With their season over prematurely, the Milwaukee Bucks are already in the planning stages for the 2024-25 NBA season. Earlier today, it was reported that head coach Doc Rivers had dismissed three assistant coaches: Josh Oppenheimer, Sidney Dobner, and DJ Bakker. Undoubtedly, there will be more changes on his coaching staff soon to come.
Of course, the more noteworthy questions of the offseason surround the makeup of the Bucks’ roster. While stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have already made it clear that neither of them are going to look for a way out of Milwaukee this offseason, the remainder of the roster is still up in the air.
The Milwaukee Bucks Have Serious Questions Regarding Their Roster for the 2024-25 NBA Season
While the Bucks do not have to worry about losing either one of their NBA 75th Anniversary players, the amount of money that they are paying their core players makes filling out the roster extremely difficult. Because Milwaukee is going to be in the second apron of salary cap spending, they will not have any mid-level exceptions to use, nor can they take back more money in a trade than what they send out.
This means that any veterans that the Bucks may look to add in free agency will have to be signed using veteran minimum contracts. Malik Beasley is an example of a player who was signed using this kind of contract last offseason. Another is Jae Crowder, who seemed to indicate that his time in Milwaukee has come to an end in a cryptic social media post on Friday.
The Bucks also have the 23rd pick in the 2024 NBA Draft this season. As mentioned, due to their spending, they cannot trade that pick for a player unless they include one of their own players already under contract, and the salaries are going to have to match. This does not give them very many options when exploring the trade market.
Therefore, it stands to reason that Milwaukee is going to use their draft capital this year in an attempt to provide younger and faster players to their aging core.
Wisconsin Badgers Star Tyler Wahl Worked Out for the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday
One of the obvious deficits in Milwaukee’s roster this year was their lack of frontcourt depth, especially at power forward and center. While Giannis, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis all have their strengths, there was no quality bench piece behind them or in addition to them.
As Lopez gets older and Portis checks another year off of his deal, the Bucks need to start planning for life without the pair, even if they are back in 2024-25.
It makes sense, then, that the team is already scouting players that they could potentially add to their roster. According to Wisconsin Badgers insider Jeff Potrykus, Tyler Wahl worked out for the team on Friday before jetting back to Madison to receive his MBA:
Received a note from a JS staffer regarding Tyler Wahl. The former #Badgers standout is in the midst of a busy Friday. First a workout with the Bucks and then zipped back to Madison to receive his MBA.
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) May 10, 2024
Wahl just finished his fifth year at Wisconsin after averaging 10.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
What Would Tyler Wahl Bring to the Milwaukee Bucks?
At six-foot-nine, Wahl has the perfect physique to be a “three-and-D” wing in the NBA. The problem is that he lacks good three point shooting. This past season, he shot a woeful 18.8% from beyond the arc, and has a 23.2% career mark from three. Wahl is also a poor free throw shooter, having made just 63.7% of his attempts.
What he does bring to the court, though, is tenacious defense. He averaged over a steal per game in each of the past three seasons.
Without a good three-point shot, though, it is hard to see him being able to do everything the Bucks would need him to.
That being said, perhaps Milwaukee’s coaching staff will think there are some things they can fix.
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