The glory days of the Milwaukee Bucks occurred a lifetime ago. The Bucks entered the NBA as an expansion team in 1968 and by 1971, they won the NBA Title as it was the combination of center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and guard Oscar Robertson that led Milwaukee to glory. In their first 23 years of existence, the Bucks would make the playoffs 20 times, but since then they’ve lacked consistency. The Bucks have seen a constant turnover at both the general manager and head coaching positions which makes it very tough to win. But things appear to be getting better in Milwaukee.
Wesley Edens, Marc Lasry
In April 2014, Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens agreed to purchase the Bucks from longtime owner Herb Kohl for $550 million. Milwaukee was in the midst of its worst season in franchise history as they went 15-67, and once the change of ownership was finalized by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, things began to change for the Bucks franchise.
Jason Kidd
Jason Kidd played 19 seasons in the NBA as a point guard and he was one of the best floor generals that the game has ever seen. In 2013, Kidd decided to end his playing career as he became the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Kidd encountered a power struggle with the Nets and after leading Brooklyn to the NBA Playoffs in 2014, his contract was then traded to the Bucks. The Bucks entered the 2014 NBA Draft with the second overall pick which they used on small forward Jabari Parker. Parker was able to average 12.3 points in 25 games played, but a torn ACL cut his rookie campaign short. Even without Parker, the Bucks saw their win total increase by 26 games as they went 41-41 to secure their first non-losing season since 2010. The Bucks would go on to make the NBA Playoffs and by the looks of things, they are thinking about more than just reaching the postseason.
Last season the Bucks did acquire point guard Michael Carter-Williams from the Philadelphia 76ers. Carter-Williams was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2014, but the Sixers decided to give up on him being that he isn’t a good perimeter shooter. At 6’6″, Williams is a big point guard like Kidd who has no problem in working with the youngster as he is already one of the top passers in the NBA. This off-season the Bucks signed free agent center Greg Monroe to a three-year deal worth $50 million. In five seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Monroe averaged 14.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists and with Milwaukee, he could be extremely valuable as he provides size on the interior.
Speaking of size, the Bucks are on the verge of having the tallest starting lineup in the NBA for next season as only two players (Jerryd Bayless and Tyler Ennis) are under 6’5″ on their entire roster as Kidd might want to bring in Syracuse University head basketball coach Jim Boeheim to run a little 2-3 zone with this team. Monroe is 6’11”, Parker is 6’8″, Williams 6’6″, and shooting guard Giannis Antetokounmpo is 6″11 just to name a few. And more importantly the Bucks are a young and hungry team as only center Zaza Pachulia is more than 30-years of age.
We’ve seen it before from the Bucks where they were on the verge of doing great things only to be rebuffed. Abdul-Jabbar wanted to play in a bigger market which led the Bucks to trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975 in what amounted to be one of the worst trades in professional sports history. The Bucks had good teams in the 1980’s, but they were never able to overcome the 76ers and Boston Celtics in the NBA Playoffs. Since then the Bucks have teased their fan base with the occasional trip to the playoffs, but with nothing solid to show for it as every time that they appear on the verge of putting a strong core together, it crumbles due to mismanagement by the front office.
This time around things appear to be different for the Bucks. Edens and Lasry are hopeful to keep the Bucks in Milwaukee and they along with the NBA are working on a new arena as the Bradley Center is an outdated facility; it just comes down to them getting the proper funding from the City of Milwaukee. The Bucks have a new logo and uniform design for the upcoming NBA season as they are hopeful that it will bring with it some good fortunes. Edens and Lasry also believe in the work of Kidd as aside from being the Bucks head coach, he is on the verge of being named the team’s general manager. The Bucks are building their team through the draft, quality free agent signings, and sound trades, and if this new core stays together in Milwaukee, they will be rather formidable in the very near future.
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