The Milwaukee Bucks have gone all-in to keep Giannis and have gone all-in for a potential championship.
Despite a strong 2019-20 regular season, postseason disappointment has fueled a busy free agency roster makeover.
The moves
Bucks GM Jon Horst has done a lot of moving and shaking in 2020 free agency. Milwaukee acquired Jrue Holiday and then proceeded to sign Torrey Craig, Bobby Portis, Bryn Forbes and DJ Augustin in free agency.
Gone from the 2019 Bucks: Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Wes Matthews, Robin Lopez, Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, Ersan Ilyasova and Marvin Williams.
Strangely, the Bucks’ title odds have stayed relatively flat since free agency opened. To be fair, the movement of odds can be about fandom as much as anything, but it could also result in the Bucks being a bargain bet if those trades work.
Holiday Celebration
The crown jewel of the offseason for Horst was acquiring Holiday via trade.
The Bucks paid a hefty price to snag Holiday, shipping Bledsoe, Hill and three first-round picks out in the four-team trade. But make no mistake, it was a necessary move.
When Milwaukee traded for Bledsoe in 2016, the Bucks thought they were getting the third scorer and dynamic guard they needed. And regular season Bled was good. Postseason Bled, well, is why Milwaukee moved on.
Bledsoe didn’t average 14 points per game in any playoff run with the Bucks and shot 25 percent or less from 3 in the final two playoff runs. Meanwhile, Jrue Holiday shines under the bright lights.
Holiday averaged 23.7 points per game and shot over 50 percent from the floor in his most recent playoffs in 2018. Before you say well Bledsoe was a great defender, Holiday is too. He is a two-time all-NBA defender.
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Augustin a compliment to Jrue
With the DJ Augustin three-year, $21M signing the Bucks really turned a decent PG upgrade to a dramatic improvement. Augustin basically takes the place of Hill with better, true point-guard skills.
The Bucks got an up-close-and-personal look at Augustin in the playoffs this year in the opening round. Augustin shot 47 percent from 3 in the opening round series loss for Orlando, who fell to the Bucks in five games.
Augustin also has hit game-winning shots in the postseason, where let’s be real, is the reason for the offseason makeover.
But truly this isn’t about stats. It’s about skillsets. The Bucks thought they had a good combo in Hill and Bledsoe. But the upgrade is clear for the Bucks.
The versatility it provides is similar, but with more offensive firepower and playmaking. Augustin and Holiday likely will play together also play together and probably close games on the court in the playoffs. Holiday has the size and defensive physicality to play and guard SGs with Augustin assuming point guard duties.
Insert the eye-popping emoji with the offensive capabilities of this lineup: Augustin, Holiday, Middleton, Giannis and Brook. On top of that, Holiday is an all-defensive player, Middleton is solid, Giannis was Defensive Player of the Year and Lopez is all-defense.
The Augustin-Holiday lineup provides ball-handling, shooting and playmaking to ease the load from Giannis. The Greek Freak led the league in usage rate, using 36.3% of the Bucks’ possessions (via field goal attempts, trips to the line and turnovers) while he was on the floor. DJ and Jrue should help alleviate that.
It also allows for the Bucks to go “small” potentially with Giannis at C and Portis at PF and have shooting and playmaking guards along with shooters all over the floor.
For all the things an Augustin-Holiday lineup does offensively, it takes little away from the team defensively.
The vision the Bucks had for Bledsoe and Hill to have two point-guard lineups in the playoffs dimmed in 2020. George wasn’t great and playoff Bled was his playoff self. But now, the Bucks’ hopes for two reliable ball-handlers and versatile lineups come playoff time is realized.
Augustin and Holiday have proven themselves in the playoffs and having other reliable playoff ball-handlers and performers next to Giannis are welcomed additions for the Bucks.
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