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Welcome into the Winklerverse. I'm Bart Winkler. We're gonna talk some bucks today with Eric. name of the athletic. He'll be the bulk of today's Episode to get you going on your Wednesday, maybe a cleanup Wednesday.
For some of you, the southeastern part of Wisconsin getting hammered. By storms, I did have soccer practice. I was talking with Grant and Paul yesterday on, in which Paul gave a Dynamite question. About Yanis. What would Giannis have to do on another team?
to be remembered as a member of that team. Before he's remembered as a buck, Grant and I were just floored. We thought that was a great question. Not that Paul couldn't come up with it, but. We didn't expect it.
We never know what to expect. We go into those things. Blind and Paul delivered.
So, great episode. If you haven't had the chance to check it out again on the Dan Shaney YouTube stream. Or wherever you get your podcast. But I did have practice. It was at 5:30.
I really like. Hemmed and hot about it all day. I really did. And I got it. I got it.
I should have just canceled it. I mean, there was a tornado watch, for goodness sakes. But we got 30 minutes in. And then there was some lightning. I mean, I'm glad we did it.
Everyone's fine. I just. It's that and shoveling snow. Those are the two things that. Wreck me as a human.
When I know I have Snow to shovel. It consumes me. And trying to figure out if I should cancel practice or not. Consumes me as well. But we got it in.
And then I think it was a core memory night for my boy. I think it was a core memory night. It was the first time that we ever went into the basement during a storm. at least that he's got uh recollection of. And it was, you know, it was different.
It was different. Um He sat. In the Winkler verse Chair. And watch the Heat and hornets. On my computer, as well as the Brewers and Blue Jays on my computer.
And we went upstairs and then. We let him sleep by us. And instead of watching the Brewers to fall asleep, he was pretty locked in on the news. I think Fox Six stayed live all night.
So we're watching some of that. They jumped back on Channel 12. We went over to Mark Baden. I mean, they all do a good job in those in those circumstances. whatever flavor of ice cream you pick when it comes to your Meteorologist, we got good ones here.
You know, even some of the people that, you know, just start out. And the veterans they have. Look, they delivered last night. I'm an Apple Weather App guy, but. That thing was a piece of shit.
for me last night.
So Nah, I'm I'm team I'm team Mets. Team meteorologists. They did a great job. And they might have to do a little more. this week.
Because more weather.
So that's that's quite. I'm stunned the Brewers like played the game. I know they have a roof and I everything was fine, but They just played the game as if nothing was going on. I did see a video. They said, hey, if there's an emergency, this is how you exit.
But. I thought there'd at least be somewhat of a delay. I mean, there was tornadoes barreling through. I I I mean if a tornado is like right outside. That's the last thing we need is a tornado to rip up that highway even more.
But yeah, I was just kind of surprised. Like, well, here's the game. Maybe they should have canceled. They've lost their sixth in a row. The Brewers have.
Look to get things rebounded with Chad Patrick. on this Wednesday night. But man. I will tell you this about my kid. He uh I don't know if it was the lingering effects from last night.
Because, you know, it was scary. I mean, it's scary. You don't know what's going on. Just a lot of questions. We learned about tornadoes, we learned about lightning.
When he was watching the news, because he wanted to watch the news over the brewer game, he was so captivated by it. We learned about like counties. You know, I don't think that's a thing kids are too familiar with. We learned about counties.
So it was interesting. But then he got up and he saw, he thought the Brewers had won when he went to bed. And then he saw that they lost, and it's six in a row. And you know, he does the standings, and he has to move the brewers down. He doesn't want to do the standings anymore because the brewers are so low.
So he first thing this morning, he Come on! They even destroyed the standings. And then second thing this morning, he's like, actually, I want to do the stand-ins. Anyway, short story long, brewers better fucking win today, so my Kid's not upset. All right, can we get that going, please?
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25% off. Big thanks to our sponsor, BetterHelp, for partnering with us for this important conversation about mental health. This is Steve Smith here, former NFL wide receiver and host of the 89 Show on YouTube.
So, having a counselor and working with BetterHelp that gives you an opportunity to really start to unpack, but people don't understand when you unpack things, you also open up a box that you're not always sure what's inside.
So, I think that's why seeing a professional is extremely important. If you need someone to open up to, visit BetterHelp. That's betterh.com/slash 89 to get started. Welcoming back into the Winklerverse. It is Eric name.
from the athletic Coach Namesy. What's up, player? Oh, wow. That takes me back. That really, really takes me back.
I'm sad that Freems isn't here to be here with us. I saw a video of Chuck last night. Did I just kill Freems? Did I make it sound like he's dead? That was not my goal.
I'm just saying he's not with us on the podcast, not as in like he's not in life in general.
Well, if there's anybody that I think we should eulogize before they die, it's Chuck Freeman. I liked it. I saw a video of him last night, like after the Brewers game. Where he was in the tunnel and he was just like And I tweeted about this. I said, there is not anyone else in the media.
That Does a better job. Of covering the team year to year and also. Inning by inning, like Chuck. In a respectable way, Chuck wears his fandom, and I think that that's good. For sure.
No, we needed a wellness check on Chuck last night. Like, I wanted to make sure he got home. It's like, you know, okay, bud. I know, well, you know, brewers have been. Which is a common in the state.
Let me talk to you about the Bucs first. What's going on with Giannis? I put it. I put it at like fifty nine or fifty one forty nine still. I don't know.
We did a show the other day. Um when I'm when I do it with Grant and and Paul, Imig, And they were both like, yeah, for the betterment of the franchise, he should probably get traded. I just still don't want him to because. My So he I think there's four I think there's four outcomes.
Okay. Two of them are not happening. In my opinion. IMO. Number one is the Bucs keep Giannis and they win a championship with him.
I don't think that's happening.
Okay. The Bucs trade Yannis and get enough good pieces back where they win a championship. While he's still somewhere else. I don't think that's happening.
So I think either they trade them and suck. Or keep 'em in sock. And if those are the two options, I'd rather keep 'em and suck. Sure. How is the franchise viewing that scenario?
Yeah, I mean, I think it's, I don't know, it's so interesting to kind of like. You know, so I'm in this scrum with them. I ask him, like, hey, you know, do you feel like you played your last game as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks? And, you know, What I see on social media afterwards is like Well, why didn't you ask him if he wants out? Why didn't you ask him this?
Why didn't you ask him that? And why don't you and blah blah blah blah blah. And it's really weird to see. I don't know. It's weird to see so many people be...
Think that he's in charge. Because If he was in charge. Wouldn't he have played? In the last month? Right?
Like he very clearly wanted to. He did not want to get shut down. He's been very clear about all of that. You know, he's been clear about by the end of the season, even when the season was over and they were eliminated. I wanted to play with my brothers.
He didn't get to do any of that.
So that would suggest Giannis is no longer in charge, right? Like, and maybe I'm reading it wrong. Maybe, maybe there's something else that I should be reading into this, but it seems like he's no longer in charge. Which would also suggest that The Milwaukee Bucks are in charge this offseason, and they get to decide. If they want to Continue to try to win.
At the highest level. And like Every time Giannis has come up against an extension, He's essentially told them the same thing. I want to win. I want to be in Milwaukee.
So if you can make that possible, I will sign an extension. Yeah. This past offseason wasn't going to happen, right? They didn't have any picks to trade. Dame Torres Achilles two weeks before the offseason.
Like. It just wasn't going to happen.
So they needed to get through this year. To set up this summer. And this summer, they have the three first-round picks that they can trade. They have some, they'll have like the full mid-level exception. They'll have a biannual exception.
Like, they can rebuild the team. If they want to totally, you know, throw away the future, right? Like trade the 2031 first-round pick, trade the 2033 first-round pick, go back to having a barren cupboard. They can do that. Or They can not do that.
And if they don't do it, I think you would say they're not really serious spell winning. And that's okay, right? Like, this could be. You know, uh. You know, brewers, you know, we want to be sustainable for the future and for the long term.
Kind of three bites of the apple, just say it. Yeah, you can take some bites at the apple. Yeah, enjoy it, have a good time. And you can trade Giannis and go out and do that. And to me, That's Totally in the Bucks court at this point.
That decision is all about them. Because he literally can't sign this extension till October 1st. And the Bucks can't afford to sit on their hands until October 1st and be like, well, You know, it's up to you. What are you going to do? And I I just to me, it's like, oh, well.
Why doesn't Giannis just promise that he's going to sign on October 1st? Say, I'm signing no matter what.
Okay. Guys. If you talked about the Milwaukee Bucks for the last year, if you watched the Milwaukee Bucks for the last year, you know that they employed Doc Rivers. And You know that Things weren't going well. They didn't play well.
I think before the season. You could say, hey, we did everything we could. You know, our backs were against the wall. We did everything we could to try to put a winner on the floor. But then as the season kept going, Things kept going wrong.
And it wasn't getting better. And at no point Was a change made, right? Like the entirety of my story on Monday is that. There were so many stops along the way where it was like. I don't know.
Maybe we should try something different. Maybe we should make a change. You know, we just lost to the Washington Wizards, and it looked like Giannis quit in the fourth quarter because he thinks this team stinks. Is that New Year's Eve? No, that was the first time they lost to the Wizards, which was in December.
But the second time, yeah, sure. There's another good one on New Year's Eve. Because we were there. I was there with my kid and some of his buddies, and it's like, we're all excited. And they just blow it up.
It was terrible. It was terrible. So, either of the Wizards losses without Giannis, they go to Brooklyn and lose by 45. After the game, Kyle Kuzma says, We lost by 40 to a team that was trying to lose. And in that moment.
You gotta be thinking, okay. Maybe this isn't whatever's going on here. Maybe we can't make a trade. But we can at least fire the coach and try to save the season. And they never did it.
And you just keep going on and on and on and on and on. There's. 10 more of those moments. And in those moments, and kind of what I asked to John Horse last week when we got a chance to talk to him. In New York was like.
It was hard for me, someone who's covered the team for the last eight years. To understand in this season. that you guys were still serious about winning. And a large part of that was Doc Rivers was still the head coach. It was just hard.
It was hard for me to understand. And, you know, obviously John was. Discussing how Doc was masterful and did a great job, and he was an unbelievable partner throughout all of this. And, like, that's all fine. That's all fine and good.
We can disagree, right? He can say that, and I can believe the opposite. And To me, what I would say is, okay. People want Yannis to promise. Yeah.
Why should he promise to this organization? That he believes that they still want to win. What in the last season? Showed you. that this team will be serious about winning.
And I don't know. Maybe someone can come up with some ideas, some reasons. I can't.
So for him, I think While you know People are like, well, why don't you just Put your blind faith in the organization.
Well, why doesn't the organization put their blind faith in Giannis and say, yeah, no, we're going to trade all the picks, we're going to go for it again? Like, there's got to be both sides here, right? Like, this is how trust works right this is how relationships work And very clearly, at the moment, it is a strained relationship, and there's not a whole lot of trust between the two sides.
So I'll get to the Giannis part of it again in a second, but with what you've been talking about, about how they don't seem like they are actively trying to win. There's almost two things happening. You know, from my vantage point is. I keep saying, like, John Horse was tasked to keep Giannis, keep Giannis here. You'll win a championship if Giannis stays here.
And then that worked. But since They've made moves. From a player standpoint. Roster building. That I think We're good in theory.
Like, okay, you're going to. Trade for Damian Lillard. I mean, everyone was pretty jazzed about that. And even like knowing it didn't work, you would still probably do it again because the potential was so great. And then, all right, well, this season's going to be a wash.
No, it's not because we're actually going to do this crazy thing and then bring in Miles Turner.
So they've taken some big swings to make it look like we are not going to waste any opportunity with Giannis. While that's been happening. They give, they hire, they fire Bud, which, you know, sometimes a coach's message gets stale or whatever. Yeah. They still had the cover of, well, you know, without these injuries.
Like Packer fans are like, oh, well, if Tucker Kraft and Micah Parsons didn't get hurt. And everyone absolves LaFleur, but then for the Bucs, Middleton's hurt, and everyone's like, fire bud.
Okay, so he gets fired. And then they bring in Adrian Griffin. Like he won a Reality show contest to be the next coach. He's got a winning record. Then they fire him.
And then they bring in Doc. Who Like you said, if there was. Because I remember a day where Jason Kidd was the coach, and I was there. I think you were there.
Something was going on with Jabari. But it seemed like and kid was late to his presser, so we're like oh Yeah. He's getting fired. Like the game was bad enough. He's getting fired.
And as you just mentioned, there were so many of those games with Doc.
So they are doing everything they can, it seems, to survive from a roster standpoint with the limited tools they have. Yet at the same time, They're letting Doc Rivers run the ship. And that was that's been clear. Since he started. That this wasn't going to work.
So, again, as a fan, I don't understand like. And maybe, you know, you know, and I would say this too, sorry. No, no, please. Um I would say like okay.
So If we look at If we look at Doc, right, like the idea behind Doc was: I'm here to take this team to the next level. They weren't playing any defense. Um so it was like all right well I'm gonna I'm gonna help them figure out how to defend. And then I'm going to manage the... The superstars, right?
Like, I got two superstars. I'm going to manage it.
Okay. I can understand that. That is like a thing Doc has been tasked with doing over the years. He hasn't done it successfully since he won a championship in Boston, but. That is what he has been tasked with doing.
Um And again, like that's That's all good. Uh but then when you get to a spot where The superstars are gone. What's Doc supposed to do? Like, what is his. Like, what is his.
Saying Kevin Porter Jr. is not a superstar. Like, what is his upper-level task here? Right? Like, that kind of disappeared when Dame was gone.
Uh and Like you're just trying to You're trying to get to that. Whatever, like the tactical thing, right? Like this year was about point Giannis. It was about, like, all right, we got to win on the margins, and that's how we're going to get to be a playoff team. And other teams did that, right?
Joe Missoula runs crazy stuff in Boston, he found a way. We saw the Phoenix Suns last night they lost in their playing game, but Jordan Ott. Gets a bunch of nobodies in Devin Booker. to the playoffs in the West and He's doing it through tactics and squeezing the most out of this team. That's not a Doc Rivers' job.
That, like, no matter what you think of Doc, good coach, bad coach, great coach. Mediocre coach, whatever, pick where you are in the scale. If there are things that he's good at, it is like the management, or he's supposed to be good at, it is like the management of stars.
Well, there was only one star in this team this year, and they needed a great tactical foundation. And it just wasn't there. They lost the possession battle the entire season. Doc has been punting on offensive rebounding for the entirety of his career. And you know when that's a problem?
When the whole league decides that offensive rebounding is now good. The whole league is doing everything they can to get every offensive rebound, and the Bucs are just punting on it. And it's like, oh, The Bucks took 10 fewer shots than the other team tonight. Oh, the Bucks took 15 fewer shots than the other team tonight. Oh, they did it again.
It keeps happening. Why does it keep happening?
Well, because the tactics didn't meet the moment. And I think that's where. Again. That's to me like the big thing that the Bucks have to prove is that. Undeniably.
Like, I can't argue otherwise. Up to the start of this season. That the Bucks did everything in their power to win every offseason, right? Every offseason. And during the seasons, they did everything in their power to win.
You lose me once you get to the twelfth game of this season. And you you throw away the Poinana stuff. You you throw away whatever it was was supposed to be this season. And They're just aimlessly wandering through the final seventy games of the season. That's when you lose me.
Because then why did that happen? Why? I don't know. Those are the questions that I've asked, and I don't think I've gotten satisfactory responses. Being told that Doc Rivers did a masterful job in the final 70 games is not something I agree with.
That is something that they have pushed forward. They've talked about all the injuries that they've had and how difficult it was, and how the roster was already undermined. And then, when you lose Giannis and you lose Kevin Porter Jr. and you lose this, and you lose that. Uh that's what's been been pushed back to me.
So I don't have a good answer. And I think if I'm asking that question. And I I d I don't know I make a 0.0001% of what Giannis makes. It's not that big of a decision. Might be a lot of money.
You might need to redo the math on that. Yeah, I would guess. I'd probably mess that up. I don't like if it's a question that my little brain can come up with. Like, don't you think the best player in the world is like...
Guys, what have we been doing?
Well, what's the answer here? And maybe they behind the scenes, they have a better answer, right? Maybe they do. I don't know. Because they haven't been able to provide anything that would suggest a solid answer.
And that's why, to me, this whole offseason is about how do both parties. rebuild trust in each other. And that can be Giannis too, right? Like, you know, he is not blameless in all of this, right? Like, his agents have obviously been pushing something about, oh, maybe it's time to get out.
And to be clear, It was bad this year.
So if he thought, like, hey, this stinks. Uh And maybe if I talk about how upset I am or whatever. Maybe they'll fire Doc Rivers. I don't know. Like, maybe I just need to let them know how upset I am.
And that just propagated these trade rumors and trade rumors and trade rumors and trade rumors and trade rumors. But like, to me, it was just like, The The question I kept wondering was: why is Doc still here and why are they still trying the same thing? It hasn't worked. Since the first month of the season.
So typically when people are bad at their job. and stay employed. There's like Reasons for that. A lot of people are like, oh, the Bucs don't want to pay three coaches at the same time. Yeah.
But it's not Those are these are like Why is that guy still in that jet?
Well, it's the guy's brother-in-law. Right. Or it's like the guy's kid. There's some sort of nepotism there. And I don't Other than like I keep saying, like, Jimmy Haslam is fascinated with Doc in the same way that Mark Atanasio was fascinated with Andrew McCutcheon.
Right. It's Andrew McCutcheon. I have to sign him, it's Andrew McCutcheon. You know, and with what Haslam's done with the Browns, it's like, well, it's Jeshan Watson. I don't care what you see.
I'm still enamored by it because I don't know another reason unless they want to make Giannis the bad guy or something. Like, there's. It doesn't make sense on a surface level. And then. You have to hire a new coach.
So, if the same GM is going to be in charge who said the last 70 games were masterful, if the same owners who I don't know what they know about coaching hiring, if Giannis, I mean, Giannis. It seems, oh, what is Giannis going to say about the coach? He's basically said, oh, yeah, I love everyone as a coach. I don't know that he's ever talked badly about any coach. Certainly not his.
No, I hire me and he'd be like, oh, great coach. Great. I mean, I don't know what, like, how, how, how, who, where, when? Why? No, I I mean, I think those are the questions that I feel remain unanswered.
Like I I can't. provide an answer. I tried. I asked the people who would know. And there just isn't It's not, the answers I'm receiving aren't rational.
Well, that's 'cause you're not asking them hard enough, Eric. Yeah. You gotta hold these guys accountable, Eric. Yeah, I know. Um but To me, that's like the the greatest frustration is Like, there's just no way you could have watched this season and been like, oh, yeah, Doc's knocking it out of the park.
There's just no way. Like, it could not have. Have been something that you thought.
So there has to be some other reason. But speaking to the coach point you made, yeah, I think overwhelmingly, Giannis is. A when it comes to coaching, he's a good soldier. Thanks. Whoever is in charge, he listens to.
Uh, you know, he He does his best to kind of keep everything in the locker room sacred, right? Like, not be like, oh, you know, this coach said this thing, but I'm doing this thing. Like, he drive, like, other than when he's mad about being on a minutes limit, uh, outside of that, whatever the coach says, like. That's what he's going to do, and that's what he's going to say, and he's going to share the message. And that's like where.
It should be exciting for the organization. Getting to hire a new coach because this guy. This isn't necessarily a situation where like. You have to appease him. Right.
Like he's going to listen to the coach no matter who you hire. Yeah. They kind of went in the wrong direction with Adrian Griffin. And part of that was that was the archetype that Giannis wanted. And that ended up being a problem.
So now you have a spot where you have a real opportunity and you can hire a good coach. And If I can offer some advice, I would say don't waste it. Like, don't waste this opportunity. Would you be more surprised if they hired somebody that didn't have a connection previously or that did? 'Cause if you look at like the odds, it's all like.
Taylor Jenkins or Sweeney or somebody that's been with the box in some capacity. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think there's... There's certainly I think those are the easiest names to provide right now, if that makes sense, right? Like you're just drawing very simple conclusions and being like, oh, well.
Di like to Taylor Jenkins and Sean Sweeney specifically. Like It's not just that they both have Milwaukee connections. It's that If we're talking about retread coaches on one side. Taylor Jenkins is Maybe the top Retread candidate. And if we're talking about first-time head coaches on the other side, like I wrote the story today with Fred Katz at the Athletic about first-time head coaches and who we might need to keep an eye on during this offseason, Sweeney's number one.
Everyone says it. Like that, he's number one by a wide margin for first-time head coaches.
So the fact that both of them have. Milwaukee ties, or have at least been to the city and both have worked for the team. It's like, oh, okay, yeah, there you go. Uh, those guys can make sense, and yeah, obviously, they would make sense because they're both great coaches, or they both have the potential to be great coaches, and they both have Milwaukee connections.
So, I think you could go in any direction, like you look through everything. Bud didn't have any previous uh Giannis Milwaukee ties. Griff didn't have any previous Milwaukee Giannis ties. And Doc.
Okay. Doc did because his name hangs up in the rafters, but uh. You can get the full gamut there.
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So, this is interesting because, you know, the way I think, I think where Bucks fans have grown tired of. Yannis. Is Because they're getting a sense of Or maybe you just always side with the organization. I don't know. But like What bothers me is when national reporters are like, oh, we're tired of this.
Well, you've been talking about it longer than actually they have. Correct. This has been like now, maybe a two-year reel thing where he could really. It's your thing. It's your hyperfixation breakfast.
Like you can't be like, well, I'm tired of eating. Overnight oats. Buy a different meal. Do something different. That's your call.
You're the ones that are choosing to talk about it.
Now that he is talking about it, now he wants to. Yeah. No, I've eaten this meal for the last. I don't know, 750 mornings. I'm sick of it.
Well, I didn't tell you to eat it. That wasn't what you could have eaten anything else. You could have talked about any other topic on earth. And you decided that this was the one.
So now that it's on your front door, sorry, eat some more oats. But with you what you said about uh the extension Like you can't do that for a while.
So you're right. Other than him saying, yes, I wholeheartedly give the Bucks carte blanche, do whatever, and I'm here, which is foolish. For any measure. The Bucs, it's in their control. And I think, like, even though Giannis has talked a lot, and sometimes you might interview him and then.
He says something else to somebody else, and then he talks about loyalty on a tweet. And it's like, what are we doing here? He's covered every base. Trevor Burrus. I don't know if that's a strategy or if he's just.
Non-committal, or if you're just like, you know, when you're 10, 11 years into something, you do wonder, what would my life have been like elsewhere? I think maybe there's.
Some early quarter life crisis thing going on, maybe. With Giannis, too. But the Bucks, they I think Giannis has shown. Just show me effort, and I'm staying. Yeah, and I think one thing too with this year is that I think Giannis overwhelmingly has shared the same message forever.
I want to win. And if possible, I'd like to do it in Milwaukee. Like that, those are that's always the order, right? Like, I want to win another championship. If possible, I'd love for it to be in Milwaukee.
And that's what. I've written. That's what Jimo's written. That's what Lori Nichols has written. Like, if you're talking to anyone in Milwaukee, That is what Yannis has shared consistently.
For I don't know, since the last championship, right? Like, since the championship in 2021, that has kind of been. all of it. And I think this year where it gets Complicated is, I think he still feels those things. I just don't think he's ever felt.
Team mortality and human mortality. more strongly. ever before in his life. Like you have the Man, I keep getting injured. Like, this sucks.
I've been superhuman for. the first 13 years of my, or the first 12 years of my career, and now in year 13. I'm not super. Like, I'm trying to come back from these things, but I can't, these nagging injuries, I can't get rid of them. And I think that's when it's like, oh my gosh, like.
Next. I can't stay on the floor and they can't win without me.
So this is like really hard. And then from a team perspective. It used to be like, well, you know, if I'm missing some time. Dame can take over. If I'm missing some time, you know.
During Chris's time in Milwaukee and Drew's time in Milwaukee, if Giannis needed to miss eight games, You know what? That was going to be the eight-game stretch in the season where Chris Middleton averaged. 30 a night, and you were like, okay, it's not the most efficient offense because he's being asked to do way too much, but. We're kind of winning some of the games, and like we're surviving. Or Drew Holiday would shoot 30 step backs in a game, and a bunch of them will go in, and a bunch of them looked cool.
Maybe it wasn't the most efficient way, but you'd survive. And Dame, you know. These were the moments where they would survive on a dame diet, and then you'd be like.
Well, why can't we get that guy when Giannis is on the floor? And that would be the talking point rather than, oh my gosh, they survived those eight games without Giannis. That was amazing. That must mean they have enough talent. This year, when he went out, it was like, nope.
Nope, losing tonight. They just don't have a chance. Like, there's no chance. And again, From a human, like a Individual perspective, he had not experienced the mortality that he experienced this year. From a team perspective.
He did he's never experienced Well, I shouldn't say never, but it's been a decade since he's experienced that level of mortality. And I think that's where all of it got weird. Where, kind of like we were saying before we started, you know, this little portion, like, While everyone nationally has been talking about The bucks in Giannis in the way that Actually, it went down this year. For the last five years, right? Like, this is how they've been talking about the Bucks forever.
This is the first year where these things were actually present. Like, the. Yeah. The mess was actually present because for the seven years previously, again. Feel however you want about Damian the other and his time in Milwaukee.
Feel however you want about Doc Rivers or Mike Budenholzer or whatever. They had a chance. Mm-hmm. I didn't have a chance this year. At any point.
I'm just like, a lot of the conversation is framed, and I've even framed it. We're talking about it from Giannis's perspective. And it seems like All right, this last year, think of a relationship. This last year was not great. But it was the first year was not great.
Like yeah, and I don't think that the Bucks really need they don't need to Be outside your window with a boom box over their speakers to win you back. They don't even need to buy you flowers. They just need to say, hey, I went to the store. I saw flowers. I thought of you.
Sure. And I wonder. Maybe the Bucs do want to move on. Maybe the Bucks want to move out. They employed Doc Rivers.
for longer than they needed to. They didn't do anything at the trade deadline. They shut down Giannis when he said, I can play. And it wasn't, well, okay, you got a tank. Because they didn't really go anywhere, right?
They were stuck. And they weren't eliminated from the playoffs yet. And if you watch the Eastern Conference, the Hornets might not have fallen apart in the 10th spot, but. Six, seven, eight, and nine all did. And like it was going to give them a like the if you would have let Giannis keep playing like.
I know it wasn't looking great in that moment. I think they were like five games out when he was scratched in Utah. Um, But like If they got hot, like if Giannis did his thing and It is very possible. to win a whole bunch of games in March and April. Ain't nobody trying to win in the NBA.
Like, if you can just put them on the floor and you could have. You could have won a bunch of games. I know to that point the Bucs hadn't really shown that at any. Stretch in the season, but like there was a possibility there that they could have, and they just decided: no, like, we're not going to do it.
So if I'm not sure if you're not sure. I think the beauty of this offseason is. The Bucks are going to tell us exactly what they want to do. And you can obviously have tried to frame it. Like, you know, Wes Eden's doing the interview with ESPN where he draws out the ultimatum of either Giannis signs or he's getting traded.
Well, he can't sign until October 1st.
So what are you doing for the next six months? Mm-hmm. I don't think. What are you doing for the next six months? And they're going to tell us.
They're going to tell us what it is that they want to do because. I know what they have. I know the cap space that they have. I know the pics that they have. They can go out and make moves.
Like, they drew it up in this way last offseason. Like, obviously, I wrote about the gap year idea very early last offseason. And you know what? It wasn't pretty. Everyone's mad at each other.
But they executed. Like the gap year, they got through it. Like they got through this gap year. It would have been great if Giannis was healthy for 60 games and was in the MVP race and they were in the playoffs. All that would have been great, but they're through it.
And they're going to have a lottery pick. That feels like a successful way to get through it. And now they have three first-round picks that they can trade. Uh they have Some cap space, or I shouldn't say cap space, they have exceptions to use. You can build a team, it is there for you.
if you want it. But we don't know if the Bucks want it. And they're going to tell us. They're going to tell us.
So coming off of My 2026 here where people are mad at me because I wanted LaFleur fired. People are mad at me because I rightfully hate the Wisco jerseys that the Brewers are wearing. Oh, wow. Okay. No.
Yeah. Um Would you recommend that I start to take the angle that Guys, I don't think the Bucs even want Giannis. Uh I don't think it's clear yet. But it's a possibility that I wasn't really thinking of Prior to having you log on here. Yeah, I mean Again.
They are going to tell us what it is that they want. And again. I think there can be arguments made that Trading Yanis. will lead to a more sustainable future. And you can get some nice Players and picks and build again for the future.
That argument can be made. Yeah. And I would tell you. You're going to have a better chance of winning basketball games and of winning championships if you employ one of the best basketball players in the world. Basketball is a simple game.
You either have one of the guys or you don't. And you don't win if you don't.
So It's your call. What do you want to do? You can go out and search for that guy again. Uh It's pretty hard in Milwaukee. It's pretty hard in Milwaukee.
You better find some extraordinary luck. Like, I don't know. Drafting a kid no one's heard of from Greece, besides the Hawks, him developing into an outrageously good basketball player. Yeah. That's one way to do it.
Do you want to count on that? I don't know. That's your call. But I I do know that If you're trying to win basketball games. And The greatest player in franchise history is on the floor.
I don't know. Does that sound like a fun way to spend a Friday night? I might go watch that. If I was a fan, if I was a fan, I might go watch that. If Yeah.
Had it the The Milwaukee picks are out there. And, you know, it's a bunch of young guys that you haven't heard of. Like, Do you want to go do you want to go watch that on a Friday night? Or? I don't know.
Doesn't sound that fun. Maybe it works. I mean, I think the crowd made that clear the last two months what they want to watch. I bought tickets on uh Thursday. I heard you tell this story.
You should have just gone. You should say just gone to the gate. I know, but It was a sound investment. It was a sound strategy. For sure, for sure.
I gotta got a pretty penny for him. But then the guy sat in $150 seats for $12 that I sold him to. And he got a bango bobblehead. And someone probably threw a bratwurst at him. Yeah shit.
Damn. Eric Name of the Athletic. Appreciate your time as always. I better see you this summer for the World Cup. Oh, I'll be watching.
I'll be watching. Live. It's like $9 million to go to a game and get three games. you know because like are they gonna get out of the group probably not right I don't know. And the games are all like at 10 o'clock at night for some reason.
Very weird. Yeah. Well. We'll survive. Eric Name, thanks for stopping into the Winklerverse.
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