Outlining my blueprint for Bucks success in 2025–26
This upcoming offseason will be a huge one for the Milwaukee Bucks. With Giannis reportedly staying, it’s imperative that he is given the best possible chance to compete. Given Dame’s injury, a lack of draft capital, and the dysfunctional state of the current roster, renovating this team into a contender seems like a tall task. Luckily, the Brew Hoop team is here to make the job look easy. My colleague Jackson recently outlined his ideal offseason plan, and now it’s my turn. Let’s dive in and save the Bucks.
Step 1: Draft John Tonje
Rather than trading up, down, or out of this year’s draft, I would stay put. With the 47th pick in the 2025 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select John Tonje, the All-American wing from Wisconsin. I feel very confident that Tonje can play 10–15 minutes per game in the regular season as a rookie, and maybe even some playoff minutes if he really pops. I’ll have more in-depth words on him coming soon when the wings/forwards edition of my 47th pick target series drops.
Step 2: Ring Toronto’s line off the hook
The Raptors may make at least two star-caliber players (three, depending on how you feel about Immanuel Quickley) available this summer: RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram. If I were the Bucks, I’d try hard to get one. Today, I’m bringing in Barrett after completing the following deal:
Bucks receive: RJ Barrett
Raptors receive: Kyle Kuzma, Chris Livingston, Milwaukee’s 2031 first-round pick (top 10 protected)
Barrett is coming off the best individual season of his career. In 58 games, he averaged 21.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 5.4 APG—all career highs. The Maple Mamba showed real comfort as a lead creator, playmaking for others at a high level while scoring from two and three with decent efficiency. According to BBall Index, Barrett ranked in the 96th percentile in finishing talent and 91st percentile in playmaking talent amongst all players in 2024–25. He shot 35.0% from three overall and 40.0% from the corner.
Why would Toronto do this deal? They currently have three star forwards with overlapping skillsets in Barrett, Ingram, and Scottie Barnes. Barnes is their franchise player (for now), and Ingram just got a big new extension, so Barrett is the odd man out. In this return, the Raptors get a potentially valuable first-round pick as well as a versatile forward in Kyle Kuzma, who will demand fewer touches than Barrett while contributing in somewhat similar ways (just at a lower level).
Why should the Bucks do this deal? Well, they can’t roll with just Giannis and a bunch of decent role players until Damian Lillard returns. That won’t cut it with how good other teams in the East have become. With his creation prowess, Barrett could be the second fiddle in Lillard’s absence. His fit wouldn’t be beautiful with Giannis, but it would be solid, and he could absolutely slot in next to Giannis and Dame as the third banana with the team at full strength. Barrett turned 25 earlier this week and could be a core piece for Milwaukee moving forward.
I also considered going after Trey Murphy III from the Pelicans, but not only is Barrett cheaper in terms of trade value (remember, the Bucks have limited assets to work with), I’d also trust him more than Murphy right now to be a true second option on a playoff-caliber team. Barrett has more experience playing with the ball in his hands, and he’s been to the playoffs as a top-three option. In the 2023 postseason, he averaged 19.3 points through two series for the Knicks.
Step 3: Improve center depth
This move is pretty straightforward.
Bucks receive: Jalen Smith
Bulls receive: Pat Connaughton, Milwaukee’s 2031 second-round pick
The archetype “three-and-D center” gets thrown around a decent amount, but very few guys actually fit that mold. Jalen Smith is part of that exclusive club. According to BBall Index, he’s a 97th percentile rim protector. Smith isn’t just a Hassan Whiteside-esque blocks merchant; he has great instincts and alters many more shots than just the ones he rejects. He shot a not-so-awesome 32.4% from three on 3.5 attempts this past season but made 42.4% the year before, and he attracts more defensive attention than fake stretch fives like Jusuf Nurkic. Basically, he’s a devolved but younger version of Brook Lopez, who I’d be prepared to lose in free agency.
The logic for the Bulls accepting this is simple. Josh Giddey and Coby White will both need to be paid soon. Patrick Williams already got paid. A future Matas Buzelis extension looms as well. Pat Connaughton’s $9 million contract expires one year sooner than Smith’s, meaning Chicago frees up money more quickly to delegate elsewhere while also acquiring some draft capital.
Step 4: Free agency
Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
After drafting Tonje and making those two trades, the Bucks would now have eight players under contract for next year, which means they’d need to get busy in free agency. To start, I would take a page out of Jackson’s book and bring back the following 2024–25 Bucks on new deals:
Gary Trent Jr. — three years, $28.1m
Ryan Rollins — two years, $9.6m
Jericho Sims — two years, veteran’s minimum
For sound explanations on keeping that trio, check out Jackson’s article. In addition to those three, I would retain Bobby Portis, using Bird rights to give him a three-year, $54m deal. An average annual value of $15m may feel a bit low, but I could see the big fella taking a hometown discount to stay in Milwaukee. I think his flaws can be mostly mitigated if he almost always plays the four and shares the court with Giannis, Jericho Sims, or Jalen Smith.
Further, I’d re-sign Kevin Porter Jr. to a three-year, $18 million deal with a team option for the third season. This move will use up the rest of the mid-level exception that Gary Trent’s contract also eats into. Even though Dennis Schroder, Tyus Jones, and more will be available in free agency, I want to keep rolling the dice on a bet that has paid off for the Bucks so far in Porter. His contributions last year, specifically in the regular season, were much better than anyone could have expected. I could see him masquerading as a third “star” and averaging 15+ points and 5+ assists in a starting role while Dame is out of the lineup.
To round out my roster, I would sign Javonte Green to a one-year minimum deal. Green is a six-year vet with a ton of athleticism and grit who could give the Bucks a defensive boost off the bench on the wing. He also shot over 37% from three in two of the last three seasons.
Cap notes
After the moves made in this article, the Bucks would have a payroll of $190.9m in guaranteed salary. Also, RJ Barrett has over $3m in All-NBA/All-Star/All-Defense incentives in his contract that must be factored in. This leaves Milwaukee with an apron figure of $194.2m, which is about $1.7m below the first apron. In the Barrett trade, they brought in more salary than they sent out, which would hard-cap the Bucks at the first apron (using the MLE on Trent has the same effect). That means the team couldn’t make a move that would put them over the $195.9m apron, no matter what. They have some breathing room, enough to sign a 15th man to a rookie minimum deal (so likely an undrafted free agent), but things would still be somewhat tight. Hitting the first apron would restrict Milwaukee from absorbing extra salary in a trade, among other things. In the meantime, any move would be possible as long as it kept them below that apron number.
Final Bucks roster and thoughts
This is what the final roster would look like if the Bucks made all of the moves outlined in this article. It doesn’t jump off the screen in terms of pure talent and name value, but this group does have:
- Defensive versatility
- Creation outside of Giannis
- Plenty of shooting
- Intriguing young guys
- Playoff-tested vets
- Athleticism
- Lineup versatility
- Star power
- No BAD contracts
All of those traits are key to building a contender around Giannis. This mock roster I’ve constructed is the blueprint for success. Hopefully, Jon Horst and company are reading this and taking notes.
How do you feel about the moves I made in this article? Let me know how I did in the comments below!