The Bucks’ head coach also provides an update on Bobby Portis
On Thursday’s episode of the Bucks+ podcast Courtside With Gale Klappa, Doc Rivers stopped by for one of his periodic interviews with the Bucks minority owner. While most of it wasn’t anything earth-shattering, Rivers did drop a couple of nuggets that are of real note relating to the Bucks’ frontcourt, which has been very thin recently, given Bobby Portis’ absence.
Firstly, he acknowledged that they’ve been playing with just three big men on the active roster (sorry, Liam Robbins) all season and how that isn’t ideal: “That’s really thin. And, you know, obviously with the trade deadline coming, hopefully we can change that a little bit.” This is probably the most direct you’ll hear Rivers about player transactions. On the one hand, the Bucks really only need three bigs in their rotation, given the presence of forwards like Taurean Prince and Khris Middleton, who can capably play the four in small lineups. On the other, only two of them are defenders and just one is a traditional rim protector. Added depth would be welcome.
Brook Lopez had to play heavy minutes in Portis’ absence, and Giannis had to slide up the depth chart more than he’d probably like. In games where one of these three is out, the other two are a bit overburdened because Robbins and Tyler Smith are simply not NBA-ready, at least in high-leverage minutes. Beyond several trade candidates we’ve speculated, Milwaukee hasn’t been connected with any of the big men rumored to be out there. While it’s debatable if guys like Guerschon Yabusele and Trendon Watford are available, Robert Williams III certainly is, and Kevon Looney seems like a probable trade piece too, given his expiring deal. Williams would necessitate adding more second-round picks than the one Milwaukee has, plus his $12.5m salary probably means that Portis needs to be the outgoing piece.
Beyond those names, the market has mostly minimum guys who aren’t likely to move the needle. Names like Alex Len and Jericho Sims would be easy enough to acquire, but they probably won’t see postseason minutes if everyone is healthy. Other bigs like Andre Drummond and Day’Ron Sharpe make slightly more and wouldn’t be as easy for the Bucks to trade for, given their salaries in the $3m–9m range where the team just doesn’t have any good salary-matching pieces. Though they’re not going to excite anyone, they would have been nice to have on Tuesday and Friday, as Lopez and Giannis played around 40 minutes in each contest.
The Bucks will return home tomorrow for a game with the Grizzlies, who crushed them in Memphis earlier this season, after a 1-3 trip that saw very dispiriting losses in Oregon and Texas. Doc mentioned that “obviously, with Bobby’s size, we don’t have another big… if you could pick times to go on the road, this probably wouldn’t be one of them, with those two guys out.” It was pretty obvious in the most recent losses just how much Milwaukee needed another center, and perhaps Portis’ absence greased the wheels a little bit for the front office to add in the frontcourt.
When asked about the returns of AJ Green (who played last night in San Antonio) and Portis’ who has missed the entire road trip, Doc didn’t know two days ago when to expect them back. About the latter, he mentioned that Portis is “going through a personal matter that is very, very personal and serious.” That sure doesn’t sound good, and we wish the best to Portis and his loved ones during what may be a difficult time. Hopefully, he returns to the floor soon, and all will be well with the Portis family.