After spending the better part of the last decade contending for NBA championships, the Milwaukee Bucks have closed the loop on a full basketball lifecycle. They grew from the trenches to a young, fun team, eventually becoming a fixture of the Eastern Conference Playoffs before winning a title for the first time in 50 years. After a few more seasons trying to make it work with a veteran core, the franchise found itself back in the trenches once again this summer.
Usually, that's a tough pill to swallow, but Bucks fans had been preparing for the possibility for years until it finally became their reality. Now that we're on the other side, it's safe to say that Milwaukee is in a better position to build than it has been since they won the title. The Bucks manufactured a young and fascinating core, strictly by leaning into their own savvy under the guidance of longtime GM Jon Horst. For an executive guiding a rebuild for the first time, he's off to a strong start.
For a team that most pundits, fairly or not, expect to rank near the bottom of the East, there's a lot to be excited about in Milwaukee next season. However, if they want to truly win the offseason and put themselves on the path to becoming a contender, there's one more hurdle left to clear.
If the Milwaukee Bucks want to ace this rebuild, they need to try and get their own picks back.
The only reason we heard about Portland as a potential destination for Giannis Antetokounmpo was that they had the Bucks' picks. From outright pick ownership to control over swaps, the Bucks' first-rounders over the next four years are under the control of other teams. And unfortunately for Horst, it's not as simple as going back to New Orleans or Portland and trying to trade for their picks back outright.
Since the Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard deals, the Bucks' draft capital is now tied up in other pick swaps between the Blazers, Pelicans, Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks, and Miami Heat. In other words, they'd need to trade back for potential swaps to get retention or access to their future first-round picks.
I'm going to speak to you plainly, dear reader, because that's what the moment calls for... trying to understand who owns which picks is a mess. These picks have been tossed around more than a summer salad, and there doesn't appear to be a clear path to outright regaining control of their first-rounders.
But if the Bucks continue the trend of good business that Horst has put together since reframing his approach around a rebuild, they could go out and create a clearer path to reentering the NBA Draft lottery by calling up some old trade partners and dangling some of their more appealing veterans, or the increasingly valuable expiring contracts that will help others clear their books.
It might mean taking on some bad contracts, but for a team that's just starting this process, that's not a problem. Bad contracts come and go, but draft picks are more valuable than ever. If they could find a pathway to regaining some control of their future in the NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks could set themselves up for an even brighter future than what they just built in this historic Giannis era.
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