(Photo Credit: Mistabeas)

What the heck happened with the Milwaukee Bucks?

By: Devin Zanskas

Bucks fans were starting to wonder if their team was going to make a big splash on the trade market to respond to the disappointing conference semi-final loss and Giannis entering a contract year. When Chris Paul was traded to the Suns, Bucks fans were even more frustrated when Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported that Milwaukee hadn’t even engaged in Chris Paul trade talks. That frustration lasted about three hours between the Chris Mannix report and when The Athletic’s Shams Charania announced that the Bucks traded for the Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday. The team faced some criticism because of the immense draft compensation being shipped out to acquire a player who was only an all-star once. Milwaukee observers swiftly determined that if a swing for the fences encouraged a commitment from their MVP, there was no price too steep. In addition, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks executed a sign-and-trade deal for the Kings’ Bogdan Bogdanovic, which would prove to be problematic due to it being reported before the beginning of NBA free agency.

According to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee, “There was never an agreement from Bogdanovic on joining the Bucks”. Bucks fans were irate, but not entirely surprised, since the deal was announced before start of free agency. As everyone was trying to figure out who to blame for this fiasco, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst speculated that the deal would still eventually go through, but the league requested that the Bucks and Bogdan’s party walk back the report due to the increased concern of tampering. However, that hope went out the door when the Bucks waived Ersan Ilyasova, who had $7 million non-guaranteed for the upcoming season. Ersan had the largest Bucks salary included with Donte DiVincenzo and DJ Wilson in the sign-and-trade for Bogdanovic and Justin James. Therefore, him being removed from the Bucks’ salary cap meant that Bogdan could no longer make a maximum of $18 million for a starting salary, which is exacting what his starting salary will be with the Kings or the Hawks, regardless of if the Kings match the offer sheet or not. One arrives at the $18 million starting salary because for outgoing salary between $6,533,334 and $19,600,000, a team must not take in more than an additional $5 million from the incoming salary. Ersan, Donte, and DJ’s combined salaries were $14,592,440. That plus the $5 million and minus James’s $1,517,981 gets one to the $18 million that Bogdanovic ironically ended up agreeing to with the Hawks anyway. Other than missing out on a bargain deal to a non-playoff team in the east, there were even more complications.

As Bucks fans were awaiting more moves from their front office or word that Bogdanovic was indeed joining for the $18 million, they were mildly satisfied when the Bucks finally made another move but were questioning that it included Pat Connaughton receiving a player option for next year. The player option was an issue because Connaughton was an Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agent, and Early Bird contracts must be at least two years in length, so the player cannot re-sign the next year with the entire Larry Bird exception, according to Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ. Had the Bucks given Connaughton the same 2-year, $8.3 million deal, that would’ve had to have counted towards their mid-level exception. That would’ve also gotten in the way of signing undervalued wing defender Torrey Craig. Even though this nearly doubled Connaughton’s guaranteed money, Bucks fans must remember that they still loved the Bucks’ odds with Holiday alone, and they still have exceptional shooting and depth to surround Giannis.

About the Author Devin Zanskas:

Devin Zanskas is a 23-year-old and who was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. He graduated from UW-Milwaukee in May 2020 with Bachelors of Business Administration, majoring in Finance and minoring in German Business. Currently, he works for MillerCoors as a Payroll Analyst in their Finance Department. Upon completion of Sports Business Classroom 2020, Devin launched “Knuck If You Buck”, the Milwaukee Bucks Podcast brought to you by the Hoop Heads Podcast Network. When Devin is not working, writing, podcasting, watching NBA games, hoopin’ in his driveway, or playing NBA 2K, he prefers to spend his time with his family and friends, exercising, going on hikes, watching the Sopranos or Avatar: the Last Airbender for a throwback, and listening to anything from Simon & Garfunkel to A Tribe Called Quest and anywhere in between.