pivot out of one championship era into another without having to embrace the hard parts of a rebuild, like saying goodbye to beloved veterans and going all-in on the young talent on your roster. But given the Bucks' direction this summer, that's far from the case here.
Glessing, new coach Taylor Jenkins, and even Haslam himself have discussed both the excitement and hardship of building a young team. This isn't going to be an easy process, and tough decisions will have to be made — especially for a franchise that doesn't have sole possession of its own first-round draft picks until 2031.
However, the Bucks don't have any intention of tanking either. Heck, they have no reason to. So why not try to build organically with the young players they've traded for, drafted, acquired, and developed over the last several years?
So often, teams fall into the trap of setting sky-high expectations without giving players and coaches the benefit of the doubt. This is a loaded roster with a couple of legitimate questions about how to spread playing time out evenly among them. But Glessing has the mentality that they'll figure it out over the course of the season and rebuild their culture under Taylor Jenkins in the process.
That should be music to the ears of Bucks fans, because as much as we'll miss the guiding light that Giannis provided for the past decade in Milwaukee, these last few seasons have gotten as ugly as they possibly could've. So now is the time to embrace the reality of the situation and build a new, special era from it.
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