A few days after the official start of NBA free agency this summer, Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers flew from his home in the Los Angeles area to Miami for a recruiting visit. After the initial wave of signings across the league was completed, Rivers was surprised to see a familiar face without a team: guard Gary Trent Jr.
Trent had known Rivers since he was 6 years old through his father, Gary Trent Sr., whose NBA career overlapped with Rivers’. Trent Jr. had been a productive player with the Toronto Raptors for three and a half seasons but was unable to reach an extension or find a multiyear contract on the free-agent market. Word spread that Trent might be looking for a one-year deal for the 2024-25 season, and Rivers jumped at the chance.
The Bucks were looking for a replacement in their starting lineup for point guard Malik Beasley and saw a youthful energy in Trent who could fit seamlessly alongside Milwaukee's superstar duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
The signing of Trent to a one-year deal was the biggest addition of the offseason for a team that prioritized depth signings over bold moves. The Bucks also traded players like Jae Crowder and Patrick Beverley, who saw their roles and production reduced during the postseason, for a new group of veteran reserves in Delon Wright and Taurean Prince.
After a year of change and turnover for the Bucks — they traded Jrue Holiday for Lillard in the past 12 months and hired and fired coach Adrian Griffin before turning to Rivers midseason — a quiet summer was welcome for a team entering the 2024-25 season trying to balance the benefits of continuity with the urgency of its championship expectations.
“We have that stability,” Antetokounmpo said the day after the team's first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. “We're not second-guessing ourselves and trying to figure out what it's going to look like going forward.”
“Now that you know, all that's left to do is get to work.”
Bucks general manager Jon Horst had limited flexibility to change his roster this offseason. Milwaukee's draft picks were depleted by trading for Holiday in 2020 and Lillard last year. Because of restrictions in the new collective bargaining agreement, the Bucks had no salary-cap space and were not allowed to add contracts, acquire a player via a sign-and-trade or use the mid-level tax exception.
It left them with little option other than to add players through the veteran minimum.
Plus, it had still been less than a year since Milwaukee pounced on Lillard before training camp, sending a package to the Portland Trail Blazers that included Holiday, the starting point guard on the Bucks’ 2021 championship team, who was then shipped off to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. It was a bold move that paired an All-NBA point guard in Lillard with a two-time MVP in Antetokounmpo, with each being the most successful teammate either player had ever played with.
Lillard's arrival also paid off in another way, as Antetokounmpo committed to the Bucks by signing a three-year, $186 million max extension that begins this season.
Antetokounmpo signed his contract the day before the start of the season, but the Bucks' positive momentum did not carry over into the games.
Lillard was slow to adjust to a new environment and struggled to find on-court chemistry with Antetokounmpo. Griffin was fired 43 games into the season (with a 30-13 record) before the team turned to Rivers, who went 17-19. Antetokounmpo missed the entire six-game series against the Pacers with a left calf strain and Lillard was limited by an Achilles injury, as the Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season.
When Rivers took over the team in February, he recognized how difficult it would be to turn around a team midseason. Now, with a full offseason and training camp, he'll have the chance to establish a style of play, including bringing in role players who better fit his vision.
“Think about it: Giannis trained all the time [last] “Last summer I didn't know I was going to have Dame,” Rivers said the day after last season's playoff exit. “Dame worked out a little bit, not knowing I was going to have Giannis. Khris [Middleton]Likewise. Now the three of them are getting into exercise this summer knowing some of the things we're going to do.
“The most important thing is the plays and the stuff you're going to run, and you're going to give it to them long before camp starts. Because it's easy for a star player to understand what he can do, it's better when he understands how he can make everyone else better through those plays.”
1:00
Doc Rivers after the series loss: “Winning is incredibly difficult”
Bucks coach Doc Rivers reflects on his team's season after Milwaukee was eliminated by the Pacers in the playoffs.
The Bucks are banking on a full preseason and training camp to help build chemistry between Lillard and Antetokounmpo. Still, they were encouraged by the numbers with those two players on the court last season: The team averaged more than 10.2 points per 100 possessions last season when its two stars shared the court.
“I'm willing to work hard this summer. I think I have players around me that are willing to do it,” Antetokounmpo said at the end of last season. “I saw how Dame was after the [playoffs]I saw how Khris [Middleton] It was after the game… I know they are going to work hard.”
The question for Milwaukee is how the Bucks will stack up against the rest of a stacked Eastern Conference.
Boston is coming off a historic season in which it won its league-leading 18th NBA championship. The Philadelphia 76ers just revamped themselves with the addition of superstar Paul George to play alongside Joel Embiid and rising star Tyrese Maxey. The New York Knicks bolstered their core with the addition of Mikal Bridges. The young up-and-coming teams — the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Pacers — are on the rise, having finished with playoff berths last season.
Meanwhile, the Bucks return one of the NBA’s oldest rosters, with four of their projected starters older than 30. Antetokounmpo, who has been injured for the past two postseasons, turns 30 this season. Lillard will turn 35 in October. Middleton is 34 and coming off offseason surgery on both ankles. Center Brook Lopez is 36.
“I always like a winning team to have a little bit of experience, which comes from being a little bit older, knowing how to play and having that corporate knowledge of the game,” Antetokounmpo said at the end of last season. “And a little bit of energy.”
The age of its roster and the pressure to maximize each season of Antetokounmpo's prime — “With Giannis, you're always against the clock,” Horst told ESPN at the start of last season — guided Milwaukee's bold moves over the past year in pursuit of another title.
Now the Bucks have an offseason defined by continuity, some depth additions and improved health during the postseason to give them a chance at another championship.
“We're getting older, we're not getting younger, but that doesn't mean we can't still play at a high level,” Antetokounmpo said. “It's hard to say, 'Yeah, we're old and we need to make changes.' Because these guys are beasts.”
