The Milwaukee Bucks are 32-24 this season in the NBA and they are tied for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee has lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs for the past two seasons and it remains to be seen if they will win a playoff series this season or not.
The Bucks have a chance to surprise some people in the playoffs this year, especially if Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are healthy. However, general manager Jon Horst has made some questionable decisions for this basketball team over the last couple of seasons. The Milwaukee Bucks fanbase did not like it when they traded away Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards before the NBA trade deadline.
CBS Sports Sam Quinn Questions Milwaukee Bucks Front Office
CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn wrote about the tiers of the front office for each NBA team. He did not think so highly of the Milwaukee Bucks front office. Quinn has them ranked as the 23rd front office in the NBA and he had them in Tier 9 as title winners with questionable methods.
There is no doubt that some of the Milwaukee Bucks fanbase has questioned about what Jon Horst has done. Quinn said:
“Most of what the Bucks did leading up to the 2021 championship worked. Brook Lopez on a bargain deal? A bunch of picks for Jrue Holiday? P.J. Tucker at the 2021 deadline? All sound, win-now moves. Ever since then? It’s been bad. They gave up on a recovering Donte DiVincenzo far too early, turning him into a washed Serge Ibaka only to see DiVincenzo revive his career elsewhere. They’ve developed basically no youth in that time. Andre Jackson and A.J. Green are both roughly 20-minute role players, and there’s nothing in the cupboard after them. The early returns on Kyle Kuzma have been mixed to say the least. The Adrian Griffin hire was such a disaster that he was fired before his first All-Star break. Doc Rivers is 47-43 since replacing him.
They’ve done what they’ve had to do to get Giannis Antetokounmpo to re-sign, and it’s not as though Damian Lillard has been bad as a Buck. But given the age of the core players here and the limited remaining assets, it’s fair to call this an all-in season for Milwaukee, and 30-24 just doesn’t cut it under those circumstances. They have a grim future awaiting them, and ownership can’t be relied on to guide them through it. Milwaukee has an unusual ownership structure in which governorship rotates every five years. Former co-owner Marc Lasry recently sold his roughly 25% stake to Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the NFL’s Browns, a team that hasn’t exactly thrived under his leadership. That general manager Jon Horst seemingly flirted with the Pistons last offseason isn’t a great sign either. Banners fly forever, but the decisions that followed the 2021 championship have largely gone poorly.”
If the Milwaukee Bucks do not get past the first round this season, where do they go from here? Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard could very well wind up on the trade market if that’s the case. Lillard will be up for a contract extension after this season. Antetokounmpo has mentioned constantly that he doesn’t want to go anywhere, but you never know what will happen.
There would also be a chance that Jon Horst would not be back next season as the general manager and also Doc Rivers as head coach. If that were to happen, the Bucks would need to start all over in the front office and at head coach. Milwaukee is not properly constructed to beat the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, or the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs also.
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