Rastall's Rambling
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst caught a lot of flak at the NBA trade deadline over the moves he both did and didn’t make. Though it’s too early yet to make any grand declarations about the state of the revamped Bucks, the early returns have been very promising.
Milwaukee has won five of six games since the All-Star break to reach a season-high nine games over .500 as they try to ultimately earn the 4 seed in the East during this final stretch run of the regular season.
While the Bucks have enjoyed positive stretches throughout this season since that putrid 2-8 start, the pre-deadline version of the team seemed like they had a clear ceiling as a group that could win a playoff series but didn’t have much of a prayer at winning a best-of-seven series against Boston, Cleveland or New York.
The trade of Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma brought all sorts of strong reactions ranging from those who felt it was a betrayal to Middleton given what he’s meant to the franchise to those who had no interest in seeing Kuzma as a Buck.
While I was fine with moving on from Middleton given his injuries, decline in athleticism and boondoggle of a contract that was keeping the team above the second apron, I admittedly didn’t have high expectations for Kuzma.
However, he’s been about as good as could be expected thus far. His shooting certainly isn’t efficient (which is no surprise) but the speed and athleticism he brings defensively and on the boards are a jolt this roster desperately needed.
Beyond just that, Horst flipping MarJon Beauchamp for Kevin Porter Jr. and Delon Wright for Jericho Sims are both looking excellent thus far.
It certainly should be acknowledged that Porter’s stock as an NBA player was a lot lower than his purely on-court production would dictate due to his domestic violence arrest in 2023. Like many Bucks fans I can’t say I’m keen on bringing in someone like that but with the team co-owned by Deshaun Watson employer Jimmy Haslam I also can’t say I’m overly surprised.
Strictly from an on-court perspective, Porter Jr. has unquestionably also provided youth and athleticism as well to the Bucks’ old roster. Sims is very limited offensively, but to have an athletic big who is a capable defender to throw out there for matchups where Brook Lopez is basically unplayable is a huge depth move.
It’s way too soon to declare the Bucks right back in the mix to make it out of the East and they’re still stuck playing without Bobby Portis during his 25-game suspension, but now it’s possible to imagine them at least having the ceiling to make a conference finals run. And with a challenging schedule the rest of the regular season, they’ll have plenty of opportunity before the playoffs to prove their mettle.
