The Milwaukee Bucks have made some big moves prior to the NBA Draft and Free Agency.  Their star and back-to-back MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is set to become a free agent next year so the Bucks have been doing whatever they can to keep him in Milwaukee.  The past two seasons they have held the best regular season record in the league.  They have also had two disappointing playoff runs as they lost 4-2 to the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019 and lost 4-1 to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2020.

Although they’ve had great success in the regular season, these playoff shortcomings have led to speculation that Giannis will leave the Bucks in Free Agency in 2021.  The Bucks organization is very aware of these speculations and have recently made a couple of big trades to try and keep Giannis in Milwaukee.

In the first trade the Bucks made on Monday they shipped a massive package for New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday.  The package consists of veteran guards Eric Bledsoe and George Hill as well as three first-round picks and two pick swaps.  This is a pretty big package for a 30-year-old who has one all-star appearance from 2013 on his resume.

Nonetheless, it may have been the right move for the Bucks as he is a great player who can run their offense and make an impact on defense.  Although they lost some depth and gave up some of their future, Jrue Holiday will certainly play an important role in keeping Giannis in Milwaukee.

The Bucks also made a trade for Kings forward Bogdan Bogdanovic.  In the trade the Bucks gave up Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, and D.J. Wilson.  They may miss DiVincenzo as he was developing nicely with Milwaukee, but Bogdanovic is a terrific pick up to win now.  28-year-old Bogdanovic will have an immediate impact as he’s a great shooter and all-around wing player.  He should mesh nicely with Giannis and the Bucks because of his shooting ability.

While they may seem to lack some depth right now, based on their starting 5, the Bucks are unquestionably contending for a title this year.  Their regular-season success will be expected as we’ve seen it the past two years, but playoff time is when we will see what this team is really made of.