Making Sense of Managerial Decisions that Broke the Bucks

Giannis’ injuries in the past two postseasons and Damian Lillard’s forgettable year, health-wise, are valid reasons for the Bucks not reaching their potential. However, it’s puzzling how a team with one of the best players in the NBA has fallen into mediocrity. As John Haliburton (father of Tyrese) walked onto the court after Game 5, to pile on the mainstream hatred for Giannis, it prompts reflection: What made the Bucks fall this hard?

Trading Jrue Holiday for Dame, moving on from Mike Budenholzer, perhaps in haste, the beer change at Fiserv, etc. — decisions such as these make you scratch your head in 2025. Unfortunately, there is more to the Bucks’ demise than meets the eye.

Departure of P.J. Tucker

It sounds hyperbolic, but not re-signing Milwaukee’s ‘DOG’ seems to be the first link in this chain of horrors.

To be fair, P.J. Tucker played just 43 games with the Bucks, and 23 of those games included the playoffs. His best performance came in Game 4 of the 2021 ECF Semis, with 13 points, seven rebounds an assist and a steal. Signing him was not ever going to be the most important task for the offseason.

Rumors suggested the Bucks didn’t want to pay PJ Tucker his market value the next offseason to avoid the luxury tax. As much of a fan favorite as P.J. was, it was mildly upsetting at the time, but there is something few people consider. Former Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry’s son, Alex, ran for Wisconsin state senate, and 12 million dollars was poured into his campaign.

The son of the owner has every right to chase his dreams. That being said, when Alex ended his campaign just two weeks before the primary, it makes things look that much more disappointing for Tucker’s quick stop with the Bucks. Moving on himself, Tucker signed with the Miami Heat on a two-year, $14-million contract.

Again, Tucker wasn’t likely the answer, but the Lasrys only hung around one more year before a subtle yet catastrophic shift took place for the Bucks franchise.

Jimmy Haslam’s Cleveland Bucks

Just 12 days after Jimmy Haslam purchased the Lasry’s 25% stake (nine months after Alex dropped out of senate race), Miami became the sixth No. 8 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in the NBA, eliminating the Bucks in the process. Coincidence? Hard to think otherwise.

A quick spotlight on the new partial owner: In 2012, Haslam purchased the Cleveland Browns. Since then, the Browns have seen 30 different starting QB’s. This is the same owner who gave Deshaun Watson a massive deal, then just a few years later, in 2025, drafted two QB’s and two RB’s — hardly reassuring for Giannis’ future under Haslam.

Who knows what things would look like if Wes Edens wasn’t the Governor of the Bucks. Maybe fans are getting a taste of what’s to come if/when Haslam takes over? Despite fans begging for anyone but Doc Rivers to be head coach, ownership wanted him all along. According to Brian Sampson of Forbes, the signing was led by Haslam. While there are zero credible reports Haslam pushed for the wildly unpopular Middleton-Kuzma trade, only someone from the Browns organization would make that deal.

“GM Giannis Antetokounmpo”

“Keep Giannis happy” continues to be the slogan in MKE.

Back in the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar era, the organization tried everything to keep their star from leaving for LA — from giving him a radio show to clearance to live in New York full time, even the power to fire GM Wayne Embry and Head Coach Larry Costello if he pleased. Maybe Kareem would’ve influenced another coach in the 414, but the move to LA puts that speculation to rest.

It’s not completely foreign for a star player to have a say in who will be their next coach. Unfortunately, Giannis’ push to hire Adrian Griffin will go down as the second worst coaching choice in Bucks history.  Yes, signing Griffin is still second to Doc Rivers.

‘Griffin seemed like a nice guy.’ That’s all we can say after his half-season stint. He had ZERO experience as a head coach! A PhD in Organizational Leadership, but somehow lost assistant Terry Stotts before the season began?

Giannis deserves some of the blame — and if not him, then ownership for trusting his judgement! He did not want Nick Nurse, but the Bucks had Kenny Atkinson or Quinn Snyder in front of them. Instead, they leaped to acquire a ‘coach in name only’, who can only sink a ship and not right one.

Next?

Going into 2025-26, the vibes cannot be any lower for the deer. Competing for championships is far from relevant and now the main priority is keeping Giannis as long as possible. That formula grows even murkier with Damian Lillard’s status for next season unknown. That once promising looking future is now on life support.