Giannis Does the Bucks a Favor By Signing Extension (And More)

I am using this space to catch up on a few stories I have not yet written about in the wide world of sports. I can see myself using this technique very often on this blog; briefly glossing over a few things that caught my eye after spending more time the past few days working on my Browns-Ravens and Celtics season preview blogs.

I get why journalists do notebooks now. They want to make sure they are getting all important information across, but not each piece requires its own story. This is what this is. A notebook.

However, I still do want to build these types of blogs around a main story. For this edition, it is what has to be the biggest news of the past few days: Giannis signing the supermax extension with the Bucks.

Giannis, fortunately, does not appear to be one of the spoiled, entitled, give-me-what-I-want-and-now superstars that this generation has bred too many of. One is too many of those types of individuals, yet in the NBA we have James Harden, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Rudy Gobert, Kyrie Irving, and Victor Oladipo as the culprits that first come to mind.

Giannis is not like that, yet this move made me think he leans slightly too far in the other direction. As was his right being the back-to-back MVP, he demanded an improved roster if he were going to sign a maximum extension to stay in Milwaukee. The Bucks, in my opinion, did not provide that, yet Giannis’ loyalty may have trumped his rationality.

Yes, the Bucks are better. Jrue Holiday is better than Eric Bledsoe. Torrey Craig, Bryn Forbes, DJ Augustin, and Bobby Portis are formidable bench replacements for George Hill, Kyle Korver, and Marvin Williams.

But how much better, really, is Jrue Holiday than Eric Bledsoe? Not four first rounders and two pick swaps better. I still cannot process that Jrue Holiday, who could be a free agent at the end of this season, was deemed worthy of perhaps the biggest trade haul of all time. Here is what the Bucks acquired and gave up in that four team mega-deal:

Gave Up:

Eric Bledsoe

RJ Hampton

George Hill

2024 First Round Pick (option to swap)

2025 First Round Pick

2026 First Round Pick (option to swap)

2027 First Round Pick

Acquired:

Jrue Holiday

Sam Merrill

That is ridiculous. A little less ridiculous now that I realize that it’s not quite seven first round picks (rather four firsts with an option to swap in 2024 and 2026) but still FOUR first round picks for Jrue Holiday after Paul George was dealt for a similar amount last offseason.

Yet somehow it worked. It must have convinced Giannis to sign the extension, because if not the Holiday trade the only other explanation is blind, irrational loyalty. It was certainly not the botched trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic or Khris Middleton remaining on the roster.

The Bucks should be beyond grateful that Giannis decided to stay. But the franchise should consider itself lucky, not proud that their changes did anything of significance. Like I said, Holiday is an improvement but now they have to work in a whole new supporting cast. I really don’t see how the Bucks altered their playoff destiny too much, and it came at the cost of the not-too-distant future. All but one of those first round picks they dealt occur after the extension Giannis just signed has expired. If I were to pick the most neccessarry change, it would not be the starting point guard but rather who could score in crunch time and how. That problem still remains. We’ll see if Giannis added anything in his game for the last five minutes.

I don’t want to be one of those people that yells about six years from now, but to push all your chips in for Jrue Holiday seems irresponsible and desperate. Imagine if they had held on a few more weeks for James Harden or outbid the Suns for Chris Paul. Those players would make me feel safer about pushing everything to the table. If the Bucks don’t win a championship, the trade was a colossal error. If they fail again this year and Jrue Holiday leaves, what other moves do they have to make?

That’s what makes Milwaukee one of the most interesting teams for this season, shifting back to the short term. Through the Holiday trade, they have placed a tremendous amount of pressure to win right now. And the season they chose to do it will almost surely feature virus infections and postponements and who knows what other uncertainties lie ahead. It was a bold move. The Bucks 2020 offseason will cause a ripple in the league for years to come. The first round picks they moved alone could end up touching the destinies of half the league. A fascinating series of events in Milwaukee, one of the least relevant teams in the history of the NBA. Yet they fell into drafting a two-time (for now) MVP with perhaps the most uniuque name and freakish body a superstar has ever possessed. An incredible, still-developing storyline.

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Here’s the dinner scraps. That’s what I’m calling the bits of information that I want to make sure land on this blog but do not rise to the level of getting their name in the title. You have to matter to me greatly to earn that respect, and these topics just don’t get there. Nothing to be ashamed of. Only the truly most important storylines reach the peak of the mountain.

• I would love to see Nolan Arenado traded to the Mets. It makes too much sense; Arenado would be an incredible move for new owner Steve Cohen, who you know wants to make a splash this winter, if not every winter, and Arenado seemingly wanted out of Colorado as soon as he signed his current extension. The Rockies are picking between Arenado and Trevor Story, and Story is not seasoned enough to realize that he would be wasting prime years on a non-contending ball club. The Rockies will re-sign him, and one day he will be in the same position as Arenado faces now, but not before watching his team finish, at best, a distant third in the NL West to the much-better situated Dodgers and Padres.
• It sounds like Kyrie Irving just wants his cake and to eat it, too. So Irving wants all the money and notoriety that comes with being a star basketball player, but doesn’t want to deal with the backlash he supposedly gets from the media or fans? You can’t have it both ways. Fans pay your salary through watching games on TV and/or buying your jerseys and, usually, going to games. You can’t not talk to the media because you don’t feel like it, because that’s probably the true explanation. Kyrie claims they are misconstruing his message, but he probably just wants to play, go home, and rub hemp all over his shoulders or whatever he uses his free time for. Just admit it.
• Since I have yet to share on this blog my opinion of the James Harden situation, here is a small snippet: He is a big fat baby. I will dive into The Beard’s self-created dilemma deeper if he actually gets dealt, but for now just know that his actions are not unlike a toddler who can’t eat ice cream for dinner. Need to work on a new nickname for him as well. The Beard makes him seem like too much of a man. Also Stephen Silas has not handled the situation much better, although at least he has the excuse of being a first-year head coach and not quite knowing what he got himself into. Houston is a mess.
• I’m puzzled as to why Florida only dropped one spot in the CFP rankings after their defeat to LSU on Saturday. The Top 4 door is slightly ajar if they were to beat Alabama on Saturday. I wonder if that SEC Championship would be enough to vault them ahead of Texas A&M and Iowa St, so I guess they would also need help from Oklahoma. If I were an A&M fan or especially a Cincinnati fan, I would not be too pleased. Obviously Notre Dame-Clemson is the most important game this weekend. If Clemson wins (and Ohio State avoids a huge upset against Northwestern) then it may not matter what Iowa St, Florida, or any team not already in the Top 4 does on Saturday. We shall see, always one of the best weekends of not just the college football schedule but the sports calendar.

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That will do it for today. Two blogs and a whole bunch of great writing, if I do say so myself. Every day waking up and figuring out what to write next has been a thrill these past few mornings. I hope to continue it throughout winter break, and who knows after that. Pretty light day of games scheduled tonight. I look forward to enjoying a little college basketball and then rinse and repeat for the blog tomorrow. Until then.