After a 1-11 start and no signs of improvement on the horizon, it’s hard to imagine a bleaker situation in the NBA than what has transpired for the Milwaukee Bucks over the past couple of years. (Although Kings, Nets, Wizards and Pelicans fans might argue otherwise. Man, there have been a lot of bleak situations in the NBA recently, huh?)
Following several desperate attempts to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo with the franchise that ultimately proved futile, the Bucks now face a major uphill climb to become a respectable team again.
David Samson Blasts the Bucks Front Office
David Samson, the former president of the Florida Marlins from 2002-2017 and now host of the podcast “Nothing Personal with David Samson,” said he would have never traded Giannis.
“The Bucks, their biggest problem is not losing draft picks. Their biggest problem is they’ve got a front office that somehow thought it made sense to do that value deal with [Damian] Lillard and move him along so they could sign Myles Turner to try to keep Giannis happy. And Myles Turner stinks. They’re still paying Lillard, basically $21 million a year for the next four years. The players they got for Giannis stink. Just a bad trade that somehow they felt as though they had to do for Giannis, like, as a thank you. I would have sat Giannis and just let him rot. I really would have rather than trade him.”
How Did It Get This Bad in Milwaukee?
The acquisition of Damian Lillard before the 2023-24 season never worked out, and Lillard never played for the Bucks again after tearing his Achilles tendon in the 2025 playoffs. In an attempt to remain competitive and appease Antetokounmpo, the Bucks subsequently waived and stretched Lillard’s contract to create room to sign Myles Turner.
As a result, Milwaukee is paying Lillard $21.3 million per season through 2029-30, while he is currently playing for the Portland Trail Blazers for less than $13.5 million this season, according to Spotrac.
The Bucks then signed Turner to a four-year, $108.86 million contract that includes a 2028- 29 player option and a 15% trade bonus (for some reason), according to Spotrac.
The Turner signing proved to be another misstep in an attempt to keep the team competitive. The Bucks didn’t even make the playoffs last season before trading Giannis during the offseason, making the signing even more perplexing. Now, Turner is essentially dead weight and a virtually untradeable “asset,” if you can call him that.
This season, he’s been one of the league’s worst players, averaging 6.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 32.9% from the field and 25.5% from 3-point range.
The return for Giannis, which was regarded as a decent haul at the time considering the circumstances, has proved largely useless to the Bucks’ future. Trading your franchise superstar and getting nothing in return that can help build toward the future is a worst-case scenario, and that appears to be what has happened in Milwaukee.
As Samson said during the episode: “It’s like when the Knicks traded Patrick Ewing. Like, was it a gift? Because you got back crap, and it crushes you going forward. That is the true problem in Milwaukee. It is the front office; it is the ownership; it is the president. It is them thinking they are running the team properly, making smart personnel moves.”
The Bucks were also a topic of conversation on a recent episode of “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective,” during which Windhorst said “everybody in the league expects a guilty finding” regarding the Gary Trent Jr. salary cap circumvention investigation.
Trent, who signed a one-year, $2.6 million contract with Milwaukee in July 2024 and a two-year, $7.58 million contract in July 2025, declined his $3.88 million player option for the 2026-27 season before signing a four-year, $64 million contract extension this offseason. The deal came despite a decline in virtually every statistical category.
“Everybody in the league expects a guilty finding.”
“If they are found guilty, there are going to be draft picks stripped and people
For Milwaukee fans, at least you have your Brewers and Packers! And you’ll always have the 2021 Bucks championship to look back fondly on.
Former MLB Executive: “I Would Have Sat Giannis and Just Let Him Rot”