After a disappointing playoff exit at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks will now starts its process of preparing for the 2024-25 NBA season. Unfortunately, there are some names who won’t be back to play with All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and company.
This season, the Bucks finished the regular season with a 49-33 record, which translated to a third seed in the playoffs. Throughout that run, All-Star guard Damian Lillard paired up with the Greek Freak, but didn’t produce dominant results like many expected at first.
Along with that predicament, the Bucks’ front office terminated Adrian Griffin and replaced him with Doc Rivers before the All-Star Game. This caused the team’s momentum to stop and suffer a mediocre run right before the regular season ended.
As a result, the Bucks found themselves facing Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers in the first round. While Milwaukee was initially the favorite in this series, the injuries to both Lillard and Antetokounmpo severely handicapped the 2021 NBA champions and caused them to fall to Indiana in six games.
Malik Beasley and 2 Other Milwaukee Bucks Players Who’ll Likely Won’t Be Back For 2024-25 Season
With the Bucks’ season now at an end, the front office will have to cut several players from the lineup for the upcoming campaign later this year. In an article written by Dalton Sell for Behind the Buck Pass, the three guys most likely not to return are Jae Crowder, Danilo Gallinari, and Malik Beasley. The latter, in particular, will be pursued by other teams, according to Sell:
“Someone with cap space will offer Malik Beasley a nice deal. It will not break the bank, but it will be more than what the Bucks could and should offer him. Given the team’s current needs, it wouldn’t make sense for them to chase after the shooting guard unless he’s willing to take another veteran minimum deal, which he almost certainly will not,” Sell wrote.
Gallinari, on the other hand, is an aging veteran who just recovered from an ACL injury. The Bucks would do better to add more youth and athleticism to the roster than keep him. Meanwhile, Crowder hasn’t lived up to the expectations of being a capable 3-and-D wing for Milwaukee, a role he played well for the Phoenix Suns. Letting him go would make more sense after being a non-factor in the playoffs this year.
Although losing these guys opens up more uncertainties to the team, the chance of getting better role players offers more advantages. For sure, the Bucks’ front office will be busy in crafting a championship-worthy lineup for the 2024-25 season.
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