Bucks Remind Everyone That the NBA is a Business

Every seismic transaction in the NBA reminds everyone that professional sports always remain one thing— a business.

Look no further than free agency, where millions and millions of dollars are spent in a matter of minutes.

Bucks Keep Busy With Business

It has been perhaps the busiest day in Milwaukee Bucks franchise history— and this is being written just after noon.

Within five minutes of each other this morning, the Bucks reportedly signed Myles Turner and subsequently waived and stretched the remaining contract of perennial All-Star Damian Lillard.

Talk about a ‘WTF is going on’ moment. The NBA never ceases to stun and leave jaws agape. A new wrinkle or rumor unfolds nearly every day — with many utterly pathetic and useless Giannis trade “reports” sprinkled in the mix — and the next bomb is sure to drop at any moment.

Within 24 hours, the Bucks are now down to two players from the 2021 championship team.

https://twitter.com/BucksLead/status/1940098070693425542

Bucks Continue Win-Now-At-All-Costs Mindset

Back to the Bucks. Tuesday, July 1, 2025, marked the end of an unfortunately disappointing attempt at maximizing Giannis’ championship window.

Acquiring Damian Lillard was scintillating to say the least. The sheer idea of a Dame-Giannis pick-and-roll or Dame going nuclear for 50+ on any given night was exhilarating.

But if Giannis saw any semblance of help in Games 6 and 7 of the Bucks’ last Conference Semifinal series in 2022, who knows where we would be today?

All we have from that is one of the most jarring-yet-devastating records in NBA history.

https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1525966009408139271

Fast forward to the following postseason. Despite a tremendous regular season, a gut-wrenching opening-round defeat was enough for seismic change.

Goodbye, Mike Budenholzer. Goodbye, Jrue Holiday. Hello (and quickly goodbye), Adrian Griffin. Hello, Damian Lillard.

Just two seasons removed from glory, the championship’s core began to disintegrate.

‘What-Ifs’ a Dark Cloud Hanging over the Bucks

Perhaps the most painful part of sports isn’t a playoff loss, but a ‘what-if’ scenario— simply because it leaves room for a change in your favor. The Bucks have had plenty of those over the last few years, and you just read one above.

What if one person stepped up in the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals? What if we had a fully healthy Giannis, Jrue, and Khris Middleton in 2022 and 2023? What if we had never fired Coach Bud? What if we hired someone other than Adrian Griffin and Doc Rivers? What if we had a fully healthy Damian Lillard alongside Giannis and Khris last postseason? What if Giannis had been healthy for the 2024 postseason?

These scenarios feel exponential for this team since they won in 2021. Every team goes through these one way or another, but there’s nothing more painful than not seeing results from everything that was sacrificed.

We never got to see a healthy championship team run it back.

We never got to see Dame, Khris, and Giannis in the playoffs together.

We never truly saw playoff Dame play with playoff Giannis (looking at you, NBA playoff hype commercial).

The Bucks Can’t Afford to Waste Time

It’s been clear for several years now that the Bucks are willing to do whatever it takes to build a championship roster around Giannis.

The Greg Monroe-Eric Bledsoe trade kicked that off. General Manager Jon Horst is always actively looking to improve the team, and he has not and never will wait around to see things through.

Time is money. You don’t have time to waste when millions are being thrown around and your generational superstar’s prime years are dwindling.

Business is Business

It is and has always been a business. Regular-season success has never mattered in the grand scheme of things. Yes, a high seed can help, but it’s never a guarantee of success, and losing has no business in business when expectations remain sky high.

Horst saw that after 2020 and nabbed Jrue. He saw it after 2023 and acquired Dame. He saw it after this past postseason and let Dame go. $50+ million for someone who won’t be available to play most of next season? That’s a tough yet seemingly easy decision to make.

Still, there is always the uncomfortable human side of uprooting someone’s life and family for a business.

Damian Lillard was “lonely” being away from his family. Many of you remember how Jrue’s wife, Lauren, took exception to the Bucks trading him away. They did a lot for the city of Milwaukee— no question about it.

https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1709756542839402860

While Jon Horst and the Bucks have generally done well with player-human management, it will always be business first. This time around, however, this may be the best-case scenario for Lillard anyway, regardless of what Carmelo Anthony thinks.

Guaranteed money and complete control of your future while you rehab, potentially closer to home? You could say Damian Lillard should be thanking the Bucks.

https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1940109255257837624

What to Do With Kyle Kuzma?

The Khris Middleton-Kyle Kuzma swap remains a head-scratcher— partially in hindsight. Still, the fit never made sense, seeing how exploitable Kuzma was on defense and how inept his offensive usage was alongside Giannis.

Perhaps Kuzma off the bench as a sixth or seventh man alongside Bobby Portis would be his best fit on this team.

Regardless, we’ll wait and see if Kuz is in a Bucks uniform or (hopefully) not come October.